Real Science Exchange-Dairy

• The Future of Milk; Guests: Eve Pollet, Dairy Management Inc.; Dr. John Lucey, University of Wisconsin- River Falls; Dr. Rafael Jimenez-Flores, Ohio State University; Dr. Jim Aldrich, CSA

  Eve gives an overview of current and future consumer trends where dairy can play a role. Functional foods, health and wellness, high protein foods, fermented and cultured foods, women’s health, brain health, and aging are all part of the mix. (7:26)The panelists discuss the healthfulness of saturated fats, the resurgence of butter, milk’s bioactive compounds, and how best to reach the public about the health benefits of dairy. (10:41)Eve talks about marketing to Gen Z consumers, who are motivated by novelty. How do we reimagine a food that’s been here for thousands of years? What new ways can we talk about it? What ways can we optimize dairy science and research to show up in generative systems like ChatGPT? (20:34)The group then tackles the topic of lactose. Lactose and honey are the only two sugars not made by plants. Why is it lactose that is in the milk of mammals? Dr. Jiminez-Flores thinks lactose is a dark horse in dairy and we have much yet to discover about it. He notes that some milk oligosaccharides are not digested by babies, but are used by bacteria in the development of a healthy microbiome. Dr. Lucy notes that dairy also contains peptides that have been found to reduce hypertension. The group also delves into how dairy products can be part of preventative health care. (23:53)Do consumers perceive dairy products to be minimally processed? Eve explains that dairy is perceived as a clean, fresh food. Given the current trend to reduce additives and food dyes, she sees potential for dairy food science innovation in this area. Dr. Aldrich talks about the glycemic index of lactose-free milk. (38:13)The panelists agree that dairy has a great upcycling story to tell. Converting fiber into milk and meat and feeding non-human grade byproducts are just two examples. Eve notes that younger consumers care about sustainability, but there’s a huge “say-do” gap: 76% of North American consumers identify as caring about conscious and sustainable practices, but less than 40% actually act on those values when making purchases. The panel also notes that whey is another great upcycling story. Dr. Jiminez-Flores emphasizes how important consumer trust in science and research is, and how we are currently experiencing a loss of that trust. (45:48)Panelists share their take-home thoughts. (1:01:01)Please subscribe and share with your industry friends to invite more people to join us at the Real Science Exchange virtual pub table.  If you want one of our Real Science Exchange t-shirts, screenshot your rating, review, or subscription, and email a picture to [email protected]. Include your size and mailing address, and we’ll mail you a shirt.

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• Got (More) Milk? The Latest Research on Fueling Dairy Cows with High-Oleic Soybeans; Guests: Dr. Adam Lock, Michigan State University; Dr. Alycia Bales and Nathan Elzinga, Caledonia Farmers Elevator; Co-host: Dr. Jeff Elliott, Balchem

  Dr. Lock presented a Real Science Lecture Series webinar on June 3, 2025. This episode takes a deep dive into the current science and applications of feeding high-oleic soybeans in dairy diets. You can find the original webinar at balchem.com/realscience. Dr. Lock gives an overview of the evolution of our knowledge of biologically important fatty acids in dairy cows. Much like we think more about amino acids than crude protein these days, we are starting to think about fatty acids rather than crude fat. There are 5 main fatty acids in dairy cow diets: palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic. Dr. Lock talks about the importance and role of each, especially that of oleic acid. (6:26)  Dr. Bales shares some of the research she conducted in Dr. Lock’s lab during her MS and PhD, including a dose response study, raw versus roasted beans, and roasted beans plus supplemental palmitic acid. All studies have resulted in increased milk fat and milk yield, better feed efficiency, and usually a bump in milk protein. She also notes there is a nice synergistic relationship between the fat and degradable protein in the roasted high-oleic beans, which are high in lysine. (13:59)Nate talks a bit about how the elevator positions high-oleic soybeans to the dairy producers in the area and how different farms have implemented feeding the beans, depending on size, infrastructure, and location. Dr. Bales chimes in with some additional examples. (21:02)The panelists agree that quality control to ensure consistent sources going out into the field is the next big hurdle. Finding the optimal particle size for diets is also needed, as there is a wide variation currently, which may impact cow performance. (31:56)Nate predicts no slowing down in the adoption of this technology in his area in the next few years. Dr. Lock notes there may be some potential for feeding high-oleic oil in areas not suited for growing the beans themselves. The panelists agree that the target groups who should receive high-oleic beans in their rations are fresh cows and high cows. Nate emphasizes the importance of having adequate digestible NDF and a healthy rumen to see optimal results. (37:10)Dr. Lock talks about future research plans into high-oleic soybeans and other fatty acids. The panel comments on the yield of high-oleic soybeans and the availability of seed, both conventional and GMO. (48:48)Panelists share their take-home thoughts. (59:15)Please subscribe and share with your industry friends to invite more people to join us at the Real Science Exchange virtual pub table.  If you want one of our Real Science Exchange t-shirts, screenshot your rating, review, or subscription, and email a picture to [email protected]. Include your size and mailing address, and we’ll mail you a shirt.

