This week was slower paced, but full of work on the second project I was assigned to, by-product usage and the imported nutrients they bring. The project is focused on how by-products used on dairy farms varies and how it impacts both the Nutrient Mass Balance and GHGs. A quick background on by-product usage – dairy farms are able to utilize by-products such as distillers grains, bakery waste, chocolate, and soy hulls. These products are waste from other products and are able to be up-cycled by feeding to cows. While working on this project, I have been able to work with several years of data and see how NY dairy farms have utilized by-product feeds over the years. Pictured below is a graph showing the usage of by-products of the years.
Also this week, during our NMSP weekly professional development meeting, we were given a presentation on GMO usage in the agriculture industry. As this is a hot topic within the industry, it was a great opportunity to engage in the purpose of GMOs and how they are utilized. Throughout the presentation, we were able to see how different breeding strategies and modifications have been selected for producer traits (insect, herbicide, disease tolerance) and consumer traits (coloring, reduced waste, etc.) This was a great presentation and I encourage anyone that is interested or wants to know more about GMOs to participate in an alike presentation.