The Dairy Innovation Hub announces an in-person seminar series featuring new Hub faculty. The goal is to showcase current work, introduce potential collaborators (from across CALS and our partner universities), and foster discussion around common research interests. Don’t miss our first seminar!

Wednesday, April 20 at 12:05 p.m. 
Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery Building, Room 1111

“High-oleic soybeans in dairy rations: what are the farm and market-level economic impacts?”
Chuck Nicholson, associate professor, Agricultural and Applied Economics

Abstract: Experimental evidence suggests that feeding of high-oleic soybeans (HOS) in dairy rations increases milkfat production per cow. This presentation will discuss the impact of this biological effect on milk income over feed costs per cow and per farm, considering the large variation in feed costs and butterfat values since 2014. Widespread adoption of HOS in dairy rations could also affect the supply and demand balance for butterfat and therefore affect farm milk prices. A dairy supply chain simulation model can assess whether this ‘scaling-up’ of HOS feeding would affect the farm-level outcomes. This study provides a good example of how agricultural scientists and agricultural economists can collaborate to provide industry-relevant information.

About the seminar series:

Dairy Innovation Hub faculty seminars are hosted the third Wednesday of the month at 11 a.m. in MSABD Room 1111 during the academic year. This is an in-person event, but a virtual attendance option is available by request (contact Maria Woldt at maria.woldt@wisc.edu). Joe Pierre from the Department of Nutritional Sciences is the featured speaker for May 18.

In addition to more than 100 project awards at UW–Madison, UW-Platteville, and UW-River Falls, 14 new faculty have been hired, including five in CALS with more to follow.

The Dairy Innovation Hub, which launched in 2019, is a $7.8 million per year investment by the State of Wisconsin to build a world-class talent pool and enable bold discoveries to ensure that Wisconsin’s dairy community is at the global forefront in producing nutritious dairy products in an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable manner. More at https://dairyinnovationhub.wisc.edu/