Skip to main content

Graduate students perform significant research at the Dairy Farm

Iowa State University Animal Science graduate students Brooke Dooley and Carrie Shouse are performing vital research at the ISU dairy farm involving dairy cow nutrition and disease depletion.

BrookeBrooke Dooley is a graduate student under the direction of Dr. Hugo Ramirez. Brooke's research looks at corn stover pellets as a feed source for dairy cows. Brooke says this feed source is not usually fed to dairy cows because it's bulky and not as easily digestible. In Brooke's research, processed corn stover is treated and molded into a pellet form. Using corn stover pellets is likely to be less expensive than traditional components used for feed. Brooke is monitoring the cow's nutrition and determining if feeding a processed and treated, lower quality feed source impacts production . Brooke says this food source might be something good to feed cows during a time of drought or major crisis. It would be a low-cost option for farmers.

 

 

 

CarrieCarrie Shouse is a graduate student under the direction of Dr. Lance Baumgard. Carrie's research focuses on using a rumen bypass glucose product. Carrie starts with cows 4 weeks before their due date and then feeds them for 28 days after they calve. She feeds the cows normal corn silage and adds the bypass glucose to the feed. With that she is trying to increase milk production in fresh cows and eliminate the ketosis problems they endure.