Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:This report marks the end of the project, and an outline of dissemination and target audience profiles is oulined in the Products section of this report. Ultimately, we have disseminated our research to over 2000 people through different platforms, and our target audience included the general public, industry stakeholders, and scientists. During this last reporting period in specific, despite severe limitations due to COVID-19, which eliminated our ability to hold additional field days this summer, we were able to co-sponsor the Vermont Organic Dairy Producers Conference held on March 11th before the Vermont "Stay Home, Stay Safe" order was initiated by the Governor. This conference included 103 participants, predominantly organic dairy farmers, and featured a session by Patrice Vincent from Belisle Solution Nutrition, Inc. entitled "Maximizing efficiency and profitability - it starts in the field!". This session was designed to help organic dairy farmers better understand their on-farm nutrition from their field, which was the heart of this OREI program. Feedback from this conference, and this session in particular, was positive. Changes/Problems:Overall, we did face some challenges during this trial, including delayed recruitment of a graduate student during the early stages of the program, the passing of one of our Co-PIs (economist Dr. Bob Parsons), our inability to secure an economist that could fill Bob's role, some personnel changes (K. Hagen exiting the program), and the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past year specifically, COVID-19 severely restricted our ability to hold additional field days and workshops, and public release of the guidelines is delayed as a result of the pandemic. However, we still feel that we've successfully met the intent and goals of the originally outlined project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During this program, we had an incredible opportunity for training and professional development. A total of 9 undergraduate students (M. Lipschutz, M. Honan, M. Helstein, S. Driscoll, A. Ayers, W. Pochal, C. Kadis, H. Malcomson, H. Churchill) participated in on-farm data collection, lab analysis, and/or data analysis. One of these undergrads remained with the program (A. Ayers) and this program was the foundation of her MS research. Of the participating students, almost 90% of these students have continued their education in post-graduate professional education (vet school or graduate school) or are considering that path, and 3 have continued graduate school in dairy research in specific (M. Honan, H. Malcomson, and A. Ayers) as a direct result of their participation in this program. Over the past year in specific, graduate student A. Ayers earned her MS, and is successfully employed in an animal research protections office in Academia and an undergraduate student (H. Churchill) was employed to complete outstanding milk fatty acid analysis until the COVID-19 school closure. This employment gave this student further insight into lab research, and she is currently pursuing graduate school opportunities for pasture-related fields. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Over the course of this program, our research, including data and progress, were reported at the following events in addition to the annual written reports and drop in meeting sessions we held for producers participating in the trial: as an oral at the 2016 Northeastern Organic Conference, as a report in the August 2017 Fresh from the Field publication (a listserv of approximately 1000 stakeholders and public), an oral presentation at the 2017 Vermont Organic Dairy Producers Conference (hosts over 100 regional stakeholders annually), a poster at the UVM-Extension sponsored 2017 Summer Organic Dairy Series field days, a poster at the 2018 NE ASAS conference, a poster at the 2018 UVM Student Research Conference, an oral presentation and proceedings abstract at the 2019 Northeast Pasture Consortium (NEPC) Conference, an oral update at the 2019 Vermont Organic Dairy Producers Conference, a poster and abstract at the 2019 ADSA Annual Meeting, and a poster at the 2019 UVM Student Research Conference. Over this past reporting year, the pandemic did restrict and reduce our original plans; however, we were able to co-support the 2020 Vermont Organic Dairy Producers Conference in the early spring (March 11th, 2020) before the pandemic, where dairy farmers from the region learned about improving their diet profiles and nutrition management, particularly from a field nutrition perspective. The large stakeholder attendance at this meeting (103 attendees) as well as a session specifically on grazing nutrition by a guest speaker, helped us reach the target audience. Over the past year, the MS thesis of A. Ayers was also completed and will be publically available online (https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/1191/), which allows access of all data and results to the general public. Additionally, the additional diet tool and manual that will be imminently publically released are intended for organic dairy farmers as well as other stakeholders. The diet tool and manual includes both general information as well as updated specific guidance and information developed using the results reported by A. Ayers, particularly in reference to protein profile of supplements. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Over the course of this program, we have successfully addressed the above outlined goals, with specific details outlining completion of each objective below: Objective 1: Compile and assess data from regional organic dairies during the pasture season. We successfully collected survey data over two grazing seasons. We collected data from 17 commercial organic dairy farms across the state of Vermont monthly from June to October in 2016, and collected survey data from 16 of these same farms across Vermont in the months of May, July and September of 2017. Survey data was collected over a 2-day period from each farm during each of the collection months. Survey data includes pasture data (the pasture chemical profile, botanical composition, grazing schedule, and estimated grazing intakes), supplementation data (chemical profile of supplement, feeding schedule, and estimated supplement intakes), total dry matter intake data (calculated from grazing and supplement intake data), animal data (including lactation information, milk composition data, and body condition score from a subset of each herd), and soil data (chemical composition). Objective 2. Define the categories of feeding strategies used on regional organic dairies. When completing the farm surveys in 2016 and 2017, we included collection of information outlining the different feeding strategies and feeding management practices used on participating farms. As part of initial survey, we asked each participating producer to outline their daily feeding schedule and their typical management practices. We met with each producer at each data collection month to verify if anything within their feeding schedule or management plan had changed, and recorded any changes. Objective 3. Characterize trends within feeding strategy and outline any significant trends within the different management practices. Objectives 2 and 3 were tightly linked, and we successfully classified farms and identified differences in strategy that affected on farm milk productivity. To address these objectives, all survey data collected during the 2016 and 2017 grazing seasons, including feeding schedule and management practices, were compiled and assessed. We were able to quantify the number of farms that utilized intensive rotational grazing practices, those that allowed back grazing, and those that utilized a multi-paddock grazing strategy. We were also able to calculate the pasture area (ha), grazing time (h), supplement usage (kg/cow/d) and productivity (kg milk/cow/d) of participating farms with high and low milk productivity using the survey data collected. One major factor we also identified through this survey data was that pasture intake estimates were crucial for the farmer, yet were difficult to accurately measure due to the variability of pastures in Vermont using typical measurement methods (e.g rising plate meter and quadrat cuts). To address this, we completed a trial to assess the feasibility of using an organic carnauba wax marker to assess pasture intake on commercial organic grazing farms in Vermont. This was completed with one farm that participated in the initial 2016 and 2017 surveys. Objective 4. Determine whether permutations within a feeding strategy can alter the animal and financial productivity of the farm. One outcome of our analyses addressing Objectives 1-3 was that nutritional profile of the supplement, not grazing strategy, appeared to be a limiting factor affecting milk productivity on these commercial organic dairies. To address and validate this finding, we completed an on-farm study with partnering commercial organic producers. Six farms that were included in the original farm surveys participated in a 6-week on-farm trial during the summer 2018 grazing season. Three of the farms continued over this 6-week period with their typical management and feeding practices, while the other 3 farms replaced their supplement with a newly formulated supplement containing an adjusted crude protein profile for the last 4 weeks of the trial. Pasture, supplement, and animal data was collected weekly from each farm. Through this research, we successfully identified and validated a supplementation feeding strategy (ie. modifying dietary supplement crude protein profile) that does positively impact animal productivity during the grazing season. During this past reporting period, A. Ayers completed interpretation and development of manuscripts that outline the pasture data, supplement data, intake data, milk production data, animal profiles and grazing management profiles from Objectives 1-4 of the outlined project. Objective 5. Construct guidelines within and across feeding strategies. With the above information, we aimed to construct a written set of guidelines that farmers could use as a resource for making on-farm nutritional management decisions. Over the past year, we were able to make some progress with Objective 5 despite COVID-19 related closures. For this objective, we have collaboratively developed a nutrition evaluation tool that organic dairy producers can use to assess their total diet profile and quality during the grazing season and ultimately make management decisions based on their pasture and supplement quality. While COVID-19 did slow progress of development of this tool, the tool will be released within the year. Outreach objective 1. Involve producers in on-farm research to encourage engagement and communication between researchers and stakeholders. We were fortunate to have a lot of producer interest in this program, and all survey and research was completed on commercial organic dairy farms across Vermont. Ultimately, we had 17 commercial organic farms enrolled in the on-farm survey. One farm was unable to participate in a second year of surveying; however, the 16 farms that participated in both years of the survey were completely engaged through both years and all 17 participating farms received full annual reports each year they participated outlining all data collected on their respective farms in the previous grazing season. Feedback from these participating farmers was very positive, with 75% indicating that they are/will be implementing more regular forage and milk tests are a result of the survey program, 83% are/will be doing more soil tests on-farm as a result of this program, and 58% are/will be doing more regular body condition assessments as a result of the program. Six of these farms also participated in more intensive on-farm research during this program, including implementation of feeding modified diets on their commercial farms, and this collaborative research enhanced the producer-researcher relationships and led to fruitful collaborations. Outreach objective 2. Disseminate research to the regional organic dairy producers and greater community. We were heavily focused on disseminating the research results to stakeholders throughout the program. An outline of the specific events is listed below in response to the question of "How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?". As a result of these efforts, we disseminated our research to over 2,000 people (based on participant attendance numbers), including scientists, industry stakeholders, and general public.
