Location: Environmentally Integrated Dairy Management Research
Project Number: 5090-12630-006-002-N
Project Type: Non-Funded Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 1, 2023
End Date: Jul 31, 2028
Objective:
The objective of this cooperative research project is to promote and facilitate cooperative research projects where the interests of the Cooperator and ARS coincide and support individual project needs of both agencies. The overarching research objectives are:
1) Develop improved methods for detection and quantification of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in manure, forages, surface runoff, groundwater, and surface waters; and
2)Understand the occurrence, transport, survival, and risk of dairy-related pathogens in the environment; and
3) Understand how agricultural, urban, and exurban land uses affect microbiological water quality.
Approach:
The parties will operate and maintain a collaborative environmental microbiology laboratory located at the ARS location in Marshfield, Wisconsin. Specifically, the parties will share laboratory and office space, share laboratory equipment, and jointly develop and share laboratory methods and information system related to the detection and identification of pathogens, such as qPCR and high-throughput sequencing. Results from these joint studies will be used to understand the fate and transport of pathogens in the environment and identify and assess effectiveness of treatment technologies for reducing pathogen levels at key points in dairy agriculture (e.g., manure handling).