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• 2025 ADSA Student Showcase

  In this episode, we showcase student research at the 2025 ADSA Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. Abstracts can be found here: ADSA 2025 Annual MeetingAbstract 2186: Effects of feeding alternative forage silages on early lactation performance and gas production in multiparous Holstein cows. (00:15)Guests: Barbara Dittrich and Dr. Heather White, University of Wisconsin-MadisonCo-Host: Dr. Clay Zimmerman, BalchemBarbara substituted rye silage, triticale silage, rye-camelina-hairy vetch silage, and triticale-camalina-hairy vetch silage to replace 10% of the alfalfa silage in the control diet for her experimental diets. Dry matter intake and gas production were similar across diets. Average milk yield was higher in the rye mix silage group compared to the triticale mix silage group, but no treatment was different than the control.  Abstract 1602: Optimizing starch concentrations in low-forage diets. (11:22)Guests: Irie Moussiaux and Dr. Kirby Krogstad, Ohio State UniversityCo-host: Dr. Jeff Elliott, BalchemIrie investigated different levels of starch in a low-forage diet (12.5% NDF) by replacing soybean hulls with corn to yield 20%, 25%, or 30% starch. Dry matter intake and milk production were the same for all three starch concentrations; however, the low starch diet had the highest milk fat yield and energy-corrected milk yield. Abstract 2183: Effects of partial replacement of corn and oat silages with extracted stevia plant on production, behavior, and digestibility in dairy cows. (17:05)Guests: Mariana Marino and Dr. Jose Santos, University of FloridaCo-host: Dr. Clay Zimmerman, BalchemMariana fed stevia plant byproduct as a replacement for corn and oat silage in lactating cow diets. All diets had 40% grain and 60% forage. Stevia byproduct was included at 0, 25%, or 40% of diet dry matter. The byproduct is of very fine particle size and is relatively high in lignin. This resulted in higher dry matter intake, but lower milk production for the highest stevia diet. Abstract 2472: Evaluating feed sorting behavior and TMR composition in roughage intake control feeding systems. (26:38)Guests: Sophia Green and Dr. Heather White, University of Wisconsin-MadisonCo-host: Dr. Ryan Pralle, BalchemSophia evaluated feed sorting in a research intake control feeding system (RIC bins). Feed sorting primarily occurred in the last 12 hours of the feed day, and particle size was smaller at the end of the day than earlier. Compared to fresh feed at hour zero, the chemical composition of the diet did not change throughout the feed day. RIC bins did not introduce additional variance in nutrient consumption. Abstract 1603: Assessing an ex vivo assay with gastrointestinal tissue sections to investigate mucosal immune responses in dairy calves. (35:24)Guests: Paiton McDonald and Dr. Barry Bradford, Michigan State UniversityPaiton challenged explants from the ileum and mid-jejunum in the lab with rotavirus or E. coli compared to a control. Pathogen stimulation increased mRNA abundance of TNF and IL6 above control. Ileal sections secreted more cytokines than jejunal sections. Abstract 1466: The short-term effect of increasing doses of palmitic and stearic acid on plasma fatty acid concentration and mammary arteriovenous difference in Holstein cows. (40:17)Guests: Alanna Staffin and Dr. Kevin Harvatine, Penn State UniversityCo-host: Dr. Jeff Elliott, BalchemAlanna fed mid-lactation cows 0, 150, 300, 500, or 750 grams of palmitic acid, stearic acid, or no supplement control. Palmitic acid increased milk fat yield at lower doses compared to stearic acid. Alanna found that the mammary gland increases its arteriovenous (AV) difference and uptake of palmitic acid when higher concentrations are provided, but AV difference and uptake of stearic acid did not change. Abstract 2006: Does hay improve performance in pair-housed dairy calves? (50:00)Guests: Gillian Plaugher and Dr. Melissa Cantor, Penn State UniversityGillian fed pelleted hay to pair-housed dairy calves along with milk replacer and calf starter. Control calves received milk replacer and calf starter only. Hay-fed pairs grew faster than controls after day 21 and were heavier at day 70. Hay feeding did not impact calf starter DMI or feed efficiency. Abstract 1463: Dietary metabolizable protein and palmitic and oleic acids affect milk production in early lactation dairy cows. (1:02:03)Guests: Jair Parales-Giron and Dr. Adam Lock, Michigan State UniversityCo-host: Dr. Clay ZimmermanJair fed two different levels of metabolizable protein and 3 different levels of supplemental fatty acids from 1 to 22 days in milk followed by a common diet to evaluate carryover effects to day 50. Metabolizable protein and fatty acid supplementation had additive effects on milk production. Cows fed the highest dose of both metabolizable protein and fatty acids produced 8.9 kg more energy-corrected milk per day compared to the low metabolizable protein diet without fatty acid supplementation.

