Cotton Incorporated is pleased to announce the completion of the first year of the Whole Cottonseed Advisory Council and its inaugural members. The Council is comprised of five dairy industry leaders from multiple disciplines. By gathering a variety of perspectives, the goal of the Council is to identify opportunities for education, research and resources to aid dairy nutritionists and producers in appropriately and effectively using whole cottonseed.

“The Council brings together key leaders throughout the dairy industry for thoughtful and productive discussions,” said James Pruden, senior director, public relations for Cotton Incorporated. “There are a lot of factors that go into feeding decisions with a web of key influencers. The variety of voices on the Council brings more transparency into what the industry needs to make informed decisions on feeding whole cottonseed.”

Members of the 2020 Whole Cottonseed Advisory Council include:

Dr. Michelle Chang-Der Brodisan, forage products and dairy technical service specialist with Vita Plus. Based in Madison, Wis., Chang-Der Bedrosian assists dairy producers and Vita Plus consultants with on-farm troubleshooting and focuses on forage product research and development, dairy research and dairy technical services.

“I joined the Council because I was interested in learning about what others’ experiences are with cottonseed. I am interested in comparing how our nutritionists at Vita Plus can better utilize cottonseed in rations. Being on this Council offers a unique opportunity to act as a two-way funnel, both by telling others how our Vita Plus nutritionists use cottonseed and learning and communicating how others are using it.”

Cory Colburn, an independent livestock nutritionist and founder of Genuine Livestock Nutrition Consulting, LLC. Based out of Wisconsin, Colburn takes a problem-solving mindset to the variety of services she offers such as on-farm walk-through analysis, diet formulations, livestock evaluations, feed sampling and forage analysis.

“I joined the Cotton Council as an opportunity to hear both the research and new opportunities for utilizing cotton in feed. I also wanted to be able to speak for my side; to tell the sellers of cotton how we can be served and how I could help my clients better with their help. I am looking forward to growing in knowledge, hearing from different experts and networking with other industry representatives,” said Colburn.

Dr. Kevin Harvatine, associate professor of nutritional physiology at Pennsylvania State University. Harvatine’s research integrates traditional ruminant nutrition and modern molecular biology approaches to investigate the regulation of metabolism and develop feeding strategies to improve the efficiency and performance of dairy cows. Specific research objectives include the investigation of dietary factors that modify ruminal fatty acid biohydrogenation, regulation of synthesis of milk components and basic regulation of lipid synthesis.

"Cottonseed provides many nutritional opportunities that support production and milk fat. It is exciting to work with Cotton Incorporated to better understand the benefits and help bridge communication between the cotton and dairy industries," said Haravatine.

Jordan Hunt, independent consultant and owner of Hunt Dairy Consulting, LLC and part of the GPS Dairy Consulting, LLC team. Hunt provides dairy nutrition and management consulting to dairies primarily in northeastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota as well as throughout the broader region.

“I joined the Council as a way to collaborate with other industry professionals and to provide insights about what’s going on at the farm level of the dairy business. I have already benefited from meeting new people and learning about new research work being done at universities. I look forward to seeing what new ideas and strategies the Council can generate for animal agriculture to benefit from,” said Hunt.

Dr. Adam Lock, associate professor in the Department of Animal Science at Michigan State University. Lock’s research and extension programs focus on fatty acid digestion and metabolism in the dairy cow and the impact of bioactive fatty acids on animal production and human health. His recent work has focused on fatty acid absorption, fat supplementation strategies, milk fat depression and the regulation of milk fat synthesis.

“I am interested in learning more about the cotton industry and how we can better utilize cotton products and byproducts in dairy cow diets to maximize production efficiency and the yields of milk fat and protein,” said Lock.

After a successful first year, Cotton Incorporated is excited to look forward to 2021, bringing in additional voices to the Council and continuing to provide information to the dairy industry about the benefits of whole cottonseed in dairy rations.

As part of the Whole Cottonseed Advisory Council, members are available for interviews on their area of expertise. For more information on the Whole Cottonseed Advisory Council or requests for interviews, contact Lauren Baker at lbaker@flmharvest.com. To learn more about whole cottonseed and its benefits in cattle rations, visit wholecottonseed.com.

Cotton Incorporated, funded by U.S. growers of upland cotton and importers of cotton and cotton textile products, is the research and marketing company representing upland cotton. The program is designed and operated to improve the demand for and profitability of cotton.