Research - Reproduction of Dairy Cattle, Behavior and Management

Studies in my laboratory examine the relative importance of factors influencing reproduction and lameness in dairy cattle. As a member of a research team, we have developed a device to automatically identify lameness in cows. We have receive a patent on the device and have licensed it to Boumatic, Inc, a leading dairy equipment manufacturer. With a collaborator I have developed Dairy-L@listserv.umd.edu, the first and most successful Internet electronic mail network for agriculture. DAIRY-L is an electronic mail forum for technology transfer by dairy professionals.

Teaching

• ANSC 212: Applied Animal Physiology
• ANSC 305: Companion Animal Care (with limited guest lecturers)
• ANSC 444: Domestic Animal Endocrinology
• ANSC 446: Physiology of Mammalian Reproduction
• ANSC 644: Cellular and Molecular Endocrinology y

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Awards and Honors

• Received UMD Landmark Award for International Activities for work in Russia. 2008
• Received Honorary Distinguished Professorship from Stavropol State Agrarian University, Russia. 2008
• Outstanding Faculty Educator, from College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Student Council, 2008
• Certificate of Honor for fostering development of distance education program in Russia, from Minister of Agriculture, Russian Ministry of Agriculture, Moscow, September 2001
• Honorary Membership, American Association of Bovine Practitioners, Annual Meeting, Memphis, TN, September 1999
• Selected one of "Twenty Five Most Influential" people in agriculture by Farmer's Digest Magazine, November 1998
• Alfa-Laval Agri Dairy Extension Award from American Dairy Science Association, 1998 (youngest recipient on record).
• University of Maryland at College Park Alumni Association - College of Agriculture and National Resources Chapter award for Excellence in Extension, March 1996
• Elected President of Northeast Branch of American Dairy Science Association, 1991
• Gamma Sigma Delta (Honorary Fraternity of Agriculture) Certificate of Merit for Excellence in Extension, 1985
• Maryland Extension Professional Partner Award, 1992

Other Accomplishments

• Authored or coauthored 22 refereed journal articles, 5 book chapters and over 30 abstracts at professional meetings, and 19 papers in conference proceedings.
• Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator of grants totally over $1.1 million in support of research, teaching and Cooperative Extension programs.

Extension

• Founder and Co-moderator of Dairy-L, an electronic information exchange network for over 2,000 professionals advising dairy producers.
• Host of AABP-L, an electronic information exchange network for over 2,000 bovine veterinarians in over 30 countries. Over 10,000 messages are distributed annually.
• Provide leadership in development of the national project DAIReXNET, a virtual 'Community of Practice' for Extension professionals with dairy responsibilities in eXtension.
• Coordinator of eXtension and on-lne learning efforts for Maryland Cooperative Extension.

Publications

Representative Publications

• P.G. Rajkondawar, M. Liu, R.M. Dyer, N.K. Neerchal, U. Tasch, A.M. Lefcourt, B. Erez, and M.A. Varner. 2006. Comparison of Models to Identify Lame Cows on Gait and Lesion Scores, and Limb Movement Variables. J. Dairy Sci. 89:4267-4275.
• Guo, K., E. Russek-Cohen, M. Varner and R. Kohn. 2004. Effects of milk urea nitrogen and other factors on probability of conception of dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 87:1878-1885.
• Rajkondawar, P., U. Tasch, A.M. Lefcourt, N.K. Neerchal, R.M. Dyer, M.A. Varner, B. Erez and U. Tasch. 2002. The development of an objective lameness scoring system for dairy herds: Pilot study. Trans. ASAE. Vol. 45:1123–1125.
• Rajkondawar, P. U. Tasch, A.M. Lefcourt, B. Erez, R. Dyer and M.A. Varner. 2002. A system for identifying lameness in dairy cattle. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 18:87-96.
• Rajkondawar, P. U. Tasch, A.M. Lefcourt, B. Erez and M.A. Varner. 2000. A walkthrough gait analysis system that automatically detects lameness of dairy herds. Tran. 2000 ASAE Annual Conf. Milwaukee, WI, 9-12 July.
• Dunlap, T.F., R.A. Kohn, G.E. Dahl, M.A. Varner, and R.E. Erdman. 2000. The impact of somatotropin, milking frequence and photoperiod on dairy farm nutrient flows. J. Dairy Sci., 83:968-976.
• Lefcourt, A.R., D. Erez, M.A. Varner, B. Barfield, and V. Tasch. 1999. A noninvasive radiotelemetry system to monitor heart rate for assessing stress responses of bovines. J. Dairy Sci., 82:1179-1187.
• Varner, M.A. and A. Brand. 1996. V. Monitoring Herd Fertility. 3. Decision making, problem analysis and follow up. Herd Health and Production in Dairy Practice. A. Brand, J.P.T.M. Noordhuizen- Stassen and Y.Y. Schukken. Wageningen Press, Wageningen, NL. pp 313-333.
• Erdman, R. and Varner, M. 1995. Fixed production responses to increased milking frequency. J. Dairy Sci. 8:1199-1203.

Grants

Project	Funding Source	Amount
Development of an electronic system to determine lameness in cows.	MAES Competitive Grant	$15,000
An on-campus competitive program to allows scholars to discuss teaching issues on a bi-weekly basis. Ten fellowships awarded with approximately a 50% success rate.	Application for Lilly Fellowship, Undergraduate Studies	$3,000
A research program to evaluate the usefulness of a device to detect lameness in dairy cattle. We have also applied for a patent for the device and are also licensing the device.	USDA - National Research Initiative	$147,743
A web-based distance learning program for poultry biosecurity. An existing face-to-face workshop on poultry biosecurity will be converted to a web-based format and promoted.	AGNR Distance Education Funds	$16,000
Block Grant for Graduate Program in Animal Sciences; funds to support graduate assistantships.	UMD Graduate School competitive grant program	$8,000
An Electronic Journal To Foster Scientific Information Exchange And Cooperation Within The Former Soviet Union.	USDA - Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems	$23,500
Meat Products Safety: From Farm to Table.	USDA - Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems	$122,000
Putting Learning into Distance-Education: Development of a regional distance learning consortium for higher education and agricultural professionals in Southern Russia.	HED-USAID	$124,000
US DAIReXNET – A national dairy information and communication resource.	National eXtension Program	$75,000 (UMD subcontract for $11,600)