Dairy Innovation Hub to showcase new research, outcomes

The Dairy Innovation Hub will hold two dynamic events, Nov. 17-18, to highlight newly funded projects and share results from initial project funding.

In just two years, this unique initiative has funded more than 100 research and outreach projects across three campuses and four priority areas.

The Dairy Innovation Hub, which launched in 2019, harnesses research and development at UW–Madison, UW–Platteville and UW–River Falls  campuses to keep Wisconsin’s dairy community at the global forefront in producing nutritious dairy products in an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable manner. It is supported by a $7.8 million annual investment by the State of Wisconsin.

The virtual Dairy Summit on Nov. 17 will feature the Hub’s newest projects and is formatted for a general audience. The Dairy Symposium on Nov. 18 is geared toward students, faculty or anyone looking for a deeper dive into the Hub’s most advanced stage research. The Symposium is fully hybrid with in-person and virtual options. Both events are free and open to the public. Pre-registration is required.

Dairy Summit

The second annual Dairy Summit on Nov. 17 will feature newly funded research and outreach initiatives in a fully virtual format.

In addition to research presentations, a diverse panel of farmers will discuss how the Hub’s research is impacting their businesses.

A panel of new faculty, funded by the Hub at each campus, will introduce their research and teaching initiatives.

Finishing out the day will be a virtual tour of five distinctly different facilities at UW-Madison with a shared mission to improve dairy. The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UW-Madison will serve as the virtual host for the event.

Register and view the complete schedule, including a listing of all speakers, at dairyinnovationhub.wisc.edu/dairy-summit

Dairy Symposium

The Dairy Symposium is a new event on Nov. 18 that will take place at Union South on the UW-Madison campus. Attendees will hear thought-provoking plenary sessions; research talks from each of the Hub’s four priority areas and poster presentations from Hub-funded projects. All sessions are also available online via live stream and on-demand after the event.

Randy Jackson, professor of agronomy at UW-Madison and collaborator on the NetZero Initiative, will serve as the opening plenary. This new multi-state, multi-institution project is working to help cut greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. dairy industry and is funded in part through a $10 million grant from the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research.

Track sessions representing the Hub’s four priority areas will feature research from the first round of Hub funding at each campus. Speakers in each track will present tangible data and outcomes from their Hub-funded research.

Denise Ney, professor of nutritional sciences, will give the closing plenary at Dairy Symposium. Thanks to Ney’s research and development of dairy-derived supplements, patients with the rare genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) now have more ways to meet their restrictive dietary needs. Her work with dairy is also helping a new population – postmenopausal women who need to lose weight.

Register and view the complete schedule, including a listing of all speakers, at dairyinnovationhub.wisc.edu/dairy-symposium/