By: Tristan Zuber, Dairy Foods Support Specialist, Harvest NY Program
Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has over 20 majors – ranging from Food Science, Animal Science, Biological Engineering to Applied Economics and Management. Many of these studies offer some sort of extension work to support some aspect of the dairy industry. In an effort to understand the different programs that Cornell University offers to the dairy industry, we thought we would share the purpose of the different programs Cornell runs and supports. Throughout this article, the links are embedded to the program’s webpages if you are interested in more information.
Dairy Foods Extension: The Dairy Foods Extension Team focuses on supporting dairy food manufacturers in NYS and beyond in producing safe and wholesome dairy products. This involves running training and educational programs such as our Dairy Foods Certification program and providing consultation services to dairy food manufacturers in NYS and beyond. Dairy Foods Extension is run through the Cornell Department of Food Science and works very closely with professors of food science, NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets among other agencies, and suppliers to support the dairy foods industry.
Milk Quality Improvement Program (MQIP): This program, harbored by Cornell’s Department of Food Science – is designed to assist NYS Dairy Plants to improve quality of the milk they produce by monitoring and making recommendations to improve finished dairy product quality. The Voluntary Shelf Life Program is run through MQIP, which is sampling program designed to look at chemical, microbiological and sensory changes throughout shelf life at each participating plant twice per year. Processing plants then receive a timely report of their results along with recommendations for making improvements.
PRO-DAIRY: PRO-DAIRY is CALS’ flagship dairy production industry educational program focused on farm-level outcomes. PRO-DAIRY is designed to increase the competitiveness and sustainability of NY’s dairy farmers and agribusinesses through applied research and educational programs to enhance farm profitability while advancing dairy professionals’ knowledge and skills. PRO-DAIRY specialists provide leadership to major industry conferences and conduct educational programs in areas such as farm business management, dairy production management, nutrient and environmental management, facilities and renewable energy, and youth development. Some of the featured PRO-DAIRY educational programs include the Cornell Dairy Executive Program, Dairy Profit Monitor, and Junior Dairy LEADER. PRO-DAIRY is run through the Cornell Department of Animal Science, but its specialists have linkages across departments. The program is supported by the State of New York and the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, as well as many industry collaborators.
Cornell Food Processing Development Lab: Commonly known as the FPDL, this is where much research is done on creating new products. The FPDL is 10,000 square feet and can be utilized in research, food product development and scaled-up manufacturing. Many companies come into the FPDL to work on launching new products. It is also possible to scale-up production to produce products for food shows, exhibitions and customer demonstrations. The FPDL is also utilized for hands-on training during Dairy Food Certification courses.
Cornell Dairy Plant: The newly renovated Cornell Dairy Plant is a licensed NYS Dairy processing plant, which supports teaching, research and extension. Milk is processed from the Cornell Dairy Herd and is manufactured to supply dairy products to the Cornell University campus. When not manufacturing milk, ice cream or yogurt, the plant is dedicated for teaching, research and extension activities. Products made at the Cornell Dairy Plant can be purchased at the Cornell Dairy Bar.
Quality Milk Production Services (QMPS): QMPS is run through Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Through field and laboratory diagnostic evaluations, the staff works more specifically with dairy farms on promoting the production of high quality milk through the control of mastitis and avoidance of antibiotic residues. There is a total staff of 35, which make 2,600 farm visits for consultation services. Staff includes veterinarians, which advise producers, veterinarians and milk inspectors on management of herd health to produce higher quality milk at the farm level. QMPS is run through the Animal Diagnostic Laboratory within Cornell’s Vet School and is supported by the NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets.
The National Program on Dairy Markets & Policy: This program originated at Cornell but brings together economists from 7 universities in the Midwest and Northeast. The focus of the program is dairy market economics and the public policies that regulate those markets. A combination of applied research and educational activities aims to inform decision-makers in the industry, policymakers and consumers about the important economic issues related to milk and dairy product markets. Dr. Andrew Novakovic in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management is the primary contact at Cornell .
Agribusiness Extension Programs in the Dyson School. The Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management has several programs that are not specific to the dairy sector in their general design or purpose, but which frequently involve a dairy industry agenda. These include the 1) Cooperative Enterprise Program, which works on organizational development programs for Northeastern cooperatives that provide inputs to farmers or market their products and 2) the Program on Agribusiness and Economic Development, which seeks to understand and enhance the business environment in NY for agricultural and food based firms.
Farm Management Extension Programs of the Dyson School. These include 1) the Dairy Farm Business Summary and Analysis Program, which uses annual summaries of dairy farm business to enable farmers to better understand their business performance, consider alternative business strategies and benchmark against other cooperative farms, 2) NY FarmLink provides educational resources, consulting, and opportunities that enable more farms to be transferred and joint ventures to be developed for the economic enhancement of New York State agriculture, and 3) NY FarmNet provides farm families with free, confidential consulting services to develop skills to improve financial and production efficiency, and overcome business and family challenges
