Dr. Maurice L. Eastridge, Professor and Extension Dairy Specialist, The Ohio State University
The Department of Animal Sciences, in conjunction with the American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA), held a Dairy Educational Forum and Open House on August 9, 2012 on the Columbus campus. About 100 people were in attendance from at least four states. Nationally and internationally known speaker, Dr. Judith Capper, Sustainability Consultant from Bozeman, MT and Adjunct Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, Washington State University, was the keynote speaker. She is well recognized for her research on the environmental impact of animal agriculture. The day prior to the Forum, she spoke on the OSU campus on “Meatless Mondays and …Other Fairy Tales”. During the Forum, she spoke on the “Environmental Impact and Sustainability of Jersey Milk Production”. During both of these presentations, she addressed how the efficiency of food animal production has increased with improvement in production per animal and how the advancement of science has contributed to this improvement. Chuck Sattler from Select Sires and Cari Wolfe from AJCA discussed “Genomic Evaluations: Powerful tool for Improving Dairy Cattle”, highlighting how genetic advancement has continued to increase animal efficiency and how genomics has enabled improvement in selection of young sires. The ability to niche market Jersey beef with its excellent marbling was the focus of Dr. Francis Fluharty’s, OSU Research Professor, presentation on “Development of a Jersey Branded Beef Program: Realities, Limitations, and Opportunities”. All four of these presentations are available on the Department’s dairy website at: https://dairy.osu.edu; on right, lower side under Quick Links, click on Dairy Educational Forum or go directly to the site at https://dairy.osu.edu/resource/OSU%20Dairy%20Pubs.html#Forum. In the afternoon, the attendees were invited to an open house at the Waterman Dairy Farm whereby they could view the facilities and attend 3 of 5 breakout sessions: 1) Stream Management in a Pasture System, Reagan Bluel, Waterman Farm Manager, 2) Silage Storage to Maintain Quality and Minimize Shrink, Dr. Bill Weiss, OSU Professor, 3) Managing the Costs of Production, Dianne Shoemaker, OSU Extension Field Specialist, 4) Jersey Calf Research at Ohio State, Dr. Kristy Daniels, OSU Assistant Professor, and 5) Services Provided by the AJCA, Brad Barham. There also was a youth program in the afternoon organized by Bonnie Ayars, OSU Extension Youth Specialist.
Pictured: Dr. Bill Weiss (left) and Dianne Shoemaker (right) addressing the group on silage storage and costs of production, respectively.