The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Food Animal Production National Program 101 and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) are conducting a survey to collect input on how Federal investments can best address current needs and challenges facing animal production. The survey to identify and rank important issues relative to animal production commodities and ask for input on impacts of current ARS and NIFA programs and identify future direction for the research programs, is open until February 11, 2021. Please click on the following link to complete the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/99JLJW8

Leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee announced Wednesday the confirmation hearing for Secretary of Agriculture designee Tom Vilsack is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 10:30 a.m. EST. The hearing had been held up while Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tried to broker a power sharing deal with the Senate’s 50-50 split.

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Corn prices have skyrocketed since last fall. “They are knocking on the door at $5.35 per bushel,” said ag economist Dan Basse, president of AgResource Co. in Chicago, during a Jan. 14 Dairy Signal webinar sponsored by Professional Dairy Producers.

Basse believes corn prices will climb to $5.70 to $6 by spring. “This is really changing margins,” he said.

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Have you checked out JDS Communications?

JDS Communications™ (JDSC) Volume 2, Issue 1 is now available on-line. In case you are not familiar with it, JDSC is a new, gold open access, peer-reviewed journal from the American Dairy Science Association® (ADSA®). It publishes short (five pages or less), concise original research and review papers that relate to the production and processing of milk or milk products intended for human consumption.

JDSC provides a fresh and different publication option for dairy scientists. ADSA encourages you to submit your high-quality research studies that are focused, hypothesis-driven, and designed to answer a specific question on the production or processing of milk or milk products intended for human consumption for publication in JDSC Details are included on the JDS Communications™ home page.

While we are a month into the new year, it’s not too late to renew your ADSA membership. If you forgot, you can still go to  https://secure.fass.org/index.asp and renew right now. This will maintain all of your ADSA Member Benefits for the coming year including:

Visit the Member Benefit page for more information on the benefits. If you are not already a member, now is a great time to join so you have access to all of the benefits throughout 2021. Just go to www.adsa.org and become a member today. Remember ADSA Professional dues are only $110 per year. They have not increased since 2000 and are the lowest professional dues of all animal science societies. Click here to renew or join.

Are you a dairy scientist interested in publishing in the American Dairy Science Association’s Journal of Dairy Science (JDS)? This three-part author workshop series, presented by Paul Kononoff, Editor in Chief of Journal of Dairy Science, will better prepare you in the publishing process. The series will focus on actionable steps you can take as an author to have a positive publishing experience, including best practices and tips that begin to develop your manuscript for JDS. Whether you are a graduate student, postdoctoral researcher, assistant professor, or a relatively new author to JDS, this series will have something for you to take away and implement. The first webinar recording is available on the ADSA website and the second will take place on Thursday, February 11. For a recording of the first webinar, and to register for the second, click here.

Special Announcement: 40^th ADSA Discover Conference on NASEM Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle Moves to August 2021with Hybrid Conference

American Dairy Science Association^® (ADSA) continues to adopt best meeting practices during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which includes plans for our 40^th ADSA Discover Conference: NASEM Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle. The in-person conference planned for June 1-4, 2021 in Itasca, IL will now be held as a hybrid conference August 30-September 2, 2021. Continued COVID-19 related travel and gathering uncertainties coupled with delays with the NASEM publication brought us to this decision.

Registration options will include both in-person and virtual participation options. Be watching the DC40 web site for the addition of virtual registration options coming soon. https://www.adsa.org/Meetings/40th-Discover-Conference

 We look forward to welcoming you to the 40^th ADSA Discover Conference in August, and we are here to help you however we can with questions and requests for support. Please contact Molly Kelley, Conference Coordinator or Larry Miller, Conference Director, or visit our web site at https://www.adsa.org/Meetings/40th-Discover-Conference

The 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Dairy Science Association® (ADSA®) will be held as hybrid meeting with a virtual component and a corresponding in-person meeting in Louisville, Kentucky July 11-14. As always it will be the most comprehensive dairy science meeting in the world.

Annual Meeting Call for Abstracts – DEADLINE IS MARCH 4

The abstract submission site for the 2021 ADSA Annual Meeting is open! You can now submit your abstract. Submission instructions, quality standards, answers to frequently asked questions, and student competition guidelines are available on the page. There is no abstract submission fee to submit an abstract to the ADSA annual meeting. The deadline for abstract submission is March 4, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. (CST).

The ADSA annual meeting in Louisville will be directly followed by the ASAS annual meeting. Make plans now to catch the shared programing day on Wednesday, July 14, and the shared social event later that evening. For more information about the meeting visit the 2021 ADSA Annual Meeting website. Visit often as it will be updated frequently as new information becomes available. 

ADSA members, did you choose to use your registration for the 2020 ADSA Annual Meeting to renew your ADSA membership? If so, Thank You. If not just a reminder that it is time for our annual membership renewal. Remember discounted Annual Meeting registration is one of the many benefits of membership. The savings on annual meeting registration will largely cover the cost of membership.

Start making plans to attend the 41^ST ADSA DISCOVER CONFERENCE^SM ON FOOD ANIMAL AGRICULTURE - Health Management of Calves: From Intrauterine Life to Successful Weaning. It will be held October 25-28, 2021 at the Eaglewood Resort & Spa in Itasca, IL The conference will explore the many changes in dairy calf management practices, and research conducted over the last decade.

•      Opportunities and Key Knowledge Gaps in Calf Management

•      Bull Calves & Dairy-Beef

•      Calf Housing and Behavior

•      Calf Immunology and Vaccines

•      Calf Nutrition Pre-weaning

•      Calf Welfare

•      Colostrum Management

•      Fetal Programming, Influence of Cow Stressors on Calf Development

•      Neonatal Disease Management

•      Transition to the Ruminant Calf: Weaning Strategies to Optimize Future Health and Productivity 

A poster session will be included to allow participants to share and discuss research findings. Details will be posted on the meeting site as they are finalized. 

Our ADSA Linked In group now includes 1,917 members from around the world, are you one of them? It’s a great place to get information about ADSA and industry activities as well as to network with other dairy professionals from around the world. Check it out here.

While on “Linked In” check out the ADSA Graduate Student Division (GSD) as well. You can find their page at https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12059336/profile