Cargill donates $500,000 to U of I’s CAFE project

Mar 01, 2023

Dairy sustainability scientists and innovators will soon have the nation’s largest research hub to test their ideas and develop technologies in the Pacific Northwest.

The Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (CAFE) will be the backdrop to short-term and longer-term research projects to benefit dairy farmers in Idaho and beyond.

To help support this University of Idaho project, Cargill is donating $500,000 to the university.

Located in the nation’s third-largest dairy-producing state and home to a thriving agriculture sector, CAFE is designed with the size and scale of a commercial dairy, with additional capabilities to grow and study crops used for animal nutrition.

CAFE researchers will examine the sustainability of the dairy farming value chain from feed to milk and beyond to help bring solutions to dairy farmers in the Western region for years to come. In addition, researchers will study additional revenue streams for farmers beyond milk from emerging bio-based products and carbon credit markets.

Click here to see more...

Video: Sweetener Effects on Gut Health - Dr. Kwangwook Kim

In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. Kwangwook Kim, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, discusses the use of non-nutritive sweeteners in nursery pig diets. He explains how sucralose and neotame influence feed intake, gut health, metabolism, and the frequency of diarrhea compared to antibiotics. The conversation highlights mechanisms beyond palatability, including hormone signaling and nutrient transport. Listen now on all major platforms!

“Receptors responsible for sweet taste are present not only in the mouth but also along the intestinal tract.”

Meet the guest: Dr. Kwangwook Kim / kwangwook-kim is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, specializing in swine nutrition and feed additives under disease challenge models. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Animal Sciences from the University of California, Davis, where he focused on intestinal health and metabolic responses in pigs. His research evaluates alternatives to antibiotics, targeting gut health and performance in nursery pigs.