60,000), with herd sizes ranging from less than 10 cows to more than 10,000, adds to the challenge of developing standards and effectively communicating them to all producers. This planning project will develop the Northeast Dairy Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) proposal that Purdue University will submit in 2011. It will assemble, through internet-based meetings and a face-to-face workshop, a strongly multi-disciplinary team to utilize existing and new research to create BMPs for U.S. dairy farms to maximize greenhouse gas mitigation while still maintaining optimal productivity. A variety of stakeholders will be engaged in the process, including but not limited to academic researchers, producers (independently and through the Dairy Research Institute) and cooperatives, and state and/or local extension agents. The CAP proposal that will result from this planning phase will organize this new research, along with in-depth meta-analysis of existing work, into an overall effort to create systematic science-based BMPs for dairy farmers to both mitigate their GHG emissions and adapt to changes in climate. Methods and user-friendly tools for dairy producers to assess the newly-developed BMPs within site-specific models, and adopt those most suited to their farm will then follow. Decision support tools will be developed to recommend management practices on a site-specific basis, assist dairy producers in evaluating various management practices and their associated tradeoffs, and conduct "what-if" analyses. The decision tools will be based on proven science, will recommend both site-specific and regional BMPs, and will allow producers to conduct both short- and long-term scenario analyses.' />
Source: PURDUE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
SUSTAINABLE REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM NORTHEAST DAIRY FARMS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0223753
Grant No.
2011-67004-21115
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
2010-03361
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Nov 1, 2010
Project End Date
Oct 31, 2011
Grant Year
2011
Program Code
[A3111]- Climate Change: Regional Approaches to Climate Change: Planning
Recipient Organization
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
WEST LAFAYETTE,IN 47907
Performing Department
Ag & Biological Engineering
Non Technical Summary
Few Best Management Practices (BMPs) exist for mitigating greenhouse gases from dairy production. Further, for those that do exist, dairy producers lack effective tools to fully recognize and evaluate practices applicable to their farm. Consequently, many U.S. dairy producers are unsure which practices to adopt, and many potential economic and environmental benefits are not realized. Thus, there is a significant opportunity to mitigate GHG emissions from dairy production facilities by further developing BMPs, and by providing dairy producers with the information needed for making informed decisions for their farm based on economic and technical feasibility. The most complex challenge is to develop flexible BMP's that can apply to the entire industry, as farm practices vary significantly by region, herd size, and climate. The large number of U.S. dairy producers (> 60,000), with herd sizes ranging from less than 10 cows to more than 10,000, adds to the challenge of developing standards and effectively communicating them to all producers. This planning project will develop the Northeast Dairy Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) proposal that Purdue University will submit in 2011. It will assemble, through internet-based meetings and a face-to-face workshop, a strongly multi-disciplinary team to utilize existing and new research to create BMPs for U.S. dairy farms to maximize greenhouse gas mitigation while still maintaining optimal productivity. A variety of stakeholders will be engaged in the process, including but not limited to academic researchers, producers (independently and through the Dairy Research Institute) and cooperatives, and state and/or local extension agents. The CAP proposal that will result from this planning phase will organize this new research, along with in-depth meta-analysis of existing work, into an overall effort to create systematic science-based BMPs for dairy farmers to both mitigate their GHG emissions and adapt to changes in climate. Methods and user-friendly tools for dairy producers to assess the newly-developed BMPs within site-specific models, and adopt those most suited to their farm will then follow. Decision support tools will be developed to recommend management practices on a site-specific basis, assist dairy producers in evaluating various management practices and their associated tradeoffs, and conduct "what-if" analyses. The decision tools will be based on proven science, will recommend both site-specific and regional BMPs, and will allow producers to conduct both short- and long-term scenario analyses.
