USDA-ARS Fellowship in Improving Dairy Cattle Nutrition on Farms with Automatic Milking Systems

Description

*Applications are reviewed on a rolling-basis.

ARS Office/Lab and Location: A research opportunity is currently available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), located in Madison, Wisconsin.

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency with a mission to find solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. ARS will deliver cutting-edge, scientific tools and innovative solutions for American farmers, producers, industry, and communities to support the nourishment and well-being of all people; sustain our nation’s agroecosystems and natural resources; and ensure the economic competitiveness and excellence of our agriculture. The vision of the agency is to provide global leadership in agricultural discoveries through scientific excellence.

Research Project: The Dairy Forage Research Unit enhances the production capacity, efficiency, product quality and sustainability of dairy systems through better understanding and management of the factors and relationship affecting dairy cattle nutrition. The objective of the research opportunity is to be involved in understanding feed and forage systems used on automatic milking systems (AMS) farms. Additional research includes relating the nutrition program with associated animal data to estimate on-farm production measures of health and sustainability. The focus on feeds and nutrition programs supports further research into AMS dairy cattle nutrition and bioinformatics. This research will involve hands-on collection of feed samples from commercial dairy cattle diets in the ARS vicinity and processing collected samples for analyses. The samples collected from the field will help guide controlled experiments to be conducted at the research location in Prairie du Sac. 

Learning Objectives: The learning objective is to understand the impact of varying partial mixed rations diets typically fed to dairy cattle on automatic milking systems farms on digestibility, greenhouse gas emissions, animal health, and sustainability. 

Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Elizabeth French (elizabeth.french@usda.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: April 2024. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of ARS and is contingent on the availability of funds.

Level of Participation: The appointment is full time.

Participant Stipend: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience.

Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens only.

ORISE Information: This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and ARS. Participants do not become employees of USDA, ARS, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.

Questions: Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process, please email ORISE.ARS.Midwest@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should have received or be currently pursuing a bachelor's or master's degree in the one of the relevant fields. Degree must have been earned within the past five years or is anticipated to be received by March 25th, 2024.

Depending on the research project objectives, the selected candidate may need to operate a government owned vehicle (GOV) and will be required to show proof of a valid U.S. State Driver’s License and provide proof of an active U.S. auto insurance policy.

Preferred skills:

• Experience on dairy farms, handling farm animal data, or handling large animals.

Eligibility Requirements

• Citizenship: U.S. Citizen Only
• Degree: Bachelor's Degree or Master's Degree received within the last 60 months or anticipated to be received by 3/25/2024 12:00:00 AM.