WHO issues first ever global estimates of foodborne disease

Almost one third (30%) of all deaths from foodborne diseases are in children under the age of 5 years, despite the fact that they make up only 9% of the global population. This is among the findings of the World Health Organization's (WHO) "Estimates of the Global Burden of Foodborne Diseases" - the most comprehensive report to date on the impact of contaminated food on health and well-being.

The report, which estimates the burden of foodborne diseases caused by 31 agents - bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins and chemicals - states that each year as many as 600 million, or almost 1 in 10 people in the world, fall ill after consuming contaminated food. Of these, 420,000 people die, including 125,000 children under the age of five.

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IFIF commits to reducing GHG impact of global livestock
The International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) announced Nov. 3 that it is working with its members from around the world as well as international organizations, agri-food chain partners and other key stakeholders on a number of strategic initiatives to measure, benchmark and reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions impact of livestock production globally.

As world leaders seek agreement at the U.N. conference on Climate Change (COP21/CMP11) in Paris, France, IFIF said it continues to collaborate with stakeholders on the agri-food chain to strengthen sustainable food production to help contribute to dietary quality and nutrient adequacy around the world through the provision of safe, affordable, nutritious and sustainable feed and food.

Livestock raising and the consumption of animal products make a crucial contribution to the economic and nutritional well-being of millions of people around the world - particularly in developing countries, IFIF said. Yet the need to improve the environmental performance of the livestock sector will continue as the U.N. Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that demand for livestock products will further intensify over the decades to come.

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USDA report warns climate change may impede food security

Climate change is likely to impede progress on reducing undernourishment around the world in the decades ahead, according to a major scientific assessment released Dec. 2 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on global food security and its implications for the U.S.

The report, "Climate Change, Global Food Security & the U.S. Food System," identifies the risks that climate change poses to global food security and the challenges facing farmers and consumers in adapting to changing climate conditions. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack released the report during the COP-21 Paris Climate Conference.

In the absence of response measures, climate change is likely to diminish continued progress on global food security through production disruption that lead to constraints on local availability and price increases, interrupted transport conduits, and diminished food safety, among other causes. The risks are greatest for the global poor and in tropical regions.

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Rural America on 'road to recovery'

After several years of stagnation, the pace of employment growth in rural areas increased in 2014. Employment gains were significantly higher over the past year compared to previous years in the recovery period, although rural employment remains below pre-recession levels, according to the 2015 edition the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural America at a Glance report. 

However, rural areas continue to experience population loss, higher poverty rates, and lower educational attainment than urban areas.

Secretary of agriculture Tom Vilsack said the report "reflects a rural American on the road to recovery," noting that rural population did not increase over the past year and some rural counties have actually seen population growth. In addition, the rural child poverty rate has declined by one percentage point.

Employment grew more than 1% in rural areas during the year that ended in the second quarter of 2015. This is a marked improvement from previous years of very slow growth or decline, the reported noted.

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ADSA News and Happenings
FASS and ADSA Participate in OSTP Meeting on Raising the Profile of Agriculture
On December 1st, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) held a meeting entitled "Raising the Profile of Agriculture".  The meeting was attended by approximately 100 representatives from academia, industry and government to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing agriculture, with a focus on identifying strategies to address workforce development to meet the projected shortfall in trained scientists and other agricultural workers needed to meet future demand.  The animal sciences were well represented in the meeting with participants including FASS Washington Representative Lowell Randel, FASS Science Policy Committee Past President Matt Koci, ADSA representative Ken Olson and others. 
The morning program began with a welcome by Jo Handelsman, Associate Director for Science at OSTP and an opening presentation by Tracy Kruse, Associate VP at Northeast Community College, followed by presentations from federal agencies including the US Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy and the Department of Education.  Plenary presentations were then given by Wendy Wintersteen of Iowa State University, Steven Rhines of the Noble Foundation and Matthew Dillon of Clif Bar and Company.  Each of the speakers stressed the critical importance of a strong agricultural research system to meet societal grand challenges and the need for building partnerships and developing a unified message in support of agricultural research.  The morning program ended with a panel discussion with student leaders from the National FFA Organization, 4-H, and Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (MANRRS).
The afternoon program included breakout sessions where small groups discussed various aspects of raising the profile of agriculture.  Jo Handelsman, closed the meeting and expressed appreciation for the input received during the meeting.  Dr. Handelsman indicated that OSTP will be examining the recommendations made and explore options to advance the cause of raising the profile of agriculture.
 
