What started as a group of dairy farmers concerned about the future of dairy research has turned into multiple university research projects. Dairy farmer Mitch Breunig of Sauk City, Wisconsin chairs the Wisconsin Dairy Innovation Hub Advisory Council, and he says the Dairy Innovation Hub concept started when a group of farmers met at his farm around five years ago. “We really were talking about faculty cuts and retirements at the University of Wisconsin Madison Dairy Science Department and what we were going to do as an industry to, you know, sort of stem that tide and figure out how to fill those really valuable seats in the research department.”
Mitch Breunig
Breunig says the dairy industry needs research to help farmers improve everything from animal nutrition to water quality and management, to developing new products consumers want.
