UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The 2022 Penn State Dairy Nutrition Workshop will be held Nov. 2 and 3 at the Hershey Lodge and will focus on translating the updated 2021 NASEM (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine) publication into feeding practices. It has been 20 years since the previous publication of the “Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle” by the NRC (National Research Council), and this updated information will likely be used over the next two decades until the next update.
This emphasis will continue the workshop’s long tradition of providing cutting edge information that nutritionists and consultants can apply directly on farm.
The main conference will focus on applications of the new nutrient requirement recommendations and will explain what field nutritionists need to know. Taking a different approach, the conference’s speakers are top nutritionists who did not write the chapters in the publication, but who can give critical insights on how they are integrating it into their feeding practices.
In the main session, on Thursday, Nov. 3, Dr. Paul Kononoff, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will cover intake and applied energetics; Pat Hoffman, University of Wisconsin-Madison, will cover carbohydrates; Dr. Peter Yoder, Perdue Agribusiness, will cover proteins; and Dr. Jud Heinrichs, Penn State Professor Emeritus, will cover calves and heifers. In break-out sessions, attendees can hear about the feed library from Ralph Ward, Cumberland Valley Analytical Services; vitamin and mineral recommendations from Dr. Maris McCarthy, Micronutrients; best practices for transition cows from Dr. Bob VanSaun, Penn State Extension; and updates on lipids from Dr. Kevin Harvatine, Penn State.
Dr. VanAmburgh, Cornell University, will give updates on amino acid balancing at the dinner session on Wednesday sponsored by Balchem, and Dr. Sara Trojan, cattle nutrition and management consultant, will discuss intestinal health at a Wednesday morning breakfast sponsored by Kemin.
Nearly two dozen break-out sessions over the two days allow attendees to tailor topics to their interests with a wide variety of subjects related to nutrition, cow health and dairy business management with many presentations by the Penn State Extension Team. A highly anticipated breakout by Dr. Julio Giordano, Cornell University, will focus on getting the most out of activity monitoring systems.
A preconference symposium, on Wednesday, Nov. 2, sponsored by Micronutrients will focus on “Improving rumen digestion and fermentation” and a postconference symposium on Thursday afternoon, sponsored by Pioneer, will highlight “Integrated approach to feeding dairy cattle; Fiber, Starch and Lipids.”
Attendees will also have the opportunity to meet with over 30 trade show exhibitors, including at a networking reception on Wednesday sponsored by Alltech, featuring happy hour and hors d’oeuvres.
The Penn State coordinator for this year, Dr. Kevin Harvatine, said, “The hand-selected speakers are awesome nutritionists and folks that I always enjoy learning from as they are not only true experts but also have novel insights that can change your perspective on feeding cows. This is definitely a conference not to be missed.” He noted that the organizers are enthusiastic about the topics that are not just excellent science but also important on nearly every farm.
Participants can earn up to 16 American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS) credits based on sessions attended. Certification exams for ARPAS will be offered, and ARPAS members are invited to participate in the Northeast chapter meeting on Wednesday with a special presentation.
Conference registration is only $125 until October 1. Registration fee includes pre and post conference, and lunch both days. More information about the program and speakers, and registration can be found at http://agsci.psu.edu/dairy-nutrition-workshop.
–Sally Brown Bair, Penn State University