Posts Tagged: dairy

UC ANR offers seminars, citrus tour at World Ag Expo

 

UC Dairy Series 

A series of dairy seminars will be offered by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources scientists at the World Ag Expo. Presentations will cover the latest research on almond hulls as dairy feed, water management, nutrient management, manure management and much more. See the schedule below. 

Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022
Seminar Trailer 2 

Session 1: Nutrient Management & Manure Treatment Technologies
Tuesday, 1:00 – 1:55 p.m.

1 p.m. – Joy Hollingsworth, UC Cooperative Extension nutrient management and soil quality advisor for Tulare, Kings, Fresno and Madera counties

Nutrient management with digester effluent 

1:15 p.m. – Anthony Fulford, Ph.D., UC Cooperative Extension nutrient management and soil quality advisor for Stanislaus, Merced and San Joaquin counties

Incorporating vacuumed manure into your nutrient management needs

1:30 p.m. – Nick Clark, UC Cooperative Extension agronomic cropping systems and nutrient management advisor for Kings, Fresno and Tulare counties

Nutrient management with other advanced treatment technologies 

1:45–1:55 p.m. – Q&A session

Session 2: Manure management options on your dairy
2–2:55 p.m.

2 p.m. – Betsy Karle, UC Cooperative Extension dairy advisor for Glenn, Butte, Tehama,
Shasta, Sutter and Yuba counties

CDFA's Alternative Manure Management Program - where to start

2:15 p.m. – Frank Mitloehner, Ph.D., UC Cooperative Extension specialist in livestock systems and air quality, UC Davis Department of Animal Science

Manure technologies & pre/post greenhouse gas emissions

2:30 p.m. – Ruihong Zhang, Ph.D., UC Davis professor in the Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering

Novel technologies for manure management on dairies 

2:45–2:55 p.m. – Q&A session

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022
Seminar Trailer 2

Session 3: Feeding the California Dairy Herd
1–1:55 p.m.

1 p.m. – Jennifer Heguy, UC Cooperative Extension dairy advisor for Stanislaus, Merced and San Joaquin counties

Almond hull usage on California dairies

1:15 p.m. – Ed DePeters, Ph.D., UC Davis professor in the Department of Animal Science

Almond hulls - the story continues

1:30 p.m. – Dan Putnam, Ph.D., UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences

Low lignin alfalfa considerations for yield & feed quality

1:45–1:55 p.m. – Q&A session

Session 4: Water-wise dairying
2–2:55 p.m.

2 p.m. – Nick Clark, UC Cooperative Extension agronomic cropping systems and nutrient management advisor for Kings, Fresno and Tulare counties

Sugar beet and safflower – yield, water use and nutrient management considerations

2:15 p.m. – Mark Lundy, Ph.D., UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences

Maximizing water productivity from winter small grains in California

2:30 p.m. – Khaled Bali, Ph.D., UC Cooperative Extension irrigation water management specialist at Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center

Deficit irrigation and winter groundwater recharge in alfalfa

2:45–2:55 p.m. – Q&A session 

Need continuing education unit credits? 

American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS): 1 CEU/session; 4 total available

Certified Crop Adviser: 2 CEU available

      Nutrient Management: 1 CEU (Sessions 1 & 2)

      Soil & Water Management: 1 CEU (Session 4)

California Department of Food and Agriculture's Irrigation and Nitrogen Management Program: 2 CEU available

      Nitrogen Management: 1 CEU (Sessions 1 & 2)

      Irrigation Management: 1 CEU (Session 4)

Feb. 10 citrus tour (9:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.)

The citrus tour will visit two locations: University of California Lindcove Research & Extension Center and McKellar Family Farms. 

Established in 1959, the UC Lindcove REC has more than 100 acres of citrus in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley. At the center, researchers conduct studies on citrus varieties, horticultural techniques and pest management. The UC Lindcove REC portion of the tour will include a display and tasting of citrus varieties.

Lunch is provided at McKellar Family Farms, where visitors will tour the citrus orchards, view equipment and get a better understanding of the process from tree to table. By the end of the tour, visitors will have an understanding of how much care and forethought goes into producing top-quality fruit, in addition to the research conducted to improve growing conditions.

Tour tickets cost $45 and include choice of lunch. For more information, visit https://www.worldagexpo.com/attendees/agriculture-tours.

 

 

Dairy’s Net Zero Initiative gets boost with $10 million research grant

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research has awarded a $10 million grant to support U.S. dairy's Net Zero Initiative as a critical on-farm pathway to advance the industrywide 2050 Environmental Stewardship Goals set through the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy.

In California, UC Davis and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources scientists will collaborate on the nationwide project addressing carbon sequestration, soil health and nitrogen management.

