Hannah Burchard (left) and Niraj Suresh (right) pitch their Ag-focused networking platform “Cow-Moo-Nity” at the 2025 ADSA Meeting as part of The Sciencing Challenge.
The Cardoso Lab traveled on June 22-25, 2025, to Louisville, KY for the Annual American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) Meeting full of presentations, networking, idea pitch competitions, and awards.
Master student Niraj Suresh gave an oral presentation on his work titled, “Assessing Feeding Management Practices on Maryland Dairy Farms: Identifying the need and opportunities” and an oral presentation titled, “Monitoring Total Mixed Ration to Assess Mycotoxin and Clostridium Contamination on Maryland Dairy Farms.” Master student Hannah Burchard presented a poster on her work titled, “Conventional Corn Versus Short-stature Corn: Evaluating the effect of organic acids on fermentation profile and silage stability” and an oral presentation titled “Nutritional effects of organic acids and physical properties of short-stature corn.”
Their work demonstrated the goals of the lab to work with farmers to investigate challenges, identify and create strategies to improve animal welfare, and increase animal production and forage quality. Both students were able to connect with professionals within the dairy industry, other students, and professors to learn about the field and communicate their own research.
Also, during their time at ADSA, Niraj and Hannah both participated as finalists in The Sciencing Challenge hosted by Evonik and RP Nutrients, which gives an opportunity for students to pitch innovative ideas that would promote the development of the dairy industry. The competition also pushes students to strengthen their communication skills and combine research and practical application while meeting industry experts. Suresh and Burchard presented on their idea for an app and web-based platform to better connect dairy farmers with each other and professionals within the industry.
Their platform “Cow-Moo-Nity” would be a place where farmers could find newsletters and publications with the most relevant and recent research. They could also find a chat forum where they could post questions, ideas, or suggestions to connect with other farmers or industry experts. Additionally, an AI Chatbot would be available to ask questions or give recommendations and would then pull from reputable sources to deliver advice to farmers. Among six other universities including University of Wisconsin-Madison, The Ohio State University, and UC Davis, Suresh and Burchard received second place with Cow-Moo-Nity. They shared the podium with University of Florida receiving third and Cornell University receiving first. Suresh and Burchard had a great time meeting all the other students, hearing the other creative ideas, and participating in this pitch experience.
The Cardoso Lab greatly enjoyed their time at the ADSA 2025 Conference and look forward to going again next year!
