Highlights and Special Requests for Abstracts from
the Program Committee
2006 Joint Meeting of ADSA and ASAS
Minneapolis, Minnesota
July 9-13, 2006
The following program highlights are in the final stages of planning. As you will see in reading through the summary, many outstanding symposia, workshops, and invited talks are planned.
NOTE: Due to an increase in no shows for posters and oral sessions, the Program Committee will begin monitoring the presenters that fail to appear for their presentation.
Posters -- We will again provide a 2-hour daily time block for the posters. The time block for the posters will be planned when neither symposia nor oral sessions will be scheduled.
To build an outstanding program, your participation through abstract submission is essential. The foundation of our annual meeting is the science that each one of us brings with the oral and poster abstracts submitted. There are a few special topics for which Program Committees are requesting abstracts from the membership to enhance symposia or oral sessions. These special calls for abstracts are denoted in bold italic lettering. For additional information on the 2006 Joint ADSA and ASAS meeting, please check the web site http://adsa.asas.org/meetings/2006/.
ADSA Southern Branch and the Northeast Branch/Section of ADSA and ASAS -- Business meetings and normal annual meeting activities of these Branches/Sections will be incorporated into the meeting in Minneapolis. The Southern Branch of ADSA is planning a symposium: “Overcoming challenges in managing dairy businesses in the next decades”.
Graduate Student Paper Contests—ADSA Dairy Foods and Production Division (National), Northeast ADSA/ASAS Branch/Section, and Southern ADSA Branch -- Both the Dairy Foods and Production Division of ADSA strongly encourage graduate students to submit abstracts for the national competition. Not only do the winners receive outstanding recognition and have something to add to their resume, there is money to be made, too. Check the web site (http://adsa.asas.org/meetings/2006/) for graduate student competition rules and information. The ADSA Production Division students can present their paper a second time as a poster in the appropriate session if they so desire, in addition to the special competition session early in the week.
Student Poster Competition – This new poster competition is for ADSA graduate students from the Production Division. The posters will be presented as a separate session within the Production Division. The poster is to represent original research by the contestant. For additional information, visit http://adsa.asas.org/meetings/2006/Grad_Poster_Comp.pdf.
Alpharma Beef Cattle Nutrition – The Alpharma symposium will focus on conception to consumption: lifetime effects of management and health on cattle performance and meat quality.
ARPAS – The American Registry of Professional Animal Scientist will have a symposium on "Assessment and Management of Feedstuff Variation in Daily Nutrition." The objective of this symposium is to address the issue of Feedstuff variability and identify gaps in current knowledge that must be filled in order to capture value of the models in practice: NRC1989, NRC 2001, CNCPS, and CPM.
Animal Health – The Animal Health Committee has developed a symposium on "Immunophysiology of host-environment interaction."
Beef Species – The Beef Species Committee is planning a symposium on “Enterprise integration for sustainable beef production”. Beef production has long been a component of sustainable, integrated agricultural systems. However, much research over the past few decades has dealt with beef production as an isolated agricultural commodity. As understanding of the biology and management of beef has increased, there is a need to integrate that information into whole farm systems.
This symposium will draw upon researchers who have studied integrated systems in differing geographical regions and a manager who makes a successful practice using current research technologies for system integration.
Bioethics – The Bioethics Committee has planned two symposia.
The first symposium topic is on "Teaching animal ethics within today's Animal Science curriculum." Issues with significant ethical implications such as animal welfare, rural community concerns, environmental management, and genetic engineering have garnered front page headlines in recent years. Traditional animal science curricula do not include methods to deal with these issues, but incorporating ethics into the industry's pedagogy is now imperative to demonstrate values that are consistent with the public. To that end it is critical for animal scientists to have opportunities to learn about and discuss ethical issues, and it is just as important for us to explore and develop effective pedagogies for teaching animal ethics.