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• Designing Dairy 2045: Envisioning the Future of Cows, Dairy Products, and Farms; Guests: Dr. Mike VandeHaar, Michigan State University; Dr. Christine Baes, University of Guelph; Dr. Miel Hostens, Cornell University; Eve Pollet, Dairy Management Inc.

  This episode features speakers from the 2025 ADSA Opening Session Panel: Designing Dairy 2045—Envisioning the Future of Cows, Dairy Products, and Farms, which explored the long-term future of dairy.Dr. VandeHaar explains the idea behind creating the panel discussion for the opening session and his selection of the other three podcast guests as panel members. (2:02)Dr. Baes was the genomics expert on the panel. Her talk focused on what types of data have been collected on dairy cattle in the past and in the future, as well as the collaboration needed among different disciplines to ensure the right information is being collected in the appropriate way. (4:54)Dr. Hostens was the data analytics expert on the panel. He is a veterinarian by training, but has a strong interest and passion around big data. He notes that a “gut feeling is good, but data is better.” He talks about a project where an existing language model was trained with all Journal of Dairy Science abstracts since 1917 so that answers from chatbots would be fed by JDS knowledge. He talks about other ways this type of approach could be used in the future to provide answers to questions on-farm. (8:09)Eve is the Senior Vice President of Strategic Intelligence at DMI and was the food futurist expert on the panel. She notes that dairy’s image is shifting to that of a health and wellness food. The question then becomes what is the future of health and wellness, and what does the dairy industry need to do to build towards that future? She talks about the roles of data and artificial intelligence in enabling us to design the foods of the future tailored to each individual. She advises that knowing more about your product than anyone else on the planet through technology and science allows you to anticipate what consumers are going to want and need in the future.   (14:33)The panel talks about genetic selection to produce particular components “naturally” rather than through food processing, where the industry is headed in regard to total milk production, breeding dairy cows for health, providing tools for making wise use of resources especially in developing countries, and how the future of big data could impact decisions made on-farm. (20:12)Eve talks about the consumer who has (processed) collagen in their coffee each morning but also demands clean, whole foods. Consumers want it all. She envisions a future where consumers will know the truth about how foods work in their body because they’ll have the technology to measure it. The group goes on to talk about wearable technology like continuous glucose monitors and the variability that exists in the human population compared to variation in Holstein cows, for example. (35:05)The guests talk about where the gaps are in technology - what else do we need to take the next step? Dry matter intake might be one, but Dr. Baes notes that the Danish have technology through video of the feed bunk that allows them to predict intake with surprisingly high accuracy. (41:59)Panelists share their take-home thoughts. (47:07)Please subscribe and share with your industry friends to invite more people to join us at the Real Science Exchange virtual pub table.  If you want one of our Real Science Exchange t-shirts, screenshot your rating, review, or subscription, and email a picture to [email protected]. Include your size and mailing address, and we’ll mail you a shirt.

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• Legacy Series: Dr. Bill Weiss; Guests: Dr. Bill Weiss, Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University; Dr. Normand St-Pierre, The Ohio State University; Dr. Alex Tebbe, Purina; Dr. Jeff Firkins, The Ohio State University

  In the Real Science Exchange Legacy Series, we celebrate the pioneers who have shaped the dairy industry. In this episode, we honor Dr. Bill Weiss, professor emeritus at The Ohio State University. This episode was recorded at the 2025 ADSA annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, where Dr. Weiss received the 2025 ADSA Award of Honor. Dr. Weiss shares about his early life, schooling, and academic career. (2:29)Panelists introduce themselves and how they know Bill. Dr. Firkins started at OSU one month before Dr. Weiss, Dr. St. Pierre was in graduate school with Dr. Weiss, and Dr. Tebbe was Dr. Weiss’s last graduate student. (4:47)Dr. St. Pierre and Dr. Firkins share about Bill’s deep contributions to the science of energy, protein, and trace mineral nutrition in dairy cattle. They note he was a great mentor to his students and an exceptional colleague. Dr. Weiss reflects on his career and the collaborations he had with his colleagues even though they were on different campuses. Dr. Tebbe underlines what a hard worker Dr. Weiss is, yet always had time for his students. (11:45)Panelists share stories about Bill’s driving, winning 20 gallons of ice cream in a contest in graduate school, Bill’s less serious side, and his love for cars and golf. They also tease him a bit for being a glutton for punishment and serving on both the 2001 NRC and NASEM committees. (19:06)Panelists share their take-home thoughts. (29:11)Please subscribe and share with your industry friends to invite more people to join us at the Real Science Exchange virtual pub table.  If you want one of our Real Science Exchange t-shirts, screenshot your rating, review, or subscription, and email a picture to [email protected]. Include your size and mailing address, and we’ll mail you a shirt.

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