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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center » Cell Wall Biology and Utilization Research » Research » Research Project #438501

Research Project: Ruminant Farm Systems (RuFaS) model: A Next-Generation, Whole-farm, Dairy Systems Model to Support Sustainable Productivity and Environmental Health

Location: Cell Wall Biology and Utilization Research

Project Number: 5090-21000-071-007-R
Project Type: Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Oct 1, 2020
End Date: Oct 31, 2023

Objective:
The objective of this research is to integrate data from research farms, consumers, and dairy industry stakeholders to complete a next-generation, open-source farm systems model: Ruminant Farm Systems model (RuFaS). This model will subsequently be applied and coupled to on-farm research to examine drivers of long-term sustainability and profitability of farm management systems.

Approach:
Primary literature meta-analysis will be used to develop the first iteration of the RuFaS Feed Storage and Crop/Soil components. On-farm research trials will be implemented to fill gaps in the model and evaluate model accuracy/precision. Findings will be demonstrated to stakeholder groups.