The second symposium topic is on "Ethical and social issues in animal biotechnology." The birth of Dolly, the cloned lamb, and other recent advances in the genetic engineering of animals greatly increased public and scientific awareness of ethical issues raised by molecular biology as they interface with human experience. This symposium will bring experts in animal ethics together with animal scientists so that they can examine and discuss the resultant social and ethical issues of animal welfare, public perception, product safety and societal impact.
Breeding and Genetics – The Breeding and Genetics Committee has planned a symposium on "Phylogenetics and genetic diversity in livestock." Measuring genetic diversity is fundamental to efforts in conservation of germplasm and impacts management of resources through a variety of legislatively mandated processes. Availability of modern tools for molecular biology and genome sequences allows us to assess diversity in new objective ways. To date, this area has only infrequently been addressed in the animal science community and this symposium is intended to bring these opportunities to the attention of ADSA/ASAS member scientists.
Companion Animals – The Companion Animals Committee has planned a symposium on “Companion animal research: Contributions and conflicts”. The primary objective of this symposium is to expand the audience target. While past efforts have focused almost exclusively on nutrition, this symposium will provide an opportunity to involve all scientific interest. By providing insight into some of the pressing challenges as well as highlighting some of the lesser known companion animal contributions, the Committee hopes to take a critical step in developing a scientific platform that promotes open dialogue between diverse ideologies to advance all aspects of companion animal science.
Dairy Foods – The ADSA Dairy Foods Division has planned three symposia.
The first symposium schedule for Sunday is on “Advances in cultured dairy foods”. A hundred fifty years ago, cultured dairy products were made on the farm or in small factories. At that time, cultured dairy products were made of variable quality and consistency. This symposium will begin with an historical overview of the development of starter culture. Presentations will be included on the development of lactic acid cultures and engineering culture attributes, probiotic media development, health and function aspects of probiotic, and emerging products. This symposium will update the ADSA members on the latest development in cultured dairy products.
The second symposium topic is on “Political, economic, and scientific considerations of milk component utilization." The committee hopes to attract industry participation with this symposium. Milk separation has driven prices and products for the last century and will likely move prices and products in the next. Milk component utilization is a good fit for ADSA 2006.
The third symposium topic is on "Production meets processing: A vital link for high quality dairy foods." Studies involving production and processing disciplines is an under-served, but potentially fruitful research venue. This symposium will be comprised of speakers/topics selected to bridge the production/processing gap on areas related to dairy foods research.
Extension and Education – The Extension and Education Committee has planned a symposium on "Profitability of dairy farming in a global economy". The purpose of the symposium is to make personnel involved with dairy extension and education more aware of the factors that affect profitability of the producing milk in the U.S.
FASS-Environment, Waste Management and Ecosystems Committee – This FASS committee has planned a symposium on "Transforming forages to improve Nitrogen use by dairy cows and decrease Nitrogen emissions." This symposium will focus on research to improve N utilization in dairy operations through: crop selection and genetic redesign of alfalfa; crop management (harvesting, preservation and storage); and livestock management. It will enhance the audience’s appreciation of the positive impacts that forages can have on profitable milk production and on helping producers meet emerging environmental standards. And it will help the audience to see the ‘big picture’ issue of managing nitrogen on the whole farm – not just in the cow’s diet.
Food Safety – A symposium on “Ruminants as reservoirs for shigatoxin producing E. coli” has been planned by the Food Safety Committee. The global nature of food supply suggests that safety concerns with beef and dairy products will continue and the challenges facing the beef and dairy industries will increase at the production and processing levels. To be prepared to address these concerns and challenges, it is critical to assess the role of beef and dairy cattle in human infections with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC).
Forages and Pastures – The Forages and Pastures program committee has invited three speakers to open oral session presentations on such topics as "Biochemistry of tannins: Role in ruminant production", "Forage chop length and feed intake and sorting by dairy cows", and "Mastication and rumination effects on digestion and passage".
