Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Mike Lacy presided over the meeting and Alan Mathew recorded the minutes. David Morrison (Admin. Advisor) addressed the SAC-2 group. He noted that an update of the ESCOP Science Road Map was underway and included rewording of some components. Among other aspects, a description of the seven challenges is now expressed in more generic terms and specific language related to improving animal and crop production has been removed. This seems to more closely follow the alignment with the new five priorities of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Morrison reminded the Committee that our report was due within 60 days following this meeting. He also noted that this is the 3rd year for the Excellence in Multi-state Research Award, for which each region submits a nominee. He reminded the Committee that we had previously recommended nomination of S-projects from our region. He noted that S-1032, Improving the Sustainability of Livestock and Poultry Production in the United States, was previously nominated for this award; however the award was presented to another multi-state project. Morrison further noted the criteria for the award and indicated the project's need to be national in scope and have leveraged funds from grants. He noted the nomination includes a 3-page document, with six areas to be addressed by each nominated group. A general discussion of commodity check-off programs was conducted. In particular, the lack of support for research by such programs was noted. It was observed that two years ago, some members of the NCBA suggested an expansion of check-off support; however the initiative was not successful. It was further noted that the industry check-off input has not changed for 25 years, thus limiting any expansion for support of programs. It was suggested that we invite someone from NCBA to our meeting next year to discuss this issue. Another suggestion was to bring this topic to the ASAS meetings in Denver in July. On another topic, it was noted that Animal Science Departments have a large teaching load, and this impacts our other activities. Several members commented that funds for our teaching programs are not adequate and strategies were discussed for generating money for teaching programs, including lab and/or course fees. Members of the SAC-2 Committee then provided reports and recommendations regarding multi-state projects under the Committee's oversight, as per the below. S-1020: Enhancing Reproductive Efficiency of Poultry. Mike Lacy, Monitor for the project provided the report. He noted this project is currently under review by the Multi-state Research Committee, and Morrison noted the review had recently been completed and the report was on his desk for consideration. Lacy indicated this has been a small but productive group which has conducted good work. He noted some concern that the level of collaboration may not be as high as it could be. Morrison noted that the most recent review had indicated increased collaboration, thus addressing this concern. Lacy indicated that the group was additionally productive with grants and publications. He recommended continuation of the project and the SAC-2 Committee agreed. S-1025: Systems for Controlling Air Pollutant Emissions and Indoor Environments of Poultry, Swine, and Dairy Facilities. Mathew, Monitor for the project provided the report. He noted the project was renewed as S-1025 in 2006 and the project will expire in 2011. He indicated this group has a good history of activity and productivity and has recently increased collaborative projects, thus decreasing the proportion of single-institution projects that was a concern in the past. In their most recent meeting of June 2009, they had very good attendance with 14 of the 19 participating institutions represented at the meeting. This participation was improved over previous meetings, which had been a concern. The meeting included guests from the USDA and 3 invited speakers. This group has provided an informative and comprehensive annual report and they also did a good job of listing impacts as a part of their report. Numerous publications were listed for 2009, with a good balance of Extension and producer-oriented publications, peer-reviewed publications, abstracts, presentations and proceedings papers. Mathew recommended continuation of the project and the SAC-2 Committee agreed. S-1027: The Poultry Food System: A Farm to Table Model. Monitor Don Conner was not present. Lacy provided an update on the project. He noted most Poultry Science departments participate in this project. Members have been very active and have demonstrated a collaborative spirit. They have been modestly successful in grantsmanship. Lacy recommended continuation of the project and indicated Conner would be asked to provide a formal report. The SAC-2 Committee agreed with the recommendation for continuation of the project. S-1030: Flies Impacting Livestock, Poultry and Food Safety. Monitor Keith Lusby was not present. Morrison indicated Lusby would be asked to provide a report. Lusby provided the following report on 2/3/2010: This report is written from minutes submitted by Chair Dr. Wes Watson. Twenty five participated in the meeting held in San Diego on Jan 13-14, 2010. Objectives are 1: Characterize dispersal and population biology of stable flies (SF) and house flies (HF) and develop monitoring methods for use in indoor and outdoor environments; 2: Establish extent of fly-borne dispersal of human and animal pathogens; and 3: Improve management tactics for stable flies and house flies. The report indicates a good degree of activities across several states and activity with species including cattle, swine and horses. The suggested date for 2011 meeting is 12-13 January 2010 in San Antonio, TX, hosted by the USDA Cattle Fever Tick Laboratory. Objective groups discussed specific projects for the next year and set out collaborations to develop proposals for funding. Objective groups also presented their goals for the next year including proposal concepts and possible funding sources. Lusby recommended continuation of the project. S-1032: Improving the Sustainability of Livestock and Poultry Production in the United States. Bob Harmon, Monitor for the project provided the report. He noted this was an active project that was renewed in 2007. Twenty states are involved in the project and the group demonstrates multi-disciplinary activities. Their objectives include addressing waste streams and air emissions, and they are taking a more global approach to reducing nutrient streams. Harmon noted the group provided a very good annual report. They met in conjunction with the S-1025 group in June where they provided updates on projects, including poster sessions and oral presentations in a very interactive meeting. They show good multi-state cooperation. Harmon questioned whether they have reported all of their publications in their annual report. He recommended continuation for the project and also recommended re-nomination of this group for the Excellence in Multi-State Projects award. The SAC-2 Committee agreed with both recommendations. S-1035: Nutritional and Management Abatement Strategies for Improvement of Poultry Air and Water Quality. Sam Pardue, Monitor for the project was not present. Morrison reported on the project indicating their annual report had been sent to him by Dr. Pardue. He noted their meeting was held in July, in association with Poultry Science Association meetings. Fifteen institutions are participating in this project. Morrison described some example projects and accomplishments from the annual report, noting this group has an obvious Extension component and a mix of single institution and collaborative projects. It was further noted that they have a good publication record. Morrison noted a need to increase the emphasis on collaborative efforts. Morrison recommended continuation of the project and the SAC-2 Committee agreed. S-1037: Integrative Functional and Physiological Genomics of Poultry. Mary Beck, Monitor for the project was not present. Terry Kiser stated that Mary Beck was no longer the department head at Clemson and suggested that Mike Kidd, new Head of the Poultry Science Department at the University of Arkansas be asked to accept the responsibility as Monitor for this project. Mike Lacy indicated he would provide a report for this project to the Committee and to Morrison. Lacy recommended continuation of the project based on past history of good activity and accomplishments. The SAC-2 Committee agreed. (Mike Lacy confirmed on February 8, 2010 that Mike Kidd had agreed to take on the role of Monitor for S-1037) S-1040: Genetic Selection and Crossbreeding to Enhance Reproduction and Survival of Dairy Cattle. Dahl, Monitor for the project provided the report. He noted the group held their annual meeting in France and he was able to attend. He noted he was very impressed with the meeting as it was well-organized, interactive and informative. The meeting was hosted by an industry partner (breeding company) in France. Dahl further noted this project has been a long-standing multi-state activity that is now focused on 3-way genetic crosses. Their meetings have seen good attendance and the project is national in scope and across participants, with a Southeast and Midwest emphasis. Graduate students also participate in the meetings. The most recent meeting was a two and a half day venue with several invited speakers from INRA and other European groups. The group will continue to plan for future joint meetings with European partners. He noted the group demonstrates good collaboration and integration. Dahl noted one minor concern regarding the need for more junior researchers and newer investigations. He recommended continuation of the project and the SAC-2 Committee agreed. Bob Harmon noted that U. of Kentucky's participation in the project is jeopardized by a recent mandate to downsize their dairy. Kensinger suggested approaching stakeholders regarding funding issues, downsizing of faculty in this discipline and downsizing of herds/flocks. All will challenge our ability to maintain productive research in this area. S-1044: Nutritional Systems for Swine to Increase Reproductive Efficiency. Mathew, Monitor for the project, provided the report. He noted the S-1044 multi-state project is a revision of the expired S-1012 multistate project, which had a good history of productivity and multi-institutional cooperation across research and extension missions. With the expiration of that project, participating member institutions drafted a new proposal, which was approved last year for a 5-year period and thus they have just completed the first year under the new project. The Committee meets annually, with their most recent meeting occurring January 4 & 5, 2010 in conjunction with the NCCC-42, Technical Committee on Swine Nutrition. As has been typical for their annual meetings, their recent meeting included joint discussions with NCCC-42 and breakout sessions specific to each of the 2 groups. The meeting agendas are typically conducive to good discussion and usually include guest speakers from USDA, commodity organizations, and others. Among the aspects of the approved new project are specific points to coordinate the various research and Extension initiatives across participating institutions, and to standardize methods, data, and statistical analyses to provide a larger and more robust datasets that should result in more comprehensive outcomes and recommendations. Mathew recommended continuation of the project and the SAC-2 Committee agreed. Morrison asked if this project should be nominated for the Excellence in Multi-State Projects award, but Mathew suggested re-nominating S-1032 as had been recommended earlier. S-1045: Genetic (Co) Variance of Parasite Resistance, Temperment, and Production Traits of Traditional and Non-Bos indicus Tropically-Adapted Breeds. Bertrand, Monitor for the project provided the report. He noted this project focuses on genetic considerations for beef cattle in challenging environments. It was renewed from the previous S-1013. He noted numerous research stations are involved in this project. It has been generally productive, but there are some weakness in that the project is somewhat isolated by stations across sire usage and investigations of genomic components for adaptability and disease resistance. Bertrand further noted that if the group could succeed in this area, this would be a very important project that would also lead to increased granting opportunities. Burfening noted he was concerned by the high proportion of senior investigators and the recent retirements that have resulted in lost expertise in this area. He noted they should strive for a new influx of new investigators. Burfening also suggested that while one of their objectives is to store DNA, currently there are no real plans to use such. He noted the National Animal Germplasm program would likely be interested in banking these genetics in the form of DNA, semen, and embryos and possibly other forms. Burfening indicated we should suggest to the S-1045 group that a representative contact Harvey Blackburn, Animal Geneticist for National Germplasm program, to take advantage of this opportunity. Bertrand recommended continuation of the project and the SAC-2 Committee agreed. SCC-72: Enhancing Reproductive Efficiency in Cattle. Kiser, Monitor for the project provided the report. He noted this is an information exchange group encompassing five institutions and representing extension, research and teaching. They typically meet at the Animal Science Southern Section meetings and conduct a planned program with invited speakers. Their emphasis is on estrous synchronization. Kiser noted he attended the meeting last year and indicated that some good multi-state collaboration have come out of this information exchange group. He noted however that he had some concerns when visiting the NIMSS site in that Appendix E, denoting participants, is very incomplete. He further noted that the administrative advisor has not been active with the group and this issue should be addressed. Kiser indicated he will address the group in that regard. He also noted there was no evidence of a report and he would address the group in that regard as well. Morrison suggested the group needs to promote and invite larger participation from other institutions. Kiser recommended continuation of SCC-72, with the above recommendations to the group. The SAC-2 Committee agreed. SCC-81: Sustainable Small Ruminant Production in the Southeastern U.S Ralph Noble, Monitor for this multi-state information exchange group was not present. Morrison provided the report, indicating that this group includes 25 participants who do a good job in interacting and providing impacts. This group is primarily constituted by 1890's institutions, and Morrison noted that the NIMSS reporting structure is not set up to fully accommodate reporting by those institutions. He noted that the three primary objectives of the group include exchange and use of information on parasites, reproductive performance and grazing. He also noted they do a good job with governance and the conduct of meetings. Morrison recommended continuation of SCC-81 and further recommended continuation of Ralph Noble as monitor. The SAC-2 Committee agreed with both recommendations. SERA-15: Competitiveness and Sustainability of the Southern Dairy Industry. Mary Beck, Monitor for this project was not present. Morrison suggested that Gary Hay take on the monitoring responsibility for this project. Morrison noted that SERA-15 clearly includes research and extension components. Kiser provided the report and indicated he typically attends the meeting. The group usually meets the day before the Southern Dairy Conference. One concern is the number of retirements, particularly of dairy economists. It was further noted that travel and registration fees may be keeping participation lower than it should be. It may take some leadership to increase participation. Kiser noted that during the formulation of this project, some questions were raised in the approval process regarding impacts and other aspects. Morrison questioned that other than organizing the Southern Dairy Conference, it was not clear what the group does. Kiser noted that among other things, Jeff Bewley of U. of Kentucky and others have put together a good DAIReXNET site and increased the educational component with grant funding. One of the challenges is that this group was originally initiated by dairy extension economists, so there has not been a lot of production information exchanged. This group is thus still searching for an identity, and challenges exist for the scope of this multi-state project especially with recent and pending retirements. Kiser further noted that the Southern Dairy Conference is a big gathering providing considerable information for producers and the industry, and they post their proceedings on the web for a broad outreach. He indicated the Chair for SERA-15 and the Southern Dairy Conference are the same individual, and it is the one meeting where a lot of the industry folks come together. Kiser recommended continuation of SERA-15 and the SAC-2 Committee agreed. SERA-41: Beef Cattle Production Utilizing Forages in the Southeast to Integrate Research and Extension Programs across State Boundaries. Wayne Green, Monitor for this multi-state project provided the report. He noted that last year this project received temporary approval, with concerns that a revision of anticipated impacts was needed. The SAC-2 Committee left our meeting last year noting the Department Heads unanimously supported this project. The SERA-41 group re-wrote the project, re-submitted the proposal, and again it was not approved. Morrison read the response from the Review Committee in which a statement was made that the proposal needed more tangible impacts and outcomes. It was noted that this group is meeting in Orlando on January 31 in conjunction with the Southern Section meetings, and it was suggested that Department Heads/Chairs participate in that meeting to provide additional guidance. Greene recommended continued support for this project, further noting that increased support from their advisor and leadership may be needed to get through this hurdle. Morrison suggested the problem may be that the statement of outcomes in the proposal is too generic, and no real distinct outcomes, such as a conference, websites or other outreach components are noted. The SAC-2 Committee agreed. Lacy asked for further business items for the SAC-2 Committee. A discussion was held regarding incoming officers for the SAC-2 Committee. Dahl nominated Dave Gerrard, Head of Animal and Poultry Sciences at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, as incoming secretary. Kiser seconded the nomination. It was noted that this is a 2-year position, and the individual will transition to the Chair of the SAC-2 Committee for a term of two years. Mathew will take on the position of Chair for the 2011 and 2012 meetings. A motion was made and seconded to close nominations. The motion was carried by unanimous vote, as was the initial motion of Dahl, thus placing Dave Gerrard as Secretary and Alan Mathew as Chair of the SAC-2 for a term of 2 years. Kiser recommended that members of the SAC-2 Committee attend the Department Heads Breakfast at the Southern Section meetings to be held on Monday morning, January 8 in Orlando FL (program can be accessed at http://www.saasinc.org/2010-Orlando/Programs/2010_Program_Book.pdf ). He noted that this activity provided a good opportunity to meet with heads of other disciplines, including economists, agronomists, horticulturalists and others. With no further business to conduct, the 2010 meeting of the SAC-2 was adjourned.