Publications
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Ayers, A. 2020. Feeding strategies for grazing organic dairy cows and the impact on milk production. ScholarWorks @ UVM ISSN: 2576-7550
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Over the last reporting period, we presented data from this research program at the Northeast Pasture Consortium(NEPC) Conference, the Vermont Organic Dairy Producers (VODP) Conference, the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) Annual Meeting, and the UVM Student Research Conference (SRC). Research abstracts were also produced for the NEPC and ADSA meetings. Overall, these venues target a variety of audiences, including industry stakeholders (NEPC and VODP conferences), research scientists (ADSA meeting), and general audiences (UVM SRC), reaching over 1000 people across these venues. Changes/Problems:No major changes/problems have occured, though we are behind our target timeline, and have hired on additional temporary staff for the upcoming year to help ensure that we complete all goals. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Much of the research included in this program is encompassed within the MS thesis of student A. Ayers, and this has provided her with an excellent opportunity for training that will advance her future career and help her achieve her career goals. In addition, over the last year, undergraduate student H. Churchill has been involved in processing of milk samples collected in Phase 2 for fatty acid analysis. While this student is not an animal science major, this training has been an excellent experience and this student is now considering graduate school in dairy systems asa result of this training and experience. Of the 9 undergraduate students that have been involved in this program to date, almost 90% of these students have continued their education in post-graduate professional education (vet school or graduate school) or are considering this path, and 3 have continued graduate school indairyresearch in specific. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Research findings have been disseminated as oral communications through oral presentations at the Northeast Pasture Consortium(NEPC) Conference, the Vermont Organic Dairy Producers (VODP) Conference, the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) Annual Meeting, and the UVM Student Research Conference (SRC). Research abstracts were also produced for the NEPC and ADSA meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Over the next reporting year we would like to complete our milk fatty analysis for Phase 2 of the project, complete financial assessment of the treatments in Phase 2, complete statistical analysis and interpretation of wax intake marker data, validate predictive model findings for Phase 1, and complete creation and dissemination of results as helpful guidelines for organic dairy producers. We are aiming to hold several producer-focused meetings in the upcoming spring and summer to expand our dissemination of results using oral communication strategies in addition to publication of the works.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Over the past reporting period, we completed statistical analysis of the pasture data (nutrient profile, botanical composition, mass disappearance), supplement data (intake estimates, nutrient profile), estimated intake (estimated pasture intake + estimated supplement intake at the herd level), milk production (total yield, component yields and milk urea nitrogen (MUN) profiling), animal body condition, and grazing management profiles for both Phase 1 (regional commercial farm survey) and Phase 2 (diet manipulation trial)of the program. This data was interpreted by graduate student A. Ayers, and was incorporated into her MS Thesis (defense date of mid November 2019).This data iscurrently being prepared as two separate manuscripts for submission to a peer-reviewed journal for consideration. We have also continued our analysis of additional samples collected as part of this program, including feed to production cost analysis and analysis of 3,000 milk samples collected across the 6 commercial organic dairyfarms that participated in the Phase 2 experiment of this program for fatty acid analysis, as well as statistical analysis and interpretation of carnauba wax intake marker data. We have also submitted all pasture samples collected from Phase 1 of the program for more intensive mineral analysis using wet chemistry, as student A. Ayers identified some possible influences of nutritive plant profile using statistical predictive modeling, which we will re-assess after wet chemistry results are returned.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, we have started disseminating the data compiled from the 2016 and 2017 grazing seasons. To do this, the MS student associated with this project (A. Ayers) presented a poster of the data at the Northeast American Society of Animal Science (NE ASAS)meeting held at the University of Connecticut, and presented a poster at the University of Vermont Student Research Conference (UVM SRC). The NE ASAS meeting targets animal scientists from a diverse array of fields, while the UVM SRC includes posters and oral presentations by approximately 400 students and is open to the public. Both of these venues were an excellent way to showcase some of ourdata and observationsto a greater audience. A. Ayers also attended the the ASAS Innovate Conference, where the focus was Influencing the Future of Animal-Sourced Foods. Because our project encompasses more than animal science, this was a good avenue for A. Ayersto interact with other attendees and talk about her project one-on-one. Changes/Problems:Unfortunately, our colleague and team member Dr. Bob Parsons passed away during this reporting period, so we have lost an integral member of our team. I communicated this loss to our USDA program director. We have had difficulty securing an agricultural economist to fulfill the roleof Dr. Parsons in this program, but we have discussed ways within our team to complete at least a partial economic assessment of the Phase 2 projects to ensure that we still fulfill our goals. