Katie Schmitt
Industry Relations Manager
Katie is CDCB’s key communicator, liaison with the industry and leader of farmer engagement. She works closely with CDCB’s Producer Advisory Committee and translating technical findings into applied information for dairy producers and industry members.
Education
BS, Animal Science with an emphasis in Industry and Business, minors in Communication Studies and Agricultural Food Business Management, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Holstein Foundation’s Young Dairy Leaders Institute Class 13
Past Work Experiences
World Dairy Expo:
– Communications Manager
– Media Relations Specialist
– Communications Specialist
Personal Insight
Katie grew up on her family’s dairy farm in central Minnesota where her parents and brother continue to milk Registered Holsteins (including a few that Katie owns). She serves on the National 4-H Dairy Conference planning committee and is a regular volunteer at World Dairy Expo. Katie founded and hosted, “The Dairy Show,” the World Dairy Expo’s podcast in 2020. It’s no wonder why Katie was recognized as a “35 under 35” by Wisconsin Farm Bureau.
As a volunteer with of the Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens, Katie was part of growing, gleaning and giving away more than 110,000 pounds of fresh produce every year to the food pantries in Dane County, Wisconsin. And if caring for cows and growing vegetables didn’t fill her time, Katie was also a regular national anthem singer for Minnesota Gopher sports throughout college, and she continues to enjoy singing at her church in Kansas.
Projects & Publications
Come see what genetic teamwork is about
Genetic improvement in the U.S. dairy herd has been fueled by the teamwork of producers and organizations that collect, transmit, and deliver individual cow data. On Wednesday, October 2, this team and the integrated value of the U.S. genetic evaluation system will be center stage at World Dairy Expo during the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB) Industry Meeting.
Moving from ME to average age
In June, the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding’s (CDCB) publication of 305-ME (mature equivalent) was discontinued and replaced by 305-AA (average age) as the standardized yield estimate for U.S. dairy cows. This change incorporates current knowledge about the key variables that impact milk yield and improves the accuracy of the estimate.
In August, 305-AA will be implemented in the calculation of genetic evaluations by CDCB. As part of this transition, the 305-AA yield estimates were added to CDCB animal queries in mid-June.
What's ahead for genetic selection?
More than 150 dairy genetic enthusiasts gathered on October 4, 2023, at World Dairy Expo for the ninth annual Industry Meeting of the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB). Among the most popular presentations were two talks on current research to define new traits, develop data pipelines, and produce genetic evaluations for traits of economic and societal importance. Geneticists Kristen Parker Gaddis and Asha Miles presented the research updates from CDCB and USDA’s Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory (AGIL), respectively.
Marking a decade of genetic gains with CDCB
In 2013, people were celebrating the birth of Prince George and the appointment of Pope Francis, watching “Frozen,” and enjoying Taylor Swift in her “Red” era.
In the dairy industry in 2013, the legendary “Bing. Bang. Boom.” rang out in the World Dairy Expo showring as KHW Regiment Apple-Red-ET stood Reserve Grand Champion to her Grand Champion clone, Apple-3, in the International Red and White Show. The average genomic Net Merit (NM$) of marketed Holstein bulls was just shy of +100. The first genomic evaluation was introduced for Ayrshires. Ten years ago, there were fewer than one million genotypes in the national cooperator database. Today, there are just shy of eight million.
The data that makes better cows
Keeping accurate records both on and off the farm will help better the dairy industry. The Council for Dairy Cattle Breeding stewards data collection for genetic improvement across dairy breeds.