Calf research projects result in national FFA award

INDIANAPOLIS — Jay Bliler’s excitement for research has resulted in a National FFA agricultural proficiency award.

The Taylorville, Illinois, FFA member won the agriscience research — animal systems award during the 96th National FFA Convention and Expo in Indianapolis.

Bliler completed two research projects with calves on his family’s JRW Calf Ranch.

“For the first project, we tested the effects of an enzyme we added to the milk that was suppose to make the macronutrients of the milk — carbohydrates, lipids and proteins — more available to the calves,” he said. “And that would increase their feed efficiency.”

This research was conducted on Holstein-Angus cross bottle calves.

“These calves are part of my entrepreneurship record book and we were trying to combat problems we had,” said the son of Nate and Elizabeth Bliler.

“We weren’t getting the weight gain we wanted and we were having a couple of health problems so we tested the enzyme,” the high school senior said.

The second research project was with Holstein-Angus cross calves that were weaned.

“We tested the effects of iron in the water on the calves,” Bliler said. “The iron on the farm causes problems for the plumbing and we were told as kids not to drink the water so I figured the calves shouldn’t be drinking it either.”

When Bliler tested the water it contained 9 parts per million of iron.

“The tolerable rate for calves is 0.9 ppm so we were way above the threshold,” the national winner said.

“We found that reducing the iron helps because there are receptors in the calves’ immune system which the iron blocks and stops the vaccines and medicines from helping with diseases because they can’t come in contact with the system that helps the calves combat disease,” he said.

The Taylorville FFA member did not expect to win the national award for his work on the research projects.

“Surprised was my biggest emotion,” Bliler said. “Because my interview didn’t go quite like I wanted it to.”

“It is exciting to hold this title and see how excited everybody was for me when I came off the stage,” he said.

Bliler and his science partner have completed a research project to test the effects of an egg powder added to the milk for the calves.

“It provided the antibodies for the calves that would have been provided through the vaccinated mother’s colostrum,” Bliler said.

“When we’re sourcing calves we don’t know the vaccination protocols of all the dairies, so being able to provide antibodies really helped us with reducing disease and death loss,” he said. “It was pretty cost effective, a 12-to-1 return on investment.”

Since Bliler is getting pretty busy as a senior he is not sure if he will complete another research project this school year.

“But I hope I can use research in the future to continue to expand my horizons of new innovations in the ag industry,” he said.

Bliler is involved in many Taylorville FFA activities, including livestock and meats judging, as well as the ag sales career development event.

“My favorite is livestock judging and I