Year Awarded 2018
FFAR award amount $1,000,000
Total award amount $1,999,999
Location East Lansing, MI
Program Seeding Solutions
Matching Funders Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding
Grantee Institution Michigan State University
Feeding dairy cows accounts for more than half of total dairy farm costs. Dairy farmers could significantly reduce feed costs by selecting cows that produce the same or more milk while consuming less feed. Michigan State University researchers are monitoring dairy cows’ body temperature, feeding behavior and locomotion, along with milk spectral data, to predict feed intake and gather data from thousands of cows to allow farmers to select the most efficient cows.