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[MUSIC] 0:00:09.000,0:00:13.000 >> ALLEN: I'm an animal nutritionist and I study digestion and metabolism in dairy cows.
About half of my time is spent doing research and training graduate students, and the other
half is spent applying my nutritional knowledge in the field through my extension appointment.
Our overall goal is to increase efficiency of nutrient utilization and to minimize the
impact of dairy production on the environment and to maximize profit for dairy farmers.
Over time, the productivity of cows has increased linearly over the last 40 or 50 years and
that has resulted in an increase in efficiency of feed or nutrient utilization.
And less environmental impact mostly because a certain amount of nutrients is required
just to keep the animal alive, and as milk production increases, that gets diluted across
more pounds of milk. Production is increasing linearly yet there
are certain challenges with feeding a very high producing cow.
Those challenges are what I face on a day to day basis, interacting with producers,
nutritionists and veterinarians. I find that contributing to my area of science
is very satisfying but my greatest enjoyment is to interact with the students and watch
them develop as scientists and choose their own path.