Progress 09/01/24 to 08/31/25

Outputs
Target Audience:Major outreach efforts during this first reporting period focused on organic dairy producers as the target audience. The goals of these efforts were to: 1) collect input on the national survey that was developed during the reporting period; 2) advertise the project and the survey to organic dairy producers across the U.S.; 3) recruit dairy producers to enroll in on-farm sampling and to complete the survey; 4) connect producers to discuss youngstock management challenges and success stories. We achieved these goals through the following activities: Presentations about the project at major stakeholder events including the Western Organic Dairy Producers Alliance conference and trade show; the Research Roundtable hosted by Organic Valley; andAgNext's Industry Innovation Working Group Meeting. Discussions (video conferences, phone calls)about the project and national survey with key stakeholder groups including Organic Valley, Horizon Organic, and local and regional processors Discussions about the project and on-farm sampling with dairy veterinarians and nutritionists who service a large number of organic dairy farms across all regions represented in the project Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Multiple graduate, undergraduate and veterinary students were trained in sample collection procedures (jugular venipuncture, nasal and rectal sampling), health examinations and on-farm data collection. Four graduate students and three veterinary students were trained in thoracic ultrasonography for assessing lung integrity in cattle. One graduate student was trained in survey development, including use of Qualtrics and survey validation procedures. Four techniciansreceived on-job training in on-farm field activities, lab organization, and parasitology examinations. One graduate student was trained in best practices for data management, including script development using RStudio and GitHub. One post-doc was trained in scoping review protocols and educational module development. Multiple graduate, undergraduate and veterinary students had opportunities for professional development in science communication, through presenting the project at internal student symposia and external conferences. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Organic dairy producers enrolled in the on-farm sampling are receiving individualized farm-level reports after every visit. This allows them to understand the health status of their youngstock over time. Once enough data are collected, we will expand this report to include anonymized and aggregated results across all farms, so that producers can compare their results to the other farms in the study. We have raised awareness about the MOODY project to organic dairy producers across the U.S. through presentations at major stakeholder events at the local, regional and national levels; through mailing lists managed by key value-chain stakeholders; and through individual conversations with organic dairy producers, veterinarians and nutritionists. We started a soft launch of the national survey by sending the survey link to a select group of dairy producers. We have disseminated initial study design and implementation details to other researchers through presentations at scientific conferences and individual video conferences with researchers who have also conducted on- and off-farm surveys. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?For objective #1 goals, we plan to: Conduct an intensive and sustained launch of the national survey (once we have results from the soft launch), to include digital and paper-based mailings and advertisements Enroll at least 18 more farms for the on-farm efforts and continue quarterly visits of all enrolled farms Continue to analyze, summarize and interpret on-farm results, and provide tailored reports back to enrolled farmers Complete a scoping review of organic youngstock management practices Develop a detailed analytical plan for the national survey results For objective #2goals, we plan to: Evaluate the S. aureus status of each farm enrolled in the on-farm activiites as part of Objective #1, and use these results to select a subset of farms for enrollment in Objective #2 Establish detailed protocols for on-farm sample collection, storage and processing for S. aureus Complete on-farm sample collection and begin sample processing For objective #3goals, we plan to: Complete a scoping review of current veterinary-focused educational material related to organic dairy production Outline and begin developing the module content for the proposed educational material Identify subject-matter experts to provide input on module content

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? For objective #1, the following accomplishments were achieved during the reporting period: A national survey of organic youngstock practices was developed and beta-tested (using Qualtrics). The survey is now fully launched and responses are being collected. >20 individuals SOPs were developed for on-farm sample collection, on-farm youngstock health exams, and on-farm data collection. These SOPs are supporting standardized on-farm youngstock assessments across all regions. 32 organic dairy farms across 7 U.S. states were enrolled into on-farm sampling and survey. 12 of these farms have been visited 3 times; 12 have been visited twice; and 8 have been visited once so far. At each visit, sample collection and health examshave been performed on youngstock of various ages. Farmers were administered a comprehensive survey at the initial farm visit, and were shown how to collect youngstock health event information in a standardized manner. Health even information is then collected at each subsequent visit. Laboratory results from collected samples are being collected on an ongoing basis. A farm-level summary of laboratory and health exam results was developed and is being used on an ongoing basis tocommunicate individual farm results with producers. A scoping review protocol was developed to guidea peer-reviewed publication on current literature related tomanagement of organic dairy youngstock in the U.S. For objective #2, the following accomplishments were achieved during the reporting period: A literature review was conducted to understand bestpractices to collect and culture fly speciespreviously demonstrated to be sources of Staphylococcus aureus for young dairy cattle. Four species of flies were found to be potentially important for different routes of S. aureus transmission. A pilot project was conducted to develop biting fly collectionmethods. This pilot encompassed 4 different fly collection methods. Preliminary results indicate that nosingle approachworks for all 4 species of flies, and thus multiple collection methods may be needed for a comprehensive collection of fly species on enrolled dairy farms. A series of experiments was conducted to comparemethods for culturingflies to collect S. aureus isolates for strain typing. Preliminary results are pending. For objective #3, the following accomplishments were achieved during the reporting period: A literature review was conducted to catalog the current available resources for veterinary education related toorganic farming that will help to develop the modular curriculum.

Publications