By Martin J. Hackett
Dipti Pitta, MVSc, PhD, the Mark Whittier and Lila Griswold Allam Professor of Ruminant Nutrition at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) has received a $1.5M grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture Research Facilities Act Program to build a new calf nursery and dedicated housing for growing and breeding heifers.
“The first months of a calf’s life shape its health and productivity for years, but we haven’t been able to follow animals closely enough to understand how,” said Pitta, the project’s director. “By keeping calves and heifers at the Marshak Dairy from birth through their first lactation, and pairing that with automated feeding and precision monitoring, we can finally see how early-life care translates into lifelong health, welfare, and performance. That knowledge will help producers make better decisions, and it gives our students a real-world classroom and exposure to dairy medicine.”
The investment holds promise for both animal health and the productivity of American dairy farms. Early-life care shapes a cow’s health and performance for years to come, yet the lasting effects of early interventions remain poorly understood. By generating a longitudinal database spanning the neonatal period, the growing heifer stage, and the transition to the milking herd, the Marshak Dairy will help establish evidence-based benchmarks for raising healthier, more productive, and more resilient animals. The facility will also serve as a training ground for veterinary and animal science students pursuing careers in dairy science, and as a working demonstration site where producers can see the tools, technologies, and management practices that can advance dairy production systems across the country.
Source : upenn.edu