"The Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research grant in partnership with Soil Health Institute and Dairy Research Institute are funding research that will positively impact the future of animal and plant agriculture in a world with increasingly limited natural resources,” said Deanne Meyer, UC Cooperative Extension specialist based at UC Davis, who studies livestock waste management. 

Working with California dairy forage and almond producers, UC Cooperative Extension scientists and technicians will evaluate and demonstrate the impacts of using manure products as fertilizer in combination with more traditional soil conservation practices.

“With this research, there's a potential to expand the use of dairy manure products beyond forage crops to crops such as almonds,” said Nick Clark, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor for Fresno and Tulare counties. “We expect results to demonstrate that groundwater quality and quantity can be protected and preserved, and crop yields can be maintained without increasing net greenhouse gas emissions from crop production.”

Clark added, “We look forward to working with our local producers and connecting with our national partners and collaborators to examine and demonstrate the best practical solutions that science has to offer for farming in tomorrow's world."

California dairy operators who would like to participate in the experiment may contact Clark for more information at neclark@ucanr.edu.

Data from the “Dairy Soil & Water Regeneration: Building soil health to reduce greenhouse gases, improve water quality and enable new economic benefits” project will be broadly shared among the dairy community. The six-year project will provide measurement-based assessments of dairy's greenhouse gas footprint for feed production. It will also set the stage for new market opportunities related to carbon, water quality and soil health.

“Addressing the U.S. dairy industry's emissions is a critical solution to climate change,” said FFAR Executive Director Sally Rockey. “I know dairy farmers are working hard to decrease their environmental footprint and I'm thrilled to support their efforts by advancing research needed to adopt climate-smart practices on dairy farms across the country.”

Through foundational science, on-farm pilots and development of new product markets, the Net Zero Initiative aims to knock down barriers and create incentives for farmers that will lead to economic viability and positive environmental impact.

“After six years, we will have data that accurately reflect our farms' greenhouse gas footprint for dairy crop rotations with consideration for soil health management practices and new manure-based products,” said Jim Wallace, Dairy Management Inc. senior vice president of environmental research. “We expect to develop critical insights that link soil health outcomes, such as carbon sequestration, with practice and technology adoption. This will provide important background information to support the development of new carbon and water quality markets.”  

The project will be executed across four dairy regions responsible for about 80% of U.S. milk production: Northeast, Lakes, Mountain and Pacific. In addition to UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and UC Davis, collaborators include the Soil Health Institute and leading dairy research institutions, including Cornell University, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, University of Vermont, and U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS) Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research in Idaho.

Dozens of dairies representing climates and soils of these major production regions will participate in a baseline survey of soil health and carbon storage. Additionally, eight farms, including five operating dairies, two university research dairies and one USDA ARS research farm, will participate in the project. These pilots will be used to engage farmers in soil health management practices and monitor changes in greenhouse gas emissions, soil carbon storage, soil health and water quality. 

The FFAR grant will be matched by financial contributions from Net Zero Initiative partners such as Nestlé, the dairy industry, including Newtrient, and in-kind support for a total of $23.2 million. The funds will be managed by the Dairy Research Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit entity founded and staffed by Dairy Management Inc., whose scientists will serve as the project leads to address research gaps in feed production and manure-based fertilizers.

About the partners

FFAR builds public-private partnerships to support bold science that fills critical research gaps. Working with partners across the private and public sectors, FFAR identifies urgent challenges facing the food and agriculture industry and funds research to develop solutions.

NZI is an industrywide effort led by six national dairy organizations: Dairy Management Inc., Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, International Dairy Foods Association, Newtrient, National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council. This collaboration represents a critical pathway on U.S. dairy's sustainability journey.

For more information about dairy sustainability, visit www.usdairy.com/sustainability.

Innovating dairy digester research

California leads the nation in agricultural production, producing nearly all the nation's leafy green vegetables, most nut and fruit varieties, and is ranked first in egg and dairy production.

What that means is that California also produces a lot of agricultural waste materials, including lots of manure.

Historically these waste materials have been used as a rich source of compost. However, researchers at UC Cooperative Extension are researching innovative uses for this material. 

Dr. Pramod Pandey, a faculty member and Cooperative Extension specialist at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, focuses on better ways to manage waste material for both large and small farms. Dr. Pandey researches how to convert the organic matter in manure and other waste materials into a renewable energy source that can be used to power our state.

Converting manure to renewable energy

California gets over 27% of its energy from renewable resources like solar wind, and hydroelectric. Our goal is 50% renewable energy by 2030. California is taking steps towards this goal by building a network of dairy digesters which use bacteria to break down dairy manure and convert it into biogas. Clean burning fuels, such as biogas, are a sustainable source for generating energy because when they are burned, harmful by products are not produced.

