Two Michigan State University students have been selected as members of the 2024-27 cohort for the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) Fellows Program.
The FFAR Fellows Program supports up to 30 scholars over three years who conduct vital research on U.S. agricultural and food systems in collaboration with industry and academic experts. Fellows attend trainings and network with peers from across the agricultural sector.
The program's mission is to shape the future of agriculture and food science by providing professional development opportunities that equip scholars with the skills needed for a successful transition into the workforce. The program offers experiences that prepare the agriculture workforce to tackle the industry's ever-evolving challenges.
As part of the FFAR fellowship, Paiton McDonald and Haylee Reisinger, graduate students in the MSU Department of Animal Science, will partner with industry sponsors for unique opportunities to receive valuable career guidance and hands-on professional experience.
Though McDonald and Reisinger were recently selected as fellows, they are already actively contributing to tackling industry challenges through their dairy research at MSU.
The two graduate students work under the guidance of Barry Bradford, Ph.D., and Laman Mamedova, Ph.D., as part of the Dairy Metabolism Group. The group conducts research that measures nutritional, environmental and physiological variables to understand better the conditions that promote optimal dairy cattle health, productivity and industry success.
"Our goal for graduate students is to help them develop a broad range of professional skills. Our students are exposed to many ways of conducting research and the numerous ways to contribute,” said Bradford, professor and C. E. Meadows Endowed Chair in Dairy Management and Nutrition. “They're developing an understanding of a wide range of approaches that will help them be impactful as they move forward and make a difference in the industry. One of the biggest things we can do in our area is to make the animals, through genetics or nutrition or other ways, more resilient to challenges, which could potentially lessen the total disease burden, improve animal welfare and decrease the environmental impact of the dairy industry.”
Enhancing calf immunity through sustainable nutritional modifications
McDonald completed her undergraduate degree at Iowa State University in agricultural biochemistry and international agriculture and worked in a lab focusing on calf immunology in response to infectious diseases. Pursuing her love of nutritional immunology brought her to MSU and the Dairy Metabolism Group, where she found the ideal conditions to take her work beyond the lab through mindful partnerships with local farmers.
"One of the main things that attracted me to Michigan State is the ability to do on-farm work. The collaboration with commercial farms and producers in Michigan and the ability to utilize the MSU Dairy Farm makes this a premier spot for dairy work, especially in the nutrition and health areas,” McDonald said. “We can figure out why something is happening in the lab and also take it to the producers to see direct impacts that we may be unable to see elsewhere."
McDonald’s research focuses on sustainable nutritional modifications to calf programs to make calves healthier and more productive. Her goals are to help set neonates up for success through nutritional interventions, whether from the angle of neonatal immune development and nutrition programs or enhancing maternal health for downstream impacts. Part of her research involves studying the biochemistry of colostrum proteins, specifically immunoglobulin A (IgA), one of the isotypes of antibodies within the body.
She also explores transition milk, which, like colostrum, is rich in nutrients and immune proteins and has been implicated in improving the growth and health of preweaning calves. McDonald’s work assesses the impacts of feeding transition milk on overall growth, immune development and production downstream for calves.
Additionally, McDonald studies the effects of supplementing rumen-protected glutamine to increase antibody production and maintain a cow's health as she transitions into lactation. In the last few months of gestation, during a cow’s dry period, they transition from a high-energy to a lower-energy diet and receive several vaccines. This part of her work will target the heifers and dry cows' vaccination regime with each pregnancy, ultimately emphasizing mucosal immunology and encouraging calf mucosa microbial homeostasis. In other words, McDonald aims to support cow health during the shift to a lower-energy diet by supplementing glutamine to enhance the efficacy of vaccinations.
McDonald's industry sponsor for the FFAR fellowship is United Animal Health, an organization dedicated to advancing global animal science by collaborating with producers to provide proven, research-based nutrition and health solutions.
Leveraging bioactive compounds and human-inedible waste
Reisinger is from a small rural town in central Pennsylvania populated with small family farms. During her undergraduate studies at Penn State University, she majored in biology and knew she wanted to pursue a career related to animals and agriculture.
While at Penn State, she joined an entomology research lab, where she studied biocontrol methods to reduce filth fly populations on poultry layer farms. That experience solidified her desire to pursue a career in research.
"What caught my interest was, 'We have this problem; how can we solve it?' Our work in that area not only benefited the chickens, but also the farmer. It also was a public health concern because flies are a vector for disease. It was amazing how many areas were affected and how much that work could have an impact. Through that experience, I knew I wanted to continue with agricultural research."
Reisinger's research with the Dairy Metabolism Group focuses on improving dairy cattle health by supplementing bioactive compounds in their diets to enhance immune function and overall well-being by helping prevent or clear infections quicker. Bioactive compounds naturally occur in many plant species and are found in various animal and bacterial products.
Reisinger has investigated the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, particularly docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), known for their anti-inflammatory effects. In her initial project, she studied the impact of DHA on lactating cows to understand its impact on immune cell function and developed an in vitro assay to evaluate neutrophil performance. This research helped identify the most effective DHA dose for boosting immune responses and potentially helping decrease inflammation. Reisinger's recent work involved feeding omega-3 supplements to transition cows, which previous studies have linked to improved milk production and reproductive outcomes.
"A practical way of supporting the cow is by supporting immune function and providing the necessary nutrition it requires," said Reisinger. "Bioactive compounds affect various pathways within the body, and many of these compounds positively affect immune function and health. Utilizing these compounds is potentially a more natural approach to keep our livestock healthy and reduce the reliance on antibiotics."
MSU is already actively applying the data from Reisinger's research in this area to ongoing initiatives at the university.
Reisinger's research supports sustainability by utilizing bioactive compounds in human-inedible waste. She has explored the use of an extract developed from discarded tart cherry pits to combat inflammation in vitro. So far, her work has been applied to cell culture models, with the hope to advance use on live animals soon. Michigan, the nation's leading producer of tart cherries, often discards these pits in landfills, a source of methane emissions. Reisinger's reallocation of tart cherry pits by extracting and utilizing these compounds could reduce the waste in landfills, especially in Michigan, while contributing to global food security.
Using waste products to support dairy operations illustrates a larger vision for evolving agricultural practices. These diverse benefits underscore the critical role of sustainability in farming and highlight the potential of ongoing research and industry partnerships.
Reisinger hopes to create feeding strategies incorporating these and other bioactive-rich byproducts into dairy diets. By utilizing food waste-derived bioactive compounds, she strives to promote healthier dairy cattle, reduce the need for antibiotics and continue contributing to a more sustainable dairy industry.
Reisinger's fellowship industry sponsor is Natural Biologics, a livestock feed supplement company that provides unique natural solutions that enhance the health and productivity of animals worldwide.