Animal Health Component
40%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
20%
Applied
40%
Developmental
40%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
3073499310040%
6013499301020%
1333499106020%
1323499106020%
Knowledge Area
601 - Economics of Agricultural Production and Farm Management; 133 - Pollution Prevention and Mitigation; 132 - Weather and Climate; 307 - Animal Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
3499 - Dairy cattle, general/other;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems); 3010 - Economics; 3100 - Management;
Goals / Objectives
This planning project will develop the Northeast Dairy Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) proposal that Purdue University will submit in 2011. It will assemble, through internet-based meetings and a face-to-face workshop, a strongly multi-disciplinary team to utilize existing and new research to create BMPs for U.S. dairy farms to maximize greenhouse gas mitigation while still maintaining optimal productivity. A variety of stakeholders will be engaged in the process, including but not limited to academic researchers, producers (independently and through the Dairy Research Institute) and cooperatives, and state and/or local extension agents. The CAP proposal that will result from this planning phase will organize this new research, along with in-depth meta-analysis of existing work, into an overall effort to create systematic science-based BMPs for dairy farmers to both mitigate their GHG emissions and adapt to changes in climate. Methods and user-friendly tools for dairy producers to assess the newly-developed BMPs within site-specific models, and adopt those most suited to their farm will then follow. Decision support tools will be developed to recommend management practices on a site-specific basis, assist dairy producers in evaluating various management practices and their associated tradeoffs, and conduct "what-if" analyses. The decision tools will be based on proven science, will recommend both site-specific and regional BMPs, and will allow producers to conduct both short- and long-term scenario analyses.
Project Methods
The development of the technical and budget portions of the CAP application will be undertaken by teams (each with a designated leader) in each of the following topic areas: Adaptation; Bioenergy and anaerobic digestion; Crop, feed and silage production; Diet and microbiology; Education (Classroom); Energy efficiency; Extension/Outreach (Producers and general public); Life Cycle Assessment; Measurement and evaluation; Meta-analysis and data mining; Mitigation; Process-based modeling; Social and economic impacts. Teams will be separate, but interconnected. For example, one or more members of the classroom education and extension/outreach teams will sit on each of the other teams, and will be tasked with developing educational or extension materials that specifically communicate the results from the work of those teams. As several of these areas (indicated by *) have clear economic components, one or more agricultural economists, preferably with demonstrated expertise in one or more of the above areas, will be recruited, and will be tasked with evaluating economic constraints to, and effects of, adopting the new BMPs. Each team will identify the knowledge gaps and opportunities for improved performance within its topic area, and will design research to address these gaps. As an initial step in this process, a series of promising models for simulating GHG emissions from farms will be brought together and evaluated with data from three dairy farms (WI, IN and NY) monitored in the NAEMS and in an industry-funded GHG add-on project. Knowledge gaps identified in this exercise will be addressed in the CAP proposal. To the extent that the existing team may not have expertise in these specific areas, this exercise will maximize the opportunity to identify and recruit new participants who will be able to lead research address these gaps.

Progress 11/01/10 to 10/31/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Following extensive screening by Purdue and DRI staff, and several conference calls with the project Organizing Committee, an introductory webinar was held in September, 2010. There were approximately 22 participants for this webinar. Interested parties were asked to submit one-page synopses of proposed research to address the project's goals, and a total of 26 of these were received, representing approximately 45 researchers from 15 universities, ARS, and other institutions. Based on these, the Organizing Committee established 14 thrust areas and one or more prospective leaders were chosen in each area. Concurrent with these efforts, an interactive website was established using Purdue University's Hub technology, and used to disseminate information to, and facilitate communication between, project participants. A meeting of thrust area leaders and others was held in Indianapolis in February, 2011. Following the temporary suspension and concomitant reduction in the CAP RFP, the scope of the proposal was scaled back somewhat, de-emphasizing some areas in order to focus on crop and feed production and waste management. Ties were established with the "Climate Change, Mitigation, and Adaptation in Corn-Based Cropping Systems" CAP, and a total of seven farms in three states (IN, NY, MD) were recruited to participate in the project. The Purdue Climate Change Research Center was also added to coordinate science conferences and Stakeholder Advisory Board meetings. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Regulatory agencies and dairy industry leaders. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
This grant was used to lay the groundwork for a full application to the CAP program; this application was submitted in January, 2012. Agriculture accounts for 6% of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the US, and on-farm dairy production accounts for 15% of agriculture's emissions. To minimize on-farm dairies' GHG emissions, the Northeast Dairy CAP's goal is to create Best management Practices (BMPs) for dairy producers to assess and adopt that minimize GHG emissions and improve profitability of milk production across the wide range of farm sizes typical in the Northeast.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period