Dr. Cindy Daley's mission is to bring ecological farming practices into the academic setting by creating a living laboratory for students to become directly involved in organic dairy production practices. In 2007, she was involved in creating the only academically-based Organic Dairy Program (ODP) in the Western Region, a true pasture based system where students are directly involved in the process including managed intensive grazing (MIG), organic pasture management, holistic herd health, milking hygiene, milk quality, organic calf management, and whole farm systems planning. Positions on the Student Dairy Management Team are competitive.
The applied research program is driven by the recommendations of organic dairy producers throughout the Western Region and funded through the California Agriculture Research Initiative, Organic Valley Family of Farms - FAFO funding (Farmers Advocating for Organics), and the USDA OREI program. Research reports and publications are available at the CSUC ODP website.
http://www.csuchico.edu/ag/farm/dairy-unit/index.shtml
Dr. Daley is also involved in a national consortium of researchers working to bring a variety of educational materials and research bulletins on-line at http://eorganic.info/ - to benefit organic producers as well as the extension service, organic certification personnel and agricultural educators. This spring, 2013, we will pilot our first on-line course entitled "Introduction to Organic Dairy Production".
Active research projects include reduced grain feeding and the use of soil amendments to improve forage quality and net profitability; the effect of pasture DMI on milk nutrient content and the use of fodder as a grain alternative in mid size dairy operations.
Currently her team is working to develop an on-farm testing system for food pathogens to assist those producers involved in direct marketing of value-added products.The system takes advantage of new technology RT-PCR and commercially available test kits for common food pathogens.
Education
University of Illinois, Batchelors in Animal Science
University of California, Davis PhD in Animal Science
Professor
California State University, Chico
1997 – Present (16 years)Chico, California
Director of the CSU Chico Organic Dairy Program - website All Things Grass fed
University Advisor and Board of Director to the Western Organic Dairy Producers Alliance Applied Research Program: Organic dairy production practices, addressing economics of organic production methods, improving forage quality with soil amendments, economic return of fodder supplementation under MIG.
Teaching Load: Sustainable Agriculture, Agricultural Genetics, Organic Dairy Production & Management and Reproductive Physiology.
Producer and Educator
Organic Valley
2007 – 2013 (6 years)
Farmer member of Organic Valley Family of Farms where we produce and sell organic milk into the farmer-owned COOP. Provide research and educational support to OV farmers in the western region.
University of California Davis
Research Associate
University of California Davis
1986 – 1991 (5 years)
Research data analysis, on-farm consulting, applied research
Dr. Daley has also been awarded a number of state and national teaching awards for her effectiveness in and out of the classroom and continues to use her gifts to instill passion for healthy foods, local food networks and ecological farming practices.
Dr. Daley is also involved on a lessor day to day basis with a grass fed beef trial that is also being run simultaneously at Chico. Both herds; beef and dairy, are run on a rotational grazing model. In this interview we discuss organics, university involvement in grass fed research and much more. Dr. Daley is a knowledgeable person with a lot of passion for the industry. Having grown up one of 5 children on a farm in Illinois, she is very familiar with farm life and the requirements of such. Her older brother now runs the home place while Dr. Daley does the research to benefit her family farm and all farmers and ranchers that are interested in grass based agriculture and/or organic practices. You will learn a lot from this interview with Dr. Cindy Daley.
If you want to learn more about the research Dr. Daley is doing, you need to hear this interview!