Posted: July 13, 2017
Dengpan Bu, Ph.D., discussed the economic benefits of research and interacted with faculty on potential collaborative efforts.
Dr. Dengpan Bu and Dr. Terry Etherton discuss opportunities within the dairy industries of China and Pennsylvania.
As part of an exploration of mutual interests in improving dairy industry performance in both China and the United States, Dengpan Bu, Ph.D., Beijing, China, presented an invited seminar to faculty members of Penn State's Department of Animal Science after he visited Pennsylvania for the American Dairy Science Association Conference that was held June 25-28.
Dr. Bu is a professor of animal nutrition in the Institute of Animal Science (IAS) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Director of CAAS-ICRAF (World Agroforestry Centre) Joint Laboratory on Sustainable Animal Husbandry, and deputy director of the China National Milk Quality Center and International Research Center on Dairy Science.
His seminar focused on the economic benefits of dairy research being conducted at IAS in the context of China's growing dairy industry, which has nearly 12 million dairy cows.
While at University Park, Dr. Bu interacted with faculty members to learn more about possibilities for collaboration to help evolve the dairy industry in China which is working towards increasing production to meet rising consumption. He toured the Penn State Dairy Farm and the Animal Diagnostic Laboratories.
Dr. Terry Etherton, Head of the Department of Animal Science, said, "We welcome the interest from Dr. Bu in partnering with faculty in our Department in advancing the research and extension interests of both countries. He had the opportunity to interact with many of our research leaders and visited our facilities, and enjoyed his visit immensely."
Etherton said it is possible a Memorandum of Understanding for joint projects could result from the visit. Potential topics to be explored further include research and extension programs that relate to cutting-edge reproductive biology technologies, dairy nutrition and dairy cow health.
Dr. Bu was quite interested in the research conducted by Troy Ott, Ph.D., Professor of Reproductive Physiology, that has been funded by a RAIN (Research Application for INnovation) grant from Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. The grant provided funding that has led to the development of a test that looks promising for the detection of pregnancy status in dairy cows on or about day 18. The practical application of this research is it would be possible to get "open" cows rebred sooner than the current practice.
The technology is being developed by a State College-based company, PPK Animal Healthcare, Inc. (PPK). Dr. Bu visited PPK and discussed technology transfer.
Dr. Bu has four patents, published a book and has written more than 100 research papers. He is the principal investigator and leader for more than 10 national-level projects funded by the China Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA). He oversees dairy extension in China and wants specifically to reduce calving intervals, reduce the prevalence of infectious disease and improve milk quality.