Big bonus

A bonus is that the solid material left after the digesters have done their job is a fertilizer that can be used to grow the fruits, vegetables and nuts that our state is famous for. This type of fertilizer contains nutrients that are more readily available for plants because the digestion process breaks up organic materials more efficiently than traditional composting. The digestion process also helps reduce the number of harmful bacteria found in manure, making it much safer for use on plants grown for human food.

California leading in discovery and innovation

When we think about where agriculture has been and where it is going, innovation, efficiency and environmental sustainability are hallmarks of our approach in California. People like Dr. Pandey are driving forward research and technology to minimize the impact of agriculture production on the environment. When we think about where agriculture has been and where it is going, innovation, efficiency and environmental sustainability are hallmarks of our approach in California. His multidisciplinary approach to solving this complex problem of agricultural waste materials and water/air quality helps improve the economic wellbeing of farmers, and benefits Californians by providing nutrients for safe, healthy, and nutritious food.

While the importance of California's agriculture might be huge, its footprint on the environment doesn't have to be, and it is researchers like Dr. Pramod Pandey who are ensuring our state leads in discovery and innovation for many harvests to come.

Heather Johnson, Instructional Systems Designer, Gregory Wlasiuk, E-Learning Curriculum Designer, and Dr. Sara Garcia, Project Scientist, with the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security at the University of California, Davis, provided the script for the video which was used in this story. View Heather, Sara and Greg's filming and editing skills in the video below. Greg provides the narration. 

UC Davis decoding mother's milk for clues to lasting health

Is there such thing as a nutritionally perfect food? Is there something a human can consume that provides everything a body needs to stay healthy?

Yes, scientists say. Breast milk.

“Mother’s milk is the Rosetta stone for all food,” said Bruce German, professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at UC Davis and director of the UC Davis Foods for Health Institute. “It’s a complete food, a complete diet, shaped over 200 million years of evolution to keep healthy babies healthy.”

German and his team are now decoding breast milk to better understand its components and why they work so well. They are discovering a wealth of information about how best to feed and protect the human body, lessons that will enhance health not just for infants but for us all.

What are they learning?

For one thing, a large part of breast milk goes into babies' mouths and out into their diapers with no digestion along the way. That's astonishing. Of the 500 calories a lactating woman burns each day to make milk, 10 percent is spent synthesizing something the baby treats as waste. If it didn’t have value to the developing baby, wouldn’t natural selection have discarded it long ago?

Turns out, it has great value. The indigestible matter is a slew of sugar polymers called oligosaccharides that feed specific bacteria in a baby’s gut. The oligosaccharides help good bugs proliferate and dominate, keeping babies healthy by crowding out the less savory bugs before they can become established and, perhaps more important, nurturing the integrity of the lining of an infant’s intestines, which play a vital role in protecting them from infection and inflammation.

“What a genius strategy,” German said. “Mothers are recruiting another life form to babysit their babies.”

So maybe when we nourish our bodies, we should think about feeding our good bugs, too.

How do we do that? Good question. Scientists can’t yet say for sure what a healthy bacterial community in our guts should look like, let alone how best to promote it. But one thing is certain, German says. 

“Our good bacteria play a much more important role in our health than we realized,” German said.

So oligosaccharides might support microbial balance in our digestive tracts. Nursing babies can get them from their mothers. What about the rest of us?

Another good question, and UC Davis researchers are on it, identifying, extracting and delivering health-promoting oligosaccharides from various sources, including whey, the waste product from cheese making.

You can read all about it (and more) in this story on the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences website: http://caes.ucdavis.edu/news/articles/2013/09/title-uc-davis-decoding-mother2019s-milk-for-clues-to-lasting-health

 

 

 

Cultivating California

Only in California could arid land be converted into the nation’s salad bowl.

In the late 1800s, University of California researchers discovered how to remove salts from the soils of the Central Valley, turning it into one of the most productive agricultural regions.

UC researchers continue to play a key role in agriculture today, keeping California the nation’s leading agricultural state, from dairies in Tulare to nut farms in Newberry Springs.

A new brochure highlights the breadth of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources’ impact. UC guidelines have helped farmers boost broccoli production. UC scientists have developed sweet-tasting citrus and strawberries to meet consumer demands. UC certifies more than 95 percent of wine grapevines grown in the state, providing a reliable supply of high-quality vines for California’s multibillion-dollar wine industry. Whether it’s managing invasive pests, promoting nutrition or sustaining small farmers, ANR serves California’s communities with a focus on advising, educating and searching for solutions.

For more information, read the Cultivating California brochure.

uc anr minibrochure cover s2

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