AFRE Graduate Student, Sam Rickman's, experience visiting a local dairy
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EmailSam Rickman shares his personal experience from a recent visit to a local dairy and discusses research being conducted related to the trip.
On a brisk, sunny, autumn Friday, Dr. Vincenzina Caputo and a group of 20 MSU Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics (AFRE) graduate students piled into two vans in the Morrill Hall of Agriculture parking lot and embarked on a journey 75 miles south. The students arrived at Preston Farms, a 1,000 cow dairy located in Quincy, Michigan, at around 11:30 AM. The Preston family welcomed the group, served the students delicious homemade potato soup, and they shared sandwiches brought along by the MSU research team. Then, Brian Preston, one of the farm’s leaders, began a tour of the farm.
So, what brought this team of agricultural economists to a Michigan dairy in the first place? The answer might be surprising; soybeans. Not just any soybeans, but high-oleic soybeans (HOS). HOS are an innovation in crop technology that are higher in monounsaturated fatty acids, as compared to the high polyunsaturated fatty acids of commodity soybeans. This nutritional difference can have positive impacts on human and livestock health, among other distinct advantages. Modern literature from MSU’s Dr. Adam Lock finds that feeding HOS can lead to positive milk yield responses in dairy cows, thus leading to increased profit potential and interest in the Michigan dairy industry. MSU AFRE’s Professor Caputo is not new to HOS, having conducted research about these unique soybeans in the past. She specifically focused on consumers’ willingness to pay for meat products from animals that had been fed HOS. Feeding HOS positively alters the nutritional value of the meat.
This research sparked Dr. Caputo’s curiosity about the potential for adoption of HOS in other areas, and she received a grant from the M-AAA to investigate its market potential in the dairy industry. The M-AAA is a partnership between animal agriculture industries, the Michigan Department of Agriculture, and MSU. They are committed to finding new ways to develop the Michigan livestock economy, with this grant being a part of that initiative. Dr. Caputo and myself, her graduate student, have been researching the market potential for HOS in dairy for the past year and a half or so.
We did a literature review, and then conducted individual interviews with industry stakeholders including an HOS processing plant, about 30 dairy farmers, soybean farmers, and dairy nutritionists. Our objective was to understand the current market landscape, and the obstacles and opportunities to widespread adoption of this technology. Our next step is to publish two industry reports detailing the findings of these interviews, and then we will implement a survey.
The larger purpose of this research is to inform local stakeholders about potential benefits and drawbacks to this emerging technology. This has been an excellent opportunity for me learn about the mechanisms of technology innovation and adoption, and the inner workings of our agricultural system. In addition, we have been able to engage the rest of Dr. Caputo’s lab group and other AFRE students to learn about the intersection of academia and industry, and how research can help actors in the agricultural industry make more informed decisions.
Now back to Preston Farms. Brian Preston was one of our research interviewees, and Preston Farms is an example of an early adopter of HOS feed. They dedicated a portion of their acreage to HOS cultivation, and invested in the infrastructure necessary to process, store, and feed HOS. Mr. Preston showed students their newly acquired soybean roaster, and spoke about the other on-farm adjustments they made to make feeding HOS possible.
The decision to adopt HOS as dairy feed ultimately boils down to whether the additional revenue gained outweighs the cost needed to adopt. Brian Preston said, “We believe that this can be a way to cut costs and make our dairy more profitable, while also practicing environmental sustainability.” Environmental sustainability was a common theme voiced by farmers throughout the interviews. Palm fats, one of the most common fatty acid supplements of dairy diets, must be transported from thousands of miles away to be inserted into rations. This can be expensive and contribute a disproportional amount of GHG emissions. Now, similar nutritional needs can be cultivated and processed on-farm or nearby, making farms more environmentally sustainable and resilient to supply chain shocks.
Dr. Caputo’s lab is expanding our extension work, and this farm visit was one way for students to gain hands-on experience. There was a positive response from the students who attended, most of whom had never been to a dairy farm before. After this experience, Dr. Caputo said “As an applied economist, it is important to see how our research informs the industry and supports decision-making while also strengthening MSU’s relationship with the community. Giving students like Sam real-world experiences not only turns ideas into action, but also strengthens their connection to the people and industries our work impacts. I am very proud of the work my research team do every day to support science-based decisions and engage with our stakeholders.”
She, her research team, and I feel very grateful that the M-AAA has taken the initiative to fund innovative projects like this. We are also thankful that farmers like Mr. Preston have been willing to share information with us, allowing us to communicate innovative ideas to other industry stakeholders.