New S-PAC Information
We are pleased to announce the addition of the 2015 Pennsylvania Dairy Cattle Nutrition Workshop Proceedings and the 29th and 30th Discover Conference Interpretive Summaries to S-PAC. Subscribers now have access from their computer, tablet or smart phone to 533 Proceedings from 57 conferences.  Check out the full listing at  https://spac.adsa.org/.  If you are already a subscriber, Thank You.  If you don't currently have S-PAC in your information tool kit, while not include it when you renew your ADSA membership?  It's a great deal.  
 
LDHM Conference Registration is Open
Registration is now open for the Large Dairy Herd Management conference to be held May 1-4, 2016 at the Hilton Oak Brook Hills Resort and Conference Center in Oak Brook, IL.  This conference is designed to provide an opportunity for authors to obtain feedback on the chapter papers developed for the Large Dairy Herd Management e-Book. The program will be designed so attendees can participate in the sessions of most interest to them. It includes 96 sessions that are organized around the 15 e-Book sections. For a full list of topics and editors visit the conference website.  Key stakeholders in the international dairy science community will want to be a part of the conversation about the above topics that impact large dairy herd management. This includes but is not limited to dairy extension specialists, researchers, dairy educators, consultants, allied industry representatives, and dairy producers. A range of sponsorship opportunities are available as well.
 
ADSA® asks, Did You Know That  ADSA® has a Member-Author Loyalty Rewards Program?  ADSA members, who are core contributing authors to the Journal of Dairy Science®, are eligible for a Member-Author Loyalty Rewards Program. Corresponding authors who have been members of ADSA for at least 5 consecutive years, have published at least 4 articles in the 3 most recent complete volumes, and are active reviewers for the journal qualify automatically. The Reward: One article published or accepted in the year following the qualifying period (for 2016 it is the 2013-2015 period) will be free of page charges (up to 10 pages; an $850 value or more than 7 years of professional membership). The qualifying corresponding author must be a professional member in good standing in the year in which the free pages are redeemed. The free pages must be used for one article, even if it is shorter than 10 pages, and cannot be transferred to another author or carried over to the following year. Free papers do not count toward qualifying papers for subsequent rewards. Learn more about this benefit by clicking here.
Thank you for being a member of ADSA!  We look forward to your continued membership through the coming year If you are not yet a member, now is a great time to join and begin gaining all the benefits of membership.  Click here to join or
Would you like to help the animal and dairy science community and attend the 2017 ADSA Annual Meeting for free?
Referrals are the most tried-and-true way businesses grow, and the same is true for FASS. Do you know a colleague working with an animal science group that is in need of high-quality, cost-effective support services? Help them out by referring them to Jamie Ritter, FASS Executive Director at jamier@assochq.org .
Help them benefit from the shared resource concept and the 264 years of collective experience the FASS staff have in working with non-profit animal science organizations. If your referral becomes a FASS customer prior to June 1, 2017, ADSA will comp your registration to the 2017 ADSA Annual Meeting that will be held June 25 to 28, 2017 in Pittsburgh, PA.  It's win-win-win. For more information about services offered by FASS, click here.
 
Are You Part of ADSA® on Linked In
Our ADSA Linked In group continues to grow. We now include 1,457 members from around the world, are you one of them? It's a great place to get information and network with other dairy professionals from around the world.  Check it out here.
Thanks to our Corporate Sustaining Members
                                 We appreciate your ongoing support of ADSA and the Journal of Dairy Science®.
Arm & Hammer Animal Nutrition
Elanco Animal Health
Diamond V Mills 
Kent Nutrition
Grande Cheese Co.
Kraft Foods
GEA Farm Technologies 
BioZyme Inc.
Darling International Research
Quali Tech
Zook Nutrition & Management
Zinpro
DuPont Pioneer
Zoetis
West Central
Lallemand Animal Nutrition
Ag Processing
Renaissance Nutrition
Global Agri-Trade Corp.
Masters Choice
Papillon Agricultural Co.
Nutriad 
Calendar of Events
Dec 15, 2015  Using Social Media to Deliver Extension - Webinar with Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam. For more information and to register click here
Jan 12, 2016   Cornell University - Vat Pasteurization Workshopj, Sohha Savory Yogurt, Astoria, NY. For more information contact Rob Ralyea 607-255-7643 or Louise Felker 607-255-7098. Click here for registration.
Jan 18-19, 2016  Pacific Northwest Animal Nutrition Conference, The Riverside Hotel, Boise, Idaho, visit http://www.pnwanc.org for more information

Jan 19, 2016  Hyperketonemia Treatment at the Individual cow and herd level - webinar with Dr. Jessica McArt, Cornell University. For more information and to register, click here.
Feb 15-17, 2016  Florida Ruminant Nutrition Symposium*, Gainesville, FL. For more information, click here.

