AgBioResearch

2019 M-AAA Grants Program Industry Priorities

As MSU faculty and staff work to develop the latest scientific information that will enhance agriculture, the M-AAA urges you to engage and be diligent in advocacy efforts. This will not only enhance collaborative relationships with our agricultural industry, but also lead to better informed and educated consumers. Many of the technologies and management practices commonplace on farms throughout Michigan, the U.S. and the world were developed at land grant universities, including MSU. Together we share a responsibility to promote and educate the public about the modern, science based production and management tools used in today’s complex and very advanced animal and food production systems.

Members

Michigan Allied Poultry Industries

Overarching Priorities

• Avian Diseases: causes, treatment, prevention.
• Avian Nutrition: all species, throughout life cycle.*

Egg Layer Priorities

• Different housing methods and impact on bird health.
• Flock welfare: stocking density, bacterial and parasitic challenges.

Turkey & Broiler Priorities

• Antibiotic management and antibiotic alternatives.
• Skin and tissue issues: clostridial dermatitis, woody breast syndrome, etc.

Michigan Cattleman’s Association

• Emerging disease (including bTB) prevalence, survival, transmission, susceptibility and methods for reduction or eradication.
• Improving beef industry environmental sustainability, including water conservation, nutrient management and carbon sequestration.*
• Capturing value and efficiencies in beef production; specifically, creating value through Michigan’s cattle traceability program and determining ways to improve cow energetic efficiency.

Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development (MDARD)

• MI animal reportable diseases.
• Biosecurity.
• Animal welfare.
  

Michigan Farm Bureau

• Development of new animal health protection tools and expanded role of vaccines in disease protection.
• Workforce development and education: Training for jobs and careers in animal agriculture.
• Effective tools and preparedness to deal with current and emerging diseases.
• Development of new tools to enhance food safety.

Michigan Horse Industry

• Youth and adult outreach/education in horse health/management and promotion of the industry.
• Land-use and environmental management as it relates to horse facilities and equine recreational use.
• Research in the areas of preventative health management, gastrointestinal disease and nutrition.

Michigan Meat Association

• Workforce development: Training and resources for entry and current employees with credit and non-credit programs with hands-on and lecture sessions.  Examples include meat cutter training, animal welfare and humane handling, humane harvesting, operational processing techniques, etc.
• Emerging issues: Investigations (research and extension activities) in identification, controls or prevention of issues or topics that affect meat, poultry and game animal food safety.  Examples include: chronic wasting disease and bovine tuberculosis, pathogenic microbial identification and control, parasite, prions, diseases, genetic and muscle abnormalities, etc.
• Operational processing and food safety controls: Investigations in practices or product characteristics for food safety control involving biological, chemical or physical hazards. Examples include: extended shelf life, reduced oxygen packaging, fermented meat products, antimicrobial agents, chemical residues, foreign and natural objects, etc.

Michigan Milk Producers

• Animal health issues: bovine tuberculosis (TB), bovine leukemia virus, antimicrobial resistance.
• Assistance with the dairy industry’s sustainability’s efforts, including research on both feed and reproductive efficiency as it relates to sustainability.*
• Toxins in corn and corn silage.
• Workforce development.
  
• Alternative uses of milk.

Michigan Pork Producers

• Emerging diseases (e.g. porcine epidemic diarrhea virus) and implications for a secure pork supply.
• Consumer acceptance of production practices (research on alternative housing methods, castration/pain mitigation and animal care and handling) and strategies for enhancement of consumer image of swine industry.
• Environmental Issues (manure management, air quality, water availability).*
  

Michigan Sheep Breeders Association

• Understanding the nutrient requirements of prolific sheep.*
• Improving reproductive efficiency of prolific sheep.
• Developing management guidelines for sheep production systems.

Associate Members

Associate members do not contribute directly to the determination of research priorities for the M-AAA grants programs, review of proposals or initial funding decisions. Priorities exclusive to associate members are not directly supported by the M-AAA grants program, but proposals addressing shared priorities are encouraged.

Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee

• Maximize the value (biological and financial) of soybean meal in livestock nutrition including, but not limited to, bypass protein and amino acids.
• Utilization of livestock manure as a crop nutrient source – specifically, the effect of protein sources on nutrient composition of animal waste.
• Effect of protein sources in animal diets on meat quality, rate of gain and milk production.

*Shared priorities of the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee