National Milk Producers Federation

Established in 1916, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) is the oldest farm commodity organization in the United States and represents the interests of dairy cooperatives that are owned and operated by dairy farm families. NMPF provides a forum through which these dairy farmers and cooperatives may formulate national policy on issues affecting the production of milk and dairy beef.

NMPF's Board of Directors offers several scholarships each year to qualified graduate students (enrolled in Masters or Ph.D. programs) who are actively pursuing dairy-related fields of research that are of immediate interest to NMPF member cooperatives. Graduate students pursuing research of direct benefit to milk marketing cooperatives and dairy producers are encouraged to submit an application (applicants do not need to be members of NMPF to qualify). Recommended fields of study include but are not limited to:

At their June meeting, the NMPF Scholarship Committee was pleased to select five M.S. and Ph.D. students to receive $9,500 in scholarships as part of the 2010 NMPF National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program.

These five scholarship recipients are all conducting research in areas that will benefit dairy cooperatives and producers.

The 2010 Hintz Memorial Scholarship, given to the top scholarship candidate, was awarded to Chad Mullins (right). As a student at Kansas State University, Mullins is working toward his Ph.D. in Animal Science. His research will test whether or not zilpaterol hydrochloride improves transition cow health. Mullins hopes to provide the dairy industry with a way to enhance the metabolic status of periparturient dairy cows by inducing prepartum lipolysis and increasing lean tissue mass.

The other four scholarship recipients were:

• Karen Lobeck, a student at the University of Minnesota, is working toward her M.S. in Animal Science. Her research will examine dairy calf health and behavior with automated group feeding.
• Phil Cardoso is attending the University of Illinois as he works for his Ph.D. in Animal Science. Cardoso will study the bioavailability of Naringenin administered to lactating dairy cows and their metabolic responses to an insulin resistance induction (IRI).
• Jaymelynn Farney, a student at Kansas State University, is pursuing a Ph.D. in Ruminant Nutrition and Physiology. Her research will address the therapeutic treatment of bovine fatty liver by sodium salicylate.
• Joseph Loquasto is pursuing his Ph.D. in Food Science at Penn State University. Loquasto will conduct a comparison of the complete genomes of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. animalis ATCC 25527 and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis DSMZ 101040.
  

The Scholarship Committee was impressed by the response rate this year. Committee members thanked all of the students who submitted applications for the 2010 program and encouraged them to apply again next year.

If you have any questions about the NMPF scholarship program, please call the NMPF office at 703.243.6111, or email Sarah Olson.