Goat Species – The Goat species committee has planned a symposium on "Potential of goats as biological agents to produce meat, control vegetation, and restore land." Goats are the most popular animals in the world and goat meat and milk are the most consumed animal products. Goats are also used as holistic tool for land vegetation management and fire fuel load control. With proper grazing management goats can eliminate noxious weed, restore native grasses and prevent fire through fuel load reduction. In the United States goat meat production has been gaining popularity in the recent years because of several factors including growing population of ethnics and faith based consumers having preference for goat meat. This symposium will provide information on alternative use of goats as biological agents to restore land and control invasive plants.
Growth and Development –The Growth and Development committee has invited three speakers to open oral session presentations on such topics as "Role of circulating and liver IGF", "Leptin and control of appetite and metabolism", and "Effect of short-day dry period on mammary development".
The committee is encouraging abstract submissions on related topics to complete the sessions.
Horse Species – The Horse committee is planning a symposium on “What's new in the new NRC for horses?” The NRC publication "Nutrient Requirements of Horses" is in revision with an expected release of the publication in Spring 2006. This symposium will address the new publication and the revisions made.
International Animal Agriculture – The International Animal Agriculture Committee has planned a symposium on "Alternatives to antibiotics in feeding ruminants for optimal production and health." Despite scientific evidence to the contrary, consumer concern over the use of antibiotics in animal feeding is increasing. Bans in Europe have led to the development of alternative strategies which are used in place of antibiotics to improve efficiency of animal production, such as the use of organic acids in the swine industry. There are currently a number of approaches being researched for use in ruminants that, although still in development, may offer ‘consumer friendly’ alternatives to sub-therapeutic use of antibiotics. These include a number of newly discovered bio-active plant components, including commercial products containing essential oils, yeast and fungi, and antibodies to specific microbes or toxins. The speakers of this symposium will address cutting-edge scientific research on the manipulation of rumen fermentation via alternative or unique strategies. The speakers will bring an international perspective to this subject, and the topic will attract an audience which does not normally attend symposiums on international issues.
Lactation Biology – The Lactation Biology Committee has planned a symposium on “Local regulation of mammary function”. The purpose of this symposium is to highlight and contrast local nutritional and endocrine regulation of mammary cell activity.
Nonruminant Nutrition – The Nonruminant Nutrition committee has planned a symposium on “New frontiers in amino acid research in nonruminant nutrition”. Crystalline amino acids (CAA), such as lysine, methionine, threonine, and tryptophan, are commercially available as feed supplements and have been used to provide limiting essential amino acids for monogastric animals. Use of CAA allows for decreasing CP contents in diets, thereby reducing nitrogen waste and feed costs. Recent research has shown promising benefits of some CAA in animals, including specific and unique functions in nutrient metabolism and signal transduction involved in intracellular protein turnover and fat utilization. Arginine, branched chain amino acids, glutamine, methionine, and tryptophan are prototypes of these amino acids. There is emerging interest in the use of arginine and citrulline to enhance the growth of neonatal pigs and to improve the immune function and health of nonruminant animals. This symposium aims at providing new knowledge about amino acid metabolism in monogastric animals and recent research information about the use of these ‘functional’ amino acids in diets. The committee will invite four internationally recognized speakers to talk about each group of the functional amino acids.
The committee would like to incorporate 1 to 2 (15-minute talks) abstract presentations following each invited speaker.
Physiology and Endocrinology – The Physiology and Endocrinology program committee has planned a symposium on “Metabolic regulation of food intake”. Food intake is a critical aspect of animal physiology that markedly impacts growth, animal health and well-being, fertility, meat and carcass quality, milk production and most other measures of animal productivity. The neural, metabolic, and endocrine factors that underscore satiety and the consumptive urge are topics of intense study by numerous physiologists, nutritionists, and behavioral scientists. This symposium will examine this issue so important to those of us charged with improving animal health and productivity. It is important to note that this topic and the assembled speakers are likely to attract a broad and diverse audience. The committee expects that the issue of metabolic regulation of food intake will be of interest to ruminant and non-ruminant nutritionists, physiologists, and specialists in animal growth, lactation, range and feedlot management, and animal health and well-being.
ADSA Production Division – The symposium on “Meeting the needs of the dairy industry during the next 25 years” is sponsored by the ADSA Production Division. In support of the Centennial celebration and in an effort to provide focus to the research and educational needs in the future, this symposium has been organized to be of interest to the scientific community and industry personnel.
ADSA Production Division - Dairy Reproductive Terminology Group – This group has planned a "Reproductive Terminology Workshop." Reproductive physiologists have developed a number of different synchronization programs and measures for reproductive analysis; however the terminology is not being used uniformly. This program is designed to develop a standardized set of terminology from which a manuscript will be submitted to Journal of Dairy Science and hopefully the definitions will be adopted by the journal. Other groups such as AABP, SSR, and Therio will be contacted to participate and hopefully adopt the terminology.
Ruminant Nutrition – The Ruminant Nutrition Committee will sponsor two symposia.
The first symposium is on "Connecting rumen microbiology to ruminant nutrition: Are we there yet?" Ruminant nutrition symposia have discussed specific bacteria to explain their findings with little connection to the dynamics of ruminal microbial populations. This symposium will highlight the direct connection between ruminal microbiology and ruminant nutrition and how future research can tie these two disciplines more closely together.
The second symposium is on "Identifying opportunities for maximizing forage utilization". This symposium will address recent management strategies that have resulted in improved forage utilization by grazing ruminants. This symposium will not rehash the classical supplementation response studies. The goal is to report on recent alternative management strategies that have been developed that allow for more sustainable and efficient use of the forage base by ruminant livestock.
Sheep Species – A symposium on “Application of genomics to sheep production” will be sponsored by the Sheep Committee.
Swine Species –The Swine Species Committee will sponsor a symposium on “Impact of ART in swine production: Current and future". The topic in reproduction which generates interest and intrigue with most all scientists the biotechnologies that are developed in assisted reproduction technologies (ART). Just mention the word cloning, stem cells, gender pre-selection and observe the reaction from livestock producers, consumers, government officials, and researchers. This committee will pull together some leading experts from all these fields to discuss ART and suggest how the technologies will be utilized today and in the future. The design of this program is to create a panel discussion of experts from various perspectives on the development and implementation of ART in the swine industry. The committee will invite experts that are involved in the production of swine, governmental officials, and researchers from a swine production perspective and those from medical biotechnologies perspective.
Teaching/Undergraduate and Graduate Education – The symposium on “Student engagement…the classroom and beyond” is sponsored by the Teaching/Undergraduate and Graduate Education Committee. This symposium will identify where we are falling short; establish a case for greater engagement; and highlight success stories in a number of areas of student engagement.
Women and Minority Issues in Animal Agriculture – The Women and Minority Issues in Animal Agriculture Committee will sponsor a luncheon with an invited speaker. The topic is "Peer mentoring for women and minority scientists in academia and industry." This luncheon is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Concrete strategies are needed to improve retention of women and minority scientists in both academia and industry. The speaker will address one such strategy, peer mentoring. This approach emphasizes regular meetings with a small group of peers, for the purpose of mutual mentoring. Successful groups at Virginia Tech will be highlighted, with discussion of how the approach can be used and adapted by female and minority scientists at a variety of institutions. Two short "testimonials" from scientists for whom this approach has worked may also be included.
Triennial Reproduction Symposium – The topics for this symposium on Sunday, July 9 from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm:
1. Minisymposium I.
Follicle and oocyte – 3 speakers on The dominantfollicle, Cytoplasmic
maturation, and Meiotic maturation of oocytes.
2. The USDA-CSREES-NRI program in Animal Reproduction - Relevance to Production Agriculture
3. Casida Award for
Graduate Education.
4. Concurrent
techniques sessions on I. RNAi, then Microarrays, and II. Statistical power
calculations, then Analysis of binomial and categorical data.
5. Minisymposium
II. Reproductive immunology – 3 speakers on Interface with the endocrine
system, The enigma of the fetal allograft, and Sperm and seminal plasma in the
female reproductive tract.