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During this past reporting period, MS student A. Ayers led the sampling and analysis, and this project forms the basis of her thesis. In part because of this excellentexperience, A. Ayers is seeking additional opportunities to further advance her understanding of integrated systems including food systems. We were able to teach and train two more undergraduate students this current reporting period (C. Kadis and H. Malcomson), bringing our total undergraduate students to 8 on this project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As listed in the Target Audience section, A. Ayers was able to present posters at both the NE ASAS and UVM SRC, disseminating the Phase 1 data to animal scientists (NE ASAS) and the general public (UVM SRC), reachingapproximately500 peopleacross these two venues. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next reporting period, our focus will be on creation of the guidelines listed in Objective 5 and dissemination of our findings to a variety of scientific and stakeholder-focused meetings. We have already begun discussion conference venues and potential field day hosts for the upcoming spring and summer, which are the more popular times for grazing-focused engagements for stakeholders.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In this reporting period, we completed on-farm sampling and data collection from 16 organic dairy farms across the region for Phase 1 of the project (completed in September 2017).We havecompleted analysis and compilation of thepasture data (nutrient profile, botanical composition, mass disappearance), supplement data (intake estimates, nutrient profile), estimated intake (estimated pasture intake + estimated supplement intake at the herd level), milk production (total yield, component yields and milk urea nitrogen (MUN)), animal condition (body condition), and grazing management profiles, for the 2017 grazing season. We also sought farmer feedback from these 16 farms regarding the usefulness of this Phase 1 of the program, and of the participating farms, 85.7% of the farmers indicated thatthey have gained a better understanding of their farm system through the program andhave either already implemented or plan to implement additional testing metrics on their farmsfor the 2018 season as a result of the program.Of these farmers, 75% indicated that they are/will be implementing more regular forage and milk tests as a result of the program, 83% are/will be doing more soil tests on-farm as a result of the program, and 58% are/will be doing more regular cattle body condition assessments as a result of theprogram. We also completed two projects as part of Phase 2 in this current reporting year. From the Phase 1 data, it was evident that there was variation in the MUN profiles of these farms, moreso than variation in timing or amount of supplement feeding; therefore, we focused on this MUN variation for our Phase 2 (Objective 4). For the first experiment, we worked with 6 of the original 16 farms and they were assigned treatments (either control, where the farm diets were not modified (n=3), or treatment, where we adjusted the CP profile of thesupplement (n=3)). These 6 farms underwent weekly assessment for 6 consecutive weeks, where we did weekly pasture, supplement, and animal assessments as was done in Phase 1. We also collected weekly milk samples on two consecutive milkings from each of these farms through the entire 6-week trial, and will be using these milk samples for milk fatty acid analysis. We are in the process of completing pasture sample analysis and statistical analysis of the data. The second project of Phase 2 was done in collaboration with1 of these 6 farms, whereby we performed an organicwax intake marker trial to gain a better understanding of grazing intakes as per our original project application. This work is being done in collaboration with Dr. R. Lewis from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and fecal and plant samples are currently being analyzed.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, we utilized several different avenues to disseminate our research progress and findings to date to a wider audience beyond thoseproducersthat are participating in the study. Ourtarget audience was regional stakeholders, so focused on venues that would reach this demographic. Our outreach efforts addressed the following target audiences: A publication in Fresh from the Field (published byThe University of Vermont Center for Sustainable Agriculture Newsletter)outlining this projectand progress to date was included in the August 2017 edition of this newsletter, which was emailed to a listserv of approximately 1000 people, including everyone from industry stakeholders to interested members of the public. An oral presentationupdate on this project was presented at the Vermont Organic Dairy ProducersConference, which hosts over 100 regional stakeholders annually. This audience includes primarily organic dairy producers from the region, but also includes other industry stakeholders (consultants, nutritionists, veterinarians, service providers). An update on this project, including an oral update and poster aids for visualization, was given at the 2017 Summer Organic Dairy Series field days. This is a popular on-farm venue, with the majority of attendants being farmers from the area. Changes/Problems:In May, 2017, I met withtwo members of the UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture who are co-investigators on this study (C. Colby and J. Alvez). It was brought forth thata third co-investigator from this same Center (K. Hagen) would like to be removed as an investigator from this study due to other research commitments, and in lieu A. Alvez would take over K. Hagen's responsibilities. This created no change in total budget and did not create any issues with completing the objectives. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?To date, 6 undergraduate students have been trained in sampling techniques as a part of this program (M. Lipschutz, M. Honan, M. Helstein, S. Driscoll, A. Ayers, and W. Pochal). In addition, we have received participation requests fromother undergraduate students who have heard about this learning opportunity from their peers, and we have newly recruited another undergraduate student (C. Kadis), who will aid in completion of Phase 2 of this project. Two of the students who haveparticipated in data collection in this studyhave proceeded to graduate studies in dairy cattle nutrition (M. Honan and A. Ayers). MS Student A. Ayers will be using the research being performed in this program as part of her thesis, and will lead Phase 2 of the upcoming research that is outlined as part of this program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In addition to the article printed in the UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture Newsletter (listed as output) and the program website, we were able disseminate information about the program at the following venues: Printed farmer reports and drop-in session: Each farmer that participated in the 2016 data collection were mailed reports including all milk yield and component data, body condition scores, pasture nutrient profiles, pasture botanical composition, pasture dry mass disspearance, supplement nutrient profile, estimated supplement intake, and soil nutrient profile data collected on their farm during the 2016 season. The research team also had a drop in information session for these participating producers on April 25th, 2017 in order to go through these reports with producers. Vermont Organic Dairy ProducersConference: An update on this project was presented at this conference, which was held on Thursday March 9th, 2017, with the majority of attendants being regional stakeholders. 2017 Summer Organic Dairy Series field days: An updated on this project was presented on Tuesday September 12th, 2017 at a regional field day hosted by NOFA and UVM Extension at the Miller's farm in Vernon, VT. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are currentlycompleting NIR analysis of the pasture samples collected in this last round of sample collections,and is expected to be complete within the first5 months of this next reporting period. In addition, we anticipate completion of financial data colleciton associated with this last grazing season in the spring of 2018. All other data associated with this Phase 1 has been compiled and is being prepared for statistical analysis. Our aim is to complete statistical analysis and interpretation of all Phase 1 data by the end of this next reporting period. We also intend on commencing Phase 2 of this program in the upcoming reporting period. In Phase 2, our aim is address Objectives 4 and 5 of this program, which focus on fine-tuning the supplement strategies being used on farms. We utilized the farms participating in Phase 1 as an indicator of the variation of supplement practices currently being utilized in this region. We have identified that over 70% of the farms included in Phase 1 of this study utilize some sort of supplement in their feeding protocol.To better identify and outline the different supplement strategies and how they can be utilized tooptimize productivity (at the cow-or economic- level), we are currently in the process of recruitinga subset of farmers (target: 6)that were engaged in Phase 1 of this project (outlined above). Our aim is to implement changes in feeding protocol on these farms to determine if small changes in feed management practices outlined in Phase 1 can induce a change in productivity as a proportion of feeding and/or feed cost, ultimately increasing income over feed costs. The aim is not to change the amount of supplement or type of supplement, but when the supplement is offered relative to grazing. The plan is to completethe second phase of this program, which includes repeated soil-, plant-, and animal- levelcollections on participating farms during the 2018 grazing season before and during the treatment implementation, and that this datawill then be compiled and analyzedduring the later half of this next reporting period, with final analysis and outreach programs being completed during the last reporting periodof this program.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In the last reporting period, we noted that we decided to continue our data collection on regional farms for a second pasture season due to variable weather patterns that occured in the 2016 pasture season. Of the 17 farms that participated in the 2016 sampling season, 16 of these farms continued to participate in this program during the 2017 pasture season. Our team was able to go back on to these 16 farms and collect pasture data (chemical profile, botanical composition, grazing schedule, estimated grazing pasture mass and grazing intakes using rising plate meters), supplementation data (chemical profile of supplement, feeding schedule, estimated supplement intakes), and animal data (lactation information, milk composition, body condition) at 3 specific points during the grazing season (Spring sampling was from May 15th to June 15th, Summer sampling was July, and Fall sampling was September) tobuild a larger data set addressing our Specific Objectives 1 (including subset 1-4), 2, and 3.We are currently analyzing data from this latest collection period and will be able to collect financial data from farms to complete our analysis of the 2017 grazing season once farms have compiled their income and payment records (Co-PI Dr. Bob Parsons will compile this data during the Winter/Spring 2018), and this final piece of information will then be included in statistical analysis. We are confident that this data set, once analysis is complete, will finalize our address of research Objectives 1-3. This cooperative workwith the 16 farms in the regionhas also allowed us toaddress Outreach Objective 1. During this past reporting period we also utilized several outreach venues (described in Target Audience, Output and Accomplishment sections) to disseminate our activities, which addresses our Outreach Objective 2 (including subset 1 through 3).
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Fresh from the Field, The University of Vermont Center for Sustainable Agriculture Newsletter. 2017. What should organic dairy cows eat & when should they eat it?
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