10/09/2009

OARDC’s Krauss Dairy Recognized by Industry for Milk Excellence

Writer:

Mauricio Espinoza
espinoza.15@osu.edu
(330) 202-3550

Source:

Joe Hogan, Animal Sciences
hogan.4@osu.edu
(330) 263-3801

WOOSTER, Ohio —Smith Dairy Products is happy with the milk it buys from the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s (OARDC) Krauss Dairy. So much so that it has decided to recognize the 100-cow research facility for consistently delivering milk meeting the highest quality standards set by the Orrville-based company.

On Tuesday, Oct. 6, the OARDC Director’s Office, along with Smith’s President Steve Schmid and Manufacturing Operations Director Karl Kelbly, presented the staff of the Krauss Dairy with an award highlighting their role in making the Wooster campus operation a success.

“The high standards the OARDC farm exemplifies set a benchmark for others, from scoring exceptionally high on routine state farm inspections to consistently qualifying for our bonus program to being one of our top producers,” Kelbly wrote in a letter to OARDC. “Your facility not only provides an environment for research, it also proves that research can be applied in an actual farm setting. All producers, processors and ultimately consumers benefit from the OARDC dairy farm operations.”

More specifically, Smith — which began receiving milk from OARDC in 2001 — acknowledged Krauss Dairy’s somatic cell (SCC, 96,000), standard plate (SPC, 3,100) and preliminary incubation (PI, 4,400) counts from May 2007 to May 2009. SCC, SPC and PI are critical measures of raw-milk safety, suitability and quality for processing of fluid milk and dairy products. High counts in raw milk reduce yield, shorten shelf life, and adversely affect the flavor of dairy products.

According to Kelbly, such quality standards have earned OARDC Smith’s top premium bonus of $1.21 per 100 pounds of raw milk.

“The $1.21 premium per hundredweight represents a 10-percent increase in cash revenue at current milk prices,” said Joe Hogan, associate chair in the Department of Animal Sciences, which runs Krauss Dairy. “During these times of economic recession and stressed state-line budgets, such revenue increase to OARDC due to the extra effort and commitment to quality by our employees is especially noteworthy.”

Krauss Dairy currently produces some 7,500 pounds of milk per day, all of which is sold to Smith.

Krauss Dairy employees include Herd Manager Kevin Miller, supervisors Frank Workinger and Julie Schuster, and staff members Buddy Beckler, Lynn Baker, Eric Chanay, Shawny Kaufman, Fred Sachariat, Nancy Wise and Ray Windsor. “The relationship between Smith Dairy Products and OARDC’s Krauss Dairy is grounded in our mutual commitment to providing Ohio dairy consumers with a quality product that The Ohio State University can be proud to market,” Hogan pointed out.

Named after William E. Krauss, OARDC’s associate director from 1948-1969, the Krauss Dairy Center allows researchers to conduct experiments on nutrition, mastitis and animal behavior— which translate into information crucial to the profitability of Ohio’s dairy industry and consumer health. The facility also supports research on the conversion of manure and other wastestreams into biogas and electricity.

OARDC is the research arm of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.