Feb 17-19, 2016  VSFA Convention and VT DASC "Cow College"*, Roanoke, VA. For more information, click here

Feb 17-19, 2016 Midwest Regional Dairy Challenge: hosted by UW Platteville and Southwest Technical College in Platteville, WI For more information, visit the Dairy Challenge web site
Feb 17-19, 2016  2016 Southwest Nutrition Conference. Tempe Mission Palms Hotel & Conference Center, Tempe, AZ. For more information, click here.

Feb 23, 2016  Vermont Dairy Producers Conference, For more information click here 
Feb 25-26, 2016   USDA Ag Outlook Conference - Transforming Agriculture: Blending Technology and Tradition, Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel, Arlington, VA for information about the form and to register, go to www.usda.gov/oce/forum/
Feb 25-27, 2016 Western Regional Dairy Challenge: hosted by College of the Sequoias in Tulare, CA  For more information, visit the Dairy Challenge web site
Mar. 8 - 11, 2016  34th Western Canadian Dairy Seminar*, for more information click here
Mar 14 - 16, 2016 Midwest Meeting ADSA® Midwest Branch and ASAS Midwestern Section, Des Moines, IA
April 7-9, 2016 North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge & Academy: hosted by the Northeast Region in Syracuse, NY For more information, visit the Dairy Challenge web site
Apr18 - 20, 2016 Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference, Grand Wayne Center,  Fort Wayne, IN, For more information click here
May 1-4, 2016Large Dairy Herd Management (LDHM) Conference, Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort and Conference Center, Oak Brook, IL, For more information click here
June 15-16, 2016  4-State Dairy Nutrition and Management Conference, Grand River Center, Dubuque, IA, contact Jim Salfer, University of Minnesota salfe001@umn.edu
June 20-24, 2016 13th International Colloquium on Paratuberculosis*, Nantes, France, For more information click here
July 2-9, 2016  American Dairy Goat Association National Show, Farm Show Complex & Expo Center, Harrisburg, PA. For more information contact ADGA, PO Box 865, Spindale, NC 28160. 828-286-3801. www.ADGA.org
July 3-8, 2016  World Buiatrics Congress 2016, Convention Centre Dublin, Ireland. For more information, click here.

July 19-23, 2016  ADSA- ASAS Joint Annual Meeting (JAM)*, Salt Lake City, UT, for more information click here
July 24-28, 2016  2016 National Association of County Agricultural Agents Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference (AM/PIC), Little Rock, AR. For more information, click here.

Oct. 20-26, 2016  120th IUSAHA-AAVLD Annual Meeting, Greensboro Sheraton Hotel, Greensboro, NC. For more information, click here.

Nov 1-4, 2016  31st ADSA Discover Conference: Big Data Dairy Mangement, Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center, Oak Brook, IL. For more information, click here.

June 25-28, 2017 2017 ADSA Annual Conference and Tradeshow, Pittsburgh, PA.  For more information click here
*An S-PAC Partner Conference
 
If your organization's conference isn't among the ever growing list that contribute proceedings and presentations to S-PAC®, ask your conference organizer to contact Ken Olson for more information about the benefits of participation.
If you would like to have an event included in the "Dates to Note," please contact Ken Olson.
ADSA Membership Benefits                                 
                                           
Did you know that your ADSA Professional Membership provides you with:

*        Electronic access to the Journal of Dairy Science®

*        Joint Annual Meeting at member rates

*        Discover Conferences at member rates

*        S-PAC: Free access to JAM and ADSA divisional abstracts

*        S-PAC subscription at member rates

*        Access to recorded symposia library                                                                       

*        ADSA News (association newsletter)

*        ADSA Dair e-news (ADSA industry newsletter)

*        Access to member directory

*        Peer recognition through ADSA and Foundation Award Program

*        Discounted page charges in Journal of Dairy Science®

*        A strong voice of advocacy for the animal sciences, animal agriculture and agriculture research

*        Broad author recognition through ADSA/Elsevier press release program

*        Linked In and You Tube sites for ADSA

*        Quality networking with academic and industry professionals

*        Travel awards for all graduate students attending Discover Conferences

*        Opportunity to serve peers via committee and officer positions

 
For more information on your benefits please visit: http://www.adsa.org/join.asp
To join now and gain these member benefits, visit: http://www.adsa.org/join.asp
American Dairy Science Association
1800 South Oak St., Suite 100, Champaign, IL 61820
Email: adsa@assochg.org