Even during a pandemic, research endures at UW-Madison’s Arlington Research Station! The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences highlighted some of the work going on at Arlington, including pictures of Dr. Heather White and PhD student Kathryn hard at work.
Enjoy the farm and stay warm out there!
Welcome to Wisconsin, Billy!
Billy Brown, PhD, has joined Dr. Heather White’s lab as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow to continue his research interests in transition dairy cow health. Billy completed his BS and PhD at Kansas State University and his MS at Michigan State University. Between degrees, Billy helped expand and impact agricultural markets and awareness while working at the Kansas Department of Agriculture. See more about Billy in the “Members” tab.
We look forward to expanding our knowledge of transition cows and are excited to have Billy’s experience and expertise join the lab group!
Kathryn Ritz, M.S., has joined Dr. Heather White’s lab as a Ph.D. student in order to focus on transition cow health, specifically hepatic nutrient partitioning and metabolism. Kathryn hopes to learn more about risk factors and biomarkers to monitor transition cow health and to find strategies to improve dairy cow health during the transition period.
Kathryn is an alumna of UW-Madison, as she did her undergraduate studies here. After graduation, Kathryn pursued her M.S. at the University of Minnesota and accepted a position with Zinpro upon completion. See more about Kathryn in the “Members” tab.
We are looking forward to the exciting research Kathryn will be exploring and are thrilled to have her in the lab!
Ryan completed and received his Ph.D in Dairy Science Nutrition in July 2020. He will be continuing in academia as an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville with a split appointment between teaching and research. Congratulations and good luck Ryan!!!
Understanding the importance of metabolic health during the transition period in dairy cows is of the upmost importance. After “Feed efficiency and metabolic health: How might we improve them both in the transition cow?” was published in Progressive Dairy in February 2020, Progressive Dairy Canada published the article in July 2020 due to its importance in the dairy industry. The data comes from the Journal of Dairy Science Editor’s Choice manuscript in March 2019, “Postpartum supplementation of fermented ammoniated condensed whey improved feed efficiency and plasma metabolite profile.”
As part of the series of publications in Progressive Dairy, Dr. Heather White and Michael DeVeth continue to discuss nutritional interventions in the article titled “Nutritional intervention improves feed efficiency and saves money.” Throughout the article, discussion on feed efficiency, its importance, and what it looks like when a farm improves feed efficiency are examined.
This article complements a research paper accepted to Journal of Dairy Science in March 2020 titled “Postpartum fermented ammoniated condensed whey supplementation altered nutrient partitioning to support hepatic metabolism,” which is the companion research paper to the Editor’s Choice publication in March 2019.
COVID-19’s effects can be felt in nearly all aspects of our lives, and how our food is sourced and chosen is no exception. In this hour-long discussion organized by the Wisconsin Alumni Association through the UW NOW series, experts on Supply Chain Management (Dr. Greg DeCroix), Meat Science (Dr. Jeff Sindelar), Dairy Science (Dr. Heather White), and Integrated Agricultural Systems (Michelle Miller, MS) discuss the hurdles and challenges faced in our current food supply situation. While the other experts discuss the intricacies involved in each of their respective fields, Dr. White discusses why and how the dairy industry has been affected by COVID-19 and steps we can take to mitigate the effect on dairy farmers.
A follow-up article has been published in Progressive Dairy called “Feed efficiency and metabolic health: How might we improve them both in the transition cow?“. Dr. Rafael Caputo Oliveira was also an author for this new article, as it explores the calculated feed and nitrogen efficiency, as well as circulating insulin concentrations during the transition to lactation period. The data comes from the manuscript “Postpartum supplementation of fermented ammoniated condensed whey improved feed efficiency and plasma metabolite profile” which was Editor’s Choice in March 2019 in the Journal of Dairy Science.
This article complements a previous article in which Dr. Heather White and Michael de Veth, Vice President of Fermented Nutrition, explored how and why Glucoboost, the product being discussed, is beneficial to transition cows.
