Additional $9.6m announced for U.S. meat supply chain

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Jan. 5 an additional $9.6 million investment to diversify the U.S. meat supply chain, continuing the administration’s efforts to expand market capacity and market opportunities, particularly in the meat and poultry sectors.

“USDA is putting the needs of farmers, ranchers and consumers at the forefront of the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to strengthen the resiliency of America’s food supply chain while promoting competition,” Vilsack said. “USDA has undertaken a department-wide approach to coordinate ways to deliver more opportunities and fairer prices for producers, to give people access to healthier foods, eliminate bottlenecks in the food supply chain and ultimately lower prices for consumers.”

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Early detection of mastitis in cows using the system based on 3D motions detectors

Mastitis is one of the major health problems in dairy herds leading to a reduction in the quality of milk and economic losses. Recent research published in Nature aimed to present a system using electronic 3D motion detectors to detect the early symptoms of mastitis. The system would allow more effective prevention of this illness. The experiment was carried out on 118 cows (64 Holstein Friesian and 54 Brown Swiss). The animals were kept in free-stall barns with access to pasture. The occurrence of mastitis cases was noticed in veterinary register. Microbiological culture was taken from milk in order to confirm the development of infection. Data from motion detectors were defined as time spent by animals on feed intake, ruminating, physical activity and rest, and were expanded by adding information about feeding group, breed type and lactation number. During the analyses, two dataset approaches were reviewed, and two proposed models can be useful for automating the detection of mastitis once integrated into the farm’s IT system, according to authors.

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Calculating environmental impact needs to include protein quality

The environmental footprints of certain foodstuffs, calculated per unit of protein produced, risk misinforming food stakeholders and consumers, according to a new study.

Instead, the full nutritional value of foodstuffs needs to be fully considered when scientists are trying to calculate the environmental impact of producing different foods, say the authors.

The study took a measure of protein quality called the Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score and used it to create ‘adjusted’ environmental footprint metrics for a variety of foods. Using this method, many animal-based products’ environmental impacts were almost halved (e.g., dairy beef) while the impacts associated with wheat bread, for instance, increased by almost 60%.  

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Esteban sworn in as Under Secretary for Food Safety

After more than a year of waiting, Jose Emilio Esteban was sworn in as the new USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety. He replaces Mindy Brashers, who left in Jan. 2021.

“Dr. Esteban has a long and well-documented commitment to food safety and public health. With over two decades of experience at USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, he has been on the front lines of protecting the public from foodborne illness for much of his career,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement released shortly after Esteban was sworn in.

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Last chance to register: Scientific publishing webinar

Curious how to choose the best journal fit, navigate the publishing process, and maximize the impact of your scholarly work? Join Paul Kononoff, Editor in Chief of the Journal of Dairy Science, for a free, one-hour virtual webinar on Thursday, January 12, at 1:00 p.m. CT. Attendees will get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into scientific publishing and ADSA’s journals, as well as tips for highlighting their work.

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Submit your abstract: 2023 ADSA Annual Meeting 

Be a part of the most valuable dairy meeting for research presentations! The ADSA Annual Meeting scientific program will feature more than 1,000 oral and poster presentations from around the globe. Be sure to submit your abstract by February 15, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. CT to put your research in front of 1,500 scientists from at least 50 countries.

All abstracts are peer reviewed by industry leaders and published as a supplement to the Journal of Dairy Science. We look forward to your contributions to this global gathering of animal and dairy scientists.

Submit your abstract for ADSA 2023

44th ADSA Discover Conference on food animal agriculture: Why cheese from milk?

Join the ADSA Discover Conference, in collaboration with the American Cheese Society, on March 7–9, 2023, in person (at the Northern Illinois University Conference Center in Naperville, IL) or virtually, to inform some of the latest research on the nutritional and health-promoting aspects of milk and cheese. Attendees will:

• Get access to the latest science-based information from dairy science experts
• Engage with production and dairy foods colleagues in the cheese sector
• Receive evidence-based messaging about dairy

Register by February 7, 2023, to receive a $100 discount.

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ADSA Professional Membership—the least expensive of all national animal-related professional societies—includes all of the following benefits: