Southeast Dairy Check-Off Program

Founded in 1988, the Southeast Dairy Producer’s Check-Off Program is a vehicle for industry support of research and education priorities impacting dairy production in the Southeast. The program is voluntary and funded by a contribution of 1 cent per cwt. of milk produced. Since its inception, the program has generated over $3.2 million in support of dairy research and education.

Research scientists and extension professionals from Universities around the Southeast are eligible for participation and currently include the University of Florida, the University of Georgia, Clemson University, and Auburn University. Investigators submit proposals each January for consideration by a Review Board consisting of 10 dairy producers from the Southeast. Research supported by this program is unique in that it focuses on issues directly impacting dairy producers in the Southeast, which often differs in scope and magnitude when compared to producers in other regions of the country. Results of funded research are shared through educational outlets including cooperative extension, traditional media, and more recently, a repository of web-based reports that provide links to further contacts for more in-depth information. Dairy education, particularly youth, is also a focus of the program. In addition to timely and meaningful research topics, the Program supports numerous educational events for 4-H, FFA, and Collegiate Dairy Science Clubs.

• 2023

  Project Coordinator	Name of  Project and Final Report	Amount Funded	Research Summary
  Jillian Bohlen	2023-2024 Request for Support of Georgia Youth Programs	$21,900
  Chris Decubellis	Request for Dairy Check-Off Funds to Support Florida Youth Programs	$32,500	Research Summary
  Dairy Science Club	Cost-Share Support UF Dairy Science Club Activities	$5,000	Research Summary
  Jose Dubeux	Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration in Florida Dairies	$18,727	Research Summary
  Pete Hansen	Discovery of Genetic Markers Linked to Protection of Cells from Elevated Body Temperature	$20,000	Research Summary
  Pete Hansen	Feeding rumen-protected methionine to program postnatal phenotype of dairy	$15,500	Research Summary
  Cheryl Mackowiak	Cool-season forage evaluations to promote greater productivity, quality, and nutrient mitigation for southeastern dairies	$18,450	Research Summary
  Emma Matcham	Effect of Nitrogen and Sulfur Applications on Silage Corn Yield and Quality	$16,834	Research Summary
  Corwin Nelson	Identifying risk factors for postpartum hypocalcemia to improve reproductive efficiency	$28,000
  Owen Rae	Milk Check-Off Veterinary Student Scholarship	$2,000	Research Summary
  Fernanda Rezende	In-depth genomic analysis of fertility indicators in Holstein dairy cattle	$28,000	Research Summary
  Esteban Rios	Developing and Disseminating Improved Forages for Dairy Farms	$14,000
  Valerie Ryman	Utilization of milk culture in combination with differential somatic cell count in development of selective dry cow therapy program	$13,050
  Sha Tao	Environmental effects and seasonality of growth and health of growing calves in different housing conditions	$20,000	Research Summary

   

• 2022

  Project Coordinator	Name of  Project and Final Report	Amount Funded	Research Summary
  Owen Rae	UF CVM Scholarship	$1,000	Research Summary
  Valerie Ryman	Using Pretreatment Somatic Cell Counts to Enhance Mastitis Cure Rates	$7,000	Research Summary
  Jillian Bohlen	Characterizing postpartum resumption of cyclicity using AMS and its impact on future heat characteristics and reproductive parameters	$8,200	Research Summary
  Jillian Bohlen	Georgia Dairy Youth Programs	$14,300	Research Summary
  Cheryl Mackowiak	Cool-season forage evaluations to promote greater productivity, quality, and nutrient mitigation for southeastern dairies	$15,450
  Joao Vendramini	Evaluation of new forage cultivars in south and north-central Florida Yr. 2	$15,860	Research Summary
  Jose Dubeux	Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration in Florida Dairies	$18,439	Research Summary
  Sha Tao	Minimizing inflammation in the early dry period under heat stress condition	$21,336	Research Summary
  K.C. Jeong	Development of customized effective probiotics to mitigate dairy calf Diarrhea	$22,960	Research Summary
  Geoffrey Dahl	Reducing water use to cool cows using “Smart” technologies	$25,899
  Ricardo Chebel	Applying automated technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) for the early diagnosis of bovine respiratory disease (BRD)	$28,648
  Chris DeCubellis	Florida Dairy Youth Programs	$30,000	Research Summary
  Lynn Sollenberger	Establishment, Compatibility, and On-farm Performance of Alfalfa-Bermudagrass Mixtures	$30,408	Research Summary
  Jose Santos	Investigating Mechanisms of Divergent Feed Efficiency in Dairy Cows	$31,456

• 2021

  Project Coordinator	Name of  Project and Final Report	Amount Approved	Research Summary
  Owen Rae	UF CVM Scholarship	$2,000.00
  Peter Hansen	Discovery of Genes Causing Heat Tolerance	$8,000.00
  Cash Rice	UF Dairy Club	$9,000.00
  Jillian Bohlen	Georgia Dairy Youth Programs	$10,000.00
  Peter Hansen	Breed Differences in Heat Tolerance	$10,700.00
  Lynn Sollenberger	Establishment, compatibility and on-farm performance of Alfalfa-Bermudagrass Mixtures	$11,388.00
  Liza Garcia-Jimenez	Limpograss cultivars 'Kenhy' and 'Gibtuck' baleage as an alternative feed for dairy farms in Central and North FL	$14,040.00	Research Summary
  Joao Vendramini	Evaluation of new forage cultivars in south and north-central Florida	$17,960.00
  Esteban Rios	Breeding and Disseminating Bermudagrass, Alfalfa and Cowpea Varieties for Florida Dairies	$21,200.00
  Diwakar Vyas	Nutritive value and fermentation characteristics of cool-season grasses and whole-plant sorghum silage used in the Southeast	$22,000.00
  Chris Decubulis	Florida Dairy Youth Programs	$25,000.00
  Albert DeVries	Better cow decisions to improve parlor efficiency and profitability	$25,000.00	Research Summary
  Ricardo Chebel	Development of a reproductive strategy to reduce the use of reproductive hormones in lactating dairy cows	$35,810.00	Research Summary
  Jose Santos	Determining the optimal dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) in diets fed to prepartum nulliparous cows	$41,736.00	Research Summary
  Mark Clark	Assessment of denitrification media for optimizing nitrate removal	$44,614.00

• 2020

  Project Coordinator	Name of  Project and Final Report	Amount Approved	Research Summary
  Owen Rae	UF CVM Scholarship	$1,000.00
  Valerie Ryman	Using Pretreatment Somatic Cell Counts to Enhance Mastitis Cure Rates	$7,000.00
  Todd Callaway	Elementary School Agricultural Education: Opportunities to Grow New Dairy Producers and Educate Consumers of the SE	$7,950.00
  Jillian Bohlen	Georgia Dairy Youth Programs	$10,750.00
  Peter Hansen	Evaluation of Australian Breeding values for heat tolerance under US conditions	$10,800.00
  Ann Blount	Continuation of the evaluation of cool-season forages to improve forage productivity, quality and nutrient for southeastern dairies	$14,700.00
  Liza Garcia	Limpograss cultivars 'Kenhy' and 'Gibtuck' baleage as an alternative feed for dairy farms in Central and North FL	$17,640.00
  Lynn Sollenberger	Establishment, compatibility and on-farm performance of Alfalfa-Bermudagrass Mixtures	$19,020.00
  Jose Dubeux	Crop rotation strategies to reduce nematode population on cornfields	$19,152.00
  Chris Decubellis	Florida Dairy Youth Programs	$21,500.00
  Esteban Rios	On-farm establishment, breeding stock expansion and bermudagrass/stargrass cultivar release(s) for southeastern dairies	$22,500.00
  Diwakar Vyas	Nitrogen efficiency of Florida dairy herds: Potential performance indicator for dairy farms	$26,000.00
  Jose Santos	Determining the Optimal Dietary Cation-Anion Difference (DCAD) in Diets Fed to Prepartum Nulliparous Cows	$42,000.00	Research Summary

• 2019

  Project Coordinator	Name of  Project and Final Report	Amount Approved	Research Summary
  Owen Rae	UF CVM Scholarship	$1,000.00
  Albert De Vries	Effect of season and age of first calving on productive life, lifetime milk production and profitability through production planning	$6,667.00
  Joao Vendramini	Can propionic acid enhance bermudagrass silage quality? Yr. 2	$10,400.00
  John Bernard	Effect of lagoon water application relative to silage harvest on pathogen concentrations and silage fermentation with or without inoculant	$14,800.00
  Ann Blount	Evaluation of cool-season forages to improve forage productivity, quality and nutrient management for southeastern dairies	$14,900.00
  Klibs Galvao	Surveillance of BLV prevalence in the southeast and evaluation of its effects on health, production, reproduction and longevity.	$16,000.00
  Emily Miller-Cushon	Evaluating effects of space allowance on dairy calf performance, behavior and individual variability in summer	$16,300.00
  Joao Vendramini	Effects of mixing annual forages on bermudagrass and limpograss establishment. Yr. 2	$17,360.00
  Jill Fain	Georgia Dairy Youth Programs	$18,700.00
  Esteban Rios	On-site and on-farm establishment, forage yield and quality of novel high nutrient-uptake bermudagrass/Stargrass for Southeastern Dairies	$20,700.00
  Peter Hansen	Development of CSF2 as a fertility enhancing additive to semen extender	$21,000.00
  Chris DeCubellis	Florida Dairy Youth Programs	$38,000.00