: Alumni Newsletter - Summer 2017

Two Department of Animals Sciences graduate students, Revathi Shanmugasundaram and Kim Wilson, and one former undergraduate student, Victoria Polentz, were awarded travel grants to attend the Poultry Science Associations’ (PSA) Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL. The students participated in annual competitions for graduate and undergraduate students to attend the annual PSA meeting July 17-20, 2017, and participate in the student presentation competition. The award provides up to a maximum of $1,000 per award for qualified expense reimbursement for students traveling from the United States, Canada or Mexico.

Revathi Shanmugasundaram received her DVM and MS degrees in Animal Genetics and Breeding from Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, India. Currently she is post-candidacy in her PhD program under the supervision of Dr. Michael Lilburn, studying the effects of embryonic thermal manipulation on heat shock protein 70 and T cell development in ducks. Before starting her PhD, Revathi worked for over 10 years in the area of chicken immunology, mainly on chicken T regulatory cells. Revathi studied T regulatory cell roles during immune responses of poultry by developing a monoclonal antibody against chicken CD25. She has published over 35 articles.

Kim Wilson was born and raised in La Quinta, California and received her BS in Animal Science with a minor in Business Administration from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. Once she completed a research internship at Disney's Animal Kingdom Department of Animal Health, she was offered a graduate assistantship at the University of Georgia poultry science program under the guidance of Dr. Jeff Buhr. In December 2014, Kim completed her MS, which studied pre- and post-harvest microbial interventions for Salmonella. Currently, Kim is post-candidacy, working to complete her PhD in Animal Sciences with Dr. Lisa Bielke, with a focus in poultry enteric health and diseases. In her MS and PhD programs, Kim has been invited to give lectures in numerous poultry science and animal science classes. She has also mentored undergraduates in research projects that resulted in abstracts for poultry-related meetings. She was also awarded a Certificate of Excellence at the 2013 and 2016 PSA meeting. Kim currently serves as a University Student Ambassador for PSA.

Victoria Polentz is from Grove City, Ohio. She graduated in May 2017 from The Ohio State University with a B.S. in Animal Sciences and a minor in Molecular Genetics. While at Ohio State, Victoria had the opportunity to study the effects of diet and age on breast muscle characteristics in commercial broilers, with Drs. Michael Cressman, Michael Lilburn, and Macdonald Wick. In August 2017, Victoria began her MS at West Virginia University, studying poultry nutrition and feed manufacturing with Dr. Joe Moritz.

Dr. Francis Fluharty, Research Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University

A newly formed Ohio-based company had two animals harvested and processed in The Ohio State University Meat Laboratory for photographs of meat cuts conforming to the Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications (IMPS). The IMPS is the standard used by hotels, restaurants, and other food service distributors when purchasing meat cuts. The work was being conducted by Ron Cramer, Manager of the Meat Laboratory, and Dr. Lyda Garcia, an Assistant Professor and Meat Scientist in the Department of Animal Sciences.

The company, Ohio Wagyu BeefTM, was formed, originally, by Francis Pang, a long-time restauranteur and Wagyu breeder who lives in Navarre, Ohio, and Lawrence Adams, a Wagyu producer and former CEO of Imperial Wagyu. In 2014, Adams and Pang met while both men were attending a Wagyu program in Columbus, at which Dr. Francis Fluharty, a Research Professor in the Department of Animal Sciences, was discussing his research on how nutrition and animal management impact growth and marbling in feedlot cattle. Adams and Dr. Fluharty had met several years earlier when Adams was in Ohio looking at agricultural investment opportunities.

A few months after the meeting, Pang sold Adams some of his feed cattle, and the carcasses were so impressive that Adams came to Ohio to see Pang. During this visit, Pang explained how he had diligently studied Wagyu genetics, in order to produce the finest beef. Pang is able to trace his Wagyu cattle to those that were first imported to the USA from Japan in 1975. The Japanese were only willing to export a few Wagyu cattle, which encouraged U.S. producers to develop their own herds. To aid his genetic research, he had taken the Ohio Beef Feedlot Short Course that Dr. Fluharty teaches, and he used many of the recommendations given in the course. Since 2001, Dr. Fluharty has taught an in-depth, 12-hour short course on feedlot management to over 650 people in Ohio. Course material is based on over 30 years of Dr. Fluharty’s research. In 2015, Dr. Fluharty was invited by Adams to discuss his research at a cattle feeding symposium sponsored by Adams’ former company, Imperial Wagyu.

In 2016, Adams resigned from Imperial Wagyu, and he reconnected with Pang with thoughts of developing a branded Wagyu program in Ohio. Two of the factors which led to this are Ohio’s, and the region’s, high-quality Angus cow herd base, and the confinement feeding operations in the area that reduce the maintenance requirements of the cattle due to their being in less mud and snow than many western feedlots. With a high-marbling branded product, environmental conditions can impact product quality greatly.

In February, 2017 Dr. Fluharty was contacted by John Hondros, a well-known Ohio businessman, who had recently entered the Wagyu beef business with his Thistlegate Farms in Sunbury, OH. Hondros’ interest in Wagyu beef came from its tenderness, marbling, and health benefits. According to the American Wagyu Association’s website, “Health experts have discovered the mono-unsaturated to saturated fat ratio is higher in Wagyu than in other beef and, the saturated fat contained in Wagyu is different. Forty percent is in a version called stearic acid, which is regarded as having a minimal impact in raising cholesterol levels.” Hondros was looking for information on nutrition, cow herd management, and genetics. During the meeting, Dr. Fluharty suggested that he meet with Pang, as he had exceptional Wagyu genetics, and a wealth of knowledge regarding the Wagyu breed.

Over the next few months, Hondros joined Adams and Pang to form Ohio Wagyu BeefTM. Their goal is to have a program based in Ohio, and to utilize cattle feeders and processors in Ohio, with the hope of developing cooperating cow-calf herds who may want to breed their high-quality commercial Angus cows to Pang’s Wagyu genetics. According to Sales and Marketing Specialist Kim McCann, “We want to provide consumers with a locally-raised product, that has a superior quality to anything else on the market.”

Currently, Fred Voge, a cattle feeder from West Alexandria, and former attendee of the Ohio Beef Feedlot School, is feeding cattle for the program using the nutritional programs recommended by Dr. Fluharty. They will be marketing the beef under the name Sakura Wagyu Beef. Sakura means “cherry blossom” in Japanese and is a nod to the Japanese origins of Wagyu cattle. As the program grows, the impact of Ohio State’s research in feedlot nutrition and meat science should be an even more positive force in Ohio’s agricultural opportunities.

According to Pang, “Ohio State’s role in the development of a better-eating quality meat like Wagyu can be tremendous. With its staff, knowledge, and research, it can help the local farmer get away from the commodity based pricing that local beef farmers are facing today, to a market where the pricing is more performance based. I think highly of your Meat Science program and the knowledge it lends to local farmers on animal husbandry. I could not have been a beef farmer without their help.”

Dr. Chanhee Lee

Dr. Chanhee “Chan” Lee is using the study of animal science to lessen farming environmental impacts. His research focuses on nutrient utilization efficiency to improve production and lower nutrient excretion.

Dr. Lee didn’t get his start on a farm. He grew up in South Korea’s largest city, Seoul. However, he enjoyed travelling over two hours from home to rural areas on weekends and summer vacation. “I worked with farm crews to help them feed animals and manage farms. That was fun. Then, I decided to study animal sciences in one of the universities in South Korea,” said Dr. Lee.

Dr. Lee would earn his B.S. in Animal Sciences from Konkuk University and his M.S. in Animal Sciences from Seoul National University, both in Seoul, South Korea. In 2008, he travelled to the United States to begin doctoral study at Pennsylvania State University. He earned his Ph.D. in 2012 and stayed an additional six months working as a postdoctoral researcher examining dairy nutrition and environments. In 2013, he continued as a postdoctoral researcher at Lethbridge Research Centre in Canada. He switched his research to beef cattle nutrition and environmental impacts.

In 2015, Dr. Lee began working at The Ohio State University Wooster Campus as an Assistant Professor. His research focuses on four areas: ruminant nutrition (dairy and beef), feed utilization efficiency, nutrient excretion, and gas emissions in ruminant animal operations.

According to Dr. Lee, “The goal of my research is to lower environmental impacts of ruminant animal operations by improving feed utilization and lowering nutrient excretion and gas emissions from animals and manure. Results from our research will be greatly helpful on current environmental issues in Ohio, the USA, and also the world (water quality, algae bloom, global warming, air quality, odor, etc). “

Dr. Lee is currently working on several projects. The first seeks to improve feed efficiency by manipulating feed ingredients or feeding feed additives. He is utilizing an in vitro system that is a simulation technique of ruminant stomachs (rumen) to evaluate feeds and feed additives in the lab on a small scale, before animal experiments. At the beef and dairy research facilities located at Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), his team is currently conducting four different animal trials. They are looking at feed utilization and efficiency, production (milk production or growth), and enteric methane production from ruminants. Dr. Lee’s team is also working on lowering nutrient excretion (especially nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus) from dairy cows that may negatively impact the environment. Through diet manipulation, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur excretion in feces and urine are measured. In addition, manure from the cows is incubated in the lab to measure gas emissions (NH3, H2S, and greenhouse gases) that may cause air contamination and lower air quality. His final research project focuses on manure management as well. The team collects manure from ruminant animals to examine gas emissions to help lower environmental impacts (gas emissions, odor, etc.) by manipulating storage systems and applying manure additives.

Dr. Lee recently returned from conferences for the American Dairy Association and the American Society of Animal Science. He has numerous journal articles both published and in press. He also serves as an advisor to graduate and undergraduate students, as well as visiting scholars.

“The Department of Animal Sciences, OARDC, and OSU, have excellent research facilities including the Beef, Sheep, and Dairy Research Centers as well as a feed mill. The facilities were designed to do research, which is what I enjoy the most. In addition, the barn staff are very supportive on research projects. Finally, faculty members in our department are world-renowned in their field and support the junior faculty. So, I really enjoy working with them.”

Hank LeVan

The Ohio State University Livestock Evaluation Leader and Livestock Judging Coach, Hank LeVan, understands the importance of the Livestock Judging Team to Ohio State. However, his background and experience have prepared him for continuing the team’s long-standing tradition of success.

LeVan grew up on a diversified livestock enterprise in Woodstock, OH, consisting of Show Cattle, Standardbred Racehorses, and Quarter Horses with his parents Dr. Louis LeVan, DVM, and his mother Melissa. At age 10, when LeVan was old enough to join 4-H, his father surprised him with a Shorthorn Steer. According to LeVan, “When I looked over the horse stall railing, I saw a roan Shorthorn steer calf lying in the sawdust. I couldn’t help but smile. Unknowingly to me, my dad was about ten feet behind me grinning from ear to ear.” LeVan spent the next three years showing Shorthorn steers at the Champaign County Fair.

In 2006, after some research, LeVan discovered the Ohio Shorthorn Fall Showcase Sale and convinced his parents to attend. LeVan and his father didn’t know what to expect and found many of the heifers out of their price range. The beginning of their herd had a challenging start. LeVan explains, “As the last lot came in the ring I nudged him [his father] and told him there weren’t any heifers left to sell and he calmly stated, ‘I know’ and smiled. We bought the last heifer in the sale and, of course, she was the cheapest and the only one that wasn’t halter broke.” From there, LeVan continued to go to Shorthorn sales and became active in the Ohio State Shorthorn Breeders’ Association. He also participated in Junior Nationals and the Ohio State Fair.

For the LeVan family, a lot has changed since 2006. Over the last 10 years, “LeVanderosa Farms” has diversified its breeding program. Currently, they run a 30 head, multi breed, cow herd consisting of Shorthorn, Simmental, Angus, and crossbreds. They also work with local producers to lease around 25 recip cows for embryo transplant needs.

LeVan went on to attend Black Hawk East College and Western Illinois University. It was at these two institutions that he learned the values and techniques that he applies to his teaching and coaching responsibilities at Ohio State. LeVan is hoping to continue and build upon the success of previous Livestock Judging Teams. The first team was started in 1903 with Charles Plumb and there has been a team every year there was a contest. Since their start in 1903, the Livestock Judging Team has won the national contest 9 times. Some of the most nationally renowned judges have coached teams and taught coursework at the University such as Herman Purdy and D.J. Kays.

LeVan has already seen improvement in the team. At the 2017 National Western, in January, the team placed 8th. By April, the team came in first place at the All-East competition. LeVan hopes to continue the team’s growth through more involvement with regional FFA and 4-H groups. Members of the Livestock Judging Team have helped with practices and served as judges in local 4-H and FFA competitions. LeVan hopes to hold a clinic to provide competition insight for FFA teachers and 4-H advisors in either the fall or spring.

The upcoming year promises to be an exciting one for LeVan. He recently married Megan LeVan, nee Perry. LeVan is also looking forward to a productive 2017-2018 season. He thinks that several of his students might be named All-Americans in September. He welcomes contact about the Livestock Judging Team at levan.27@osu.edu.

Dr. Maurice Eastridge, Professor and Extension Dairy Specialist, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University

The Buckeye Dairy Club held its annual awards reception on April 22 at the Der Dutchman in Plain City, with about 82 in attendance. Those recognized included the dairy judging and dairy challenge teams and the Club’s committee chairs and outgoing officers. The Buckeye Cow Tales yearbook was dedicated to Ray and Colleen Jackson and their family for providing the cow for ‘Milk a Cow on the Oval’ and additional support to the Club. The Outstanding Club member awards went to: Freshman – Sarah Schuster (Columbus, OH), Sophomore – Hannah Meller (Wauseon, OH), Junior – Molly Cleveland (Green Springs, OH), and Senior – Rachel Park (Ravenna, OH). The Prestigious Member Award (includes $500 toward college costs) went to Marina Sweet (London, OH). The Buckeye Dairy Club in conjunction with John and Bonnie Ayars initiated the Austin Ayars Memorial Scholarship ($5,000), with the first recipient being Joel Sonnenberg (Malinta, OH). The 2017-2018 Officer Team is: President: Marina Sweet, First Vice- President: Hannah Meller, Second Vice-President: Chase Thut, Recording Secretary: Hannah Jarvis, Corresponding Secretary: Lexie Nunes, Treasurer: Joel Sonnenberg, and CFAES Representative: Katherine Wolfe.

Dr. Maurice L. Eastridge, Professor and Extension Dairy Specialist, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University

This marked the fourth year for the OSU Dairy Industry Study Abroad, with the three previous trips occurring in 2007, 2011, and 2014. The first two trips were to the Netherlands, but the two most recent trips included the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. The group consisted of myself and Dr. Katy Proudfoot, Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, as resident directors and 20 students from Animal Sciences; Agricultural Education; Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering; Agricultural Communications; Zoology; and the Agricultural Technical Institute. The trip occurred from May 7-21, and with our arrival during late spring, we missed most of the tulip blooming season in the Netherlands. However, we were able to observe several fields in bright colors, and we were able to tour the Keukenhof, a park with many beautiful flowers, the week prior to its closing for the season. We certainly ate and/or purchased our share of cheese and yogurt, stroopwafels, Belgium waffles, mussels in Brussels, and fine chocolates. We visited Wageningen University, which is the primary agricultural university in the Netherlands, including a tour of their dairy unit on the main campus and at the Dairy Campus in Leewarden and their livestock metabolic chambers at the Wageningen campus that allows some impressive research on energy utilization and gaseous emissions from animals. We visited Utrecht University, which is the only university in the Netherlands with a veterinary program, that included a tour their food animal clinic with a small dairy herd. We also visited the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp (Bergen, Germany), Anne Frank house (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Lely manufacturing plants for dairy and forage equipment (Rotterdam, Netherlands), two cheese markets (Alkmaar and Gouda, Netherlands), a cheese plant (Muenster, Germany), Osnabreuck Holstein Genetics (Melle, Germany), and much more.

During the visit, we toured about 5 dairy cow farms having just a few cows up to about 250 cows. Most of these farms had Holstein Friesian, but one of them had the Blaarkop breed. Two of the farms were organic (or biologic as they refer to such systems) and another one of them was transitioning to become organic. In addition, we visited three university dairy facilities, two that were affiliated with Wageningen University and the one at Utrecht University. The research facility at Dairy Campus aligned with Wageningen was very impressive; it had been totally rebuilt since our visit in 2014, having opened the new facility in May 2016 with 550 cows, a 40-stall rotary parlor, and the capacity for conducting research in nutrition, animal health, animal welfare, environmental sustainability, and housing systems. We visited a cheese processing plant and one of the farms had on-site processing of milk, ice cream, and/or yogurt. Two of the dairy farms had diversified businesses of a restaurant and/or farm games. Technology observed on farms included either the DeLaval or Lely robotic milker units, Lely Juno automatic feed pusher, Lely Discovery barn cleaner, automatic milk feeders for calves, and automated bedding systems.

We also visited a sheep dairy farm that processed milk for sale at the farm as fluid milk and cheese (aged and fresh) and they had a few cows that were milked by a Lely robot. They were making sheep cheese, cow cheese, and cheese from a mix of cow and sheep milk. We visited a goat dairy that consisted of 1650 Saanen goats with does being milked in a 72-stall rotary parlor. The does averaged about 1200 kg/year with 4.10% fat and 3.54% protein. We visited a farm that milked Belgium mares for selling fluid milk, dried milk, or about 14 human health or cosmetic products. The mares were milked with a DeLaval unit. Although we were unable to visit a farm this year with Belgium Blue cattle, we saw several of these cattle from the roadway and several of the dairy farms were breeding some of their cows with Belgium Blue semen to improve the value of the calf for beef.

There continues to be increased restrictions in the European Union related to animal health and welfare, such as no tail docking, restricted use of antibiotics, calves have to be 14 days of age to transport, dehorning with hot iron requires an anesthetic which must be administered by a veterinarian, and etc. However, even with these regulations, comfort of cows housed inside is often less than desirable with uncomfortable free stall surfaces, improperly designed and maintained free stalls, and inadequate ventilation. The aesthetic focus on a clean farmstead and cows on pasture is not necessarily reflective of the conditions within animal housing areas. The European Union eliminated the milk quota system in 2015 and the number of cows per farm and thus total milk production have been increasing, resulting in an over supply of milk and weak milk prices. In the meantime, environmental regulations have increased, especially limiting the amount of phosphorus that can be land applied. Thus, even though the milk quota has been discontinued, the environmental regulations have been limiting the expansion of dairy farms. The continued ‘desire of the consumer’ to see cows on pasture and to know where their milk comes from is driving more farmers to use production systems with cows on pasture for 120 to 180 days per year (‘meadow milk’ with about $1.12/cwt premium) or to transition to being an organic farm (similar premium as found in US for organic versus milk from conventional systems).

It was certainly apparent of the increased focus on energy and natural resource conservation in Europe over the past ten years of the program. There is increased use of solar panels on farms (usually placed on barn roofs), continued focus on wind and water power, and soil nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) balance. Manure storage systems are to be covered to reduce volatilization of nitrogen, and like in the US, research is being conducted at reducing methane production by cows and increasing feed efficiency.

Pictured- Back row (L to R): Joel Sonnenberg, Louis Liming, Morgan Kessler, Jake Parkinson, Jacquelyn Blanchard, Grace Moeller, and Dr. Maurice Eastridge.

Middle row: Dr. Katy Proudfoot, Emilia Sgambati, Christine Balint, Marina Sweet, Allison Carpenter, Hannah Jarvis, and Lauren Haney.

First row: Skylar Buell, Alexandra Houck, Emily Winson, Lydia Flores, Molly Michael, Loren Schmidt, Breanna Sharp, and Taylor Andrews.

The Ohio State University Dairy Judging Team had a successful trip to the Western National Spring Judging Contest, part of the 102nd Richmond Black & White Days. Team members Tanner Topp, Ella Jackson, and Lexie Nunes placed 2nd overall and 2nd in reasons.

Individual honors:

Tanner Topp – 3rd individual and 2nd placing, top 10 individual reasons

Ella Jackson – 7th individual, top 10 individual reasons

Lexie Nunes – top 10 individual reasons

The team had 10 classes of Holstein cattle to judge and 5 sets of reasons. In addition to the judging contest, the Dairy Judging Team visited Pappy’s Farm, Seagull Bay Dairy, Inc., and the Utah State University Dairy Farm.

Did you know that CFAES has hired a counselor to support the needs of their students' mental health?  Dr. Wirt holds counseling sessions in Ag Admin Room 100 four days a week and is in Lincoln Tower on Wednesday. See the attached if you’re interested in making an appointment.

The Career Services page on the departmental site has been redeveloped to hopefully make it more user-friendly. Check out helpful resources for building a resume, writing cover letters and more. There are resume templates that can be used to create a resume in case you don’t know where to start. In addition, there is an option for students to submit their resume and/or cover letters for review, prior to applying for internships or going to the career expo. Check it out! https://ansci.osu.edu/undergraduate/career-services/building-resume