Dairy science

DASC 1574: Introduction to Dairy Science

This guide was designed to help you with three aspects of getting to know and talking to people in the dairy industry. The resources provided here can help you find 1) people you can talk to, 2) things going on in the industry to talk about, and 3) resources to help you talk to people you don't know. Although this guide is not comprehensive (there are many sources available), it is here to give you some guidance and help you accomplish these three tasks.

Who to talk to?

Think about what it is you want to know. Is it about dairy farm management, best forage crops to feed cattle, animal identification systems, milking systems, etc? Answering these types of questions will help you locate the best places to find people who can best answer your questions.

Resources to use to find people to talk to in the dairy industry:
Many organizations will provide names of board members, who can also be helpful in answering your questions. Note, direct contact information to the board members may not be provided. Use the “contact us” (when available) or search for the person using a search engine (e.g. Google)

• American Dairy Science Association is an organization that supports science, education, and service for the dairy industry. While there is a member directory, you must be a member to access (undergraduate students can join the association for $5.00).
• Carolina Virginia Dairy Products Association
• Dairy Council Directory this page of the National Dairy Council provides contact information to dairy groups by state as well as spokespeople you can contact in the state organizations. Included in this directory are:
  • American Dairy Association & Dairy Council, Inc. (ADADC) (primarily for dairy farmers in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania).
  • SUDIA - Southeast United Dairy Industry Association, Inc.
• Dairy Management Inc. is a portal site to several initiatives created by farmers, for farmers to promote dairy products in the U.S.
• Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association

When at a site, you might need to look at more than one location to find contact information. For example, the Midwest Dairy Association site (primarily for Nebraska dairy farmers) includes names of people under the following sections:
“meet dairy farmers” and “helpful links” under Dairy Farming
“ask the expert” links under Nutrition & Health and Tools for Schools
“registered dietitians” under Media Center

The groups listed above represent a small sector of associations, it is by no means comprehensive. To find other organizations/associations, try using the terms “association” or “council” or "cooperative" with your other keywords..

What to talk about?

These resources are just a few places to look to find information about what is going on and factors that affect the dairy industry. By preparing for an interview or discussion, not only will you have an array of material to talk about, but you can also develop in-depth questions that will take conversations into greater detail and provide you with new insights or perspectives about the topic at hand.

• DairyHerd provides access to free email newsletters, as well as selected News and Editorials. Additionally, the content under “Resources” provides access to many pertinent issues in the dairy industry.
• Dairy Today catch up on industry news not only for dairy, but other sectors of agriculture that might also impact the dairy industry.
• Hoard's Dairyman for news briefs, or view full articles available in print in the library
• Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook is a monthly report from the USDA that covers trends and forecasts of the dairy industry (as well as other livestock)
• Southern Dairy Conference Proceedings also useful for finding names of people to talk to.
• S-PAC (Searchable Proceedings in Animal Science) database of proceedings from major animal production conferences held in the U.S. and Canada. Currently requires an additional user log-in (receive by "asking a librarian")

How do you talk to people you don’t know?

There are a number of resources available to help you develop your communication style and interviewing techniques. These are just a few to help get you started.

Web resources you can use to develop or improve your interviewing techniques:

• Academic Research Interviewing (from Penn State)
• Conducting an Interview (ppt presentation from Purdue University)
• Interviewing (from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)

Materials in the library:

• The craft of interviewing / John Brady.
• Field and laboratory investigations in agroecology / Stephen R. Gliessman ; edited by Eric W. Engles.
  • particularly pages 295-300, Investigation 23: Farmer interview
• Gathering facts from interviews [videorecording] / producer, Jean Burke ; director, Terry Lewis. (14 minutes)
• A guide to qualitative field research / Carol A. Bailey.
  • particularly pages 95-112, Chapter 7: Interviewing
• Research methods in anthropology : qualitative and quantitative approaches / H. Russell Bernard.
  • particularly pages 208-236, Unstructured and semi-structured interviewing.
• The student journalist and interviewing / by Hazel Presson.
• Talk straight, listen carefully : the art of interviewing / M.L. Stein, Susan F. Paterno.

There are also several items on the web and in the library that deal with "the art of conversation" such as http://www.abac.edu/lfelton/2292_conversation.pdf. You can also use the CommLab (located on the 1st floor of the library) where you can further develop your conversation and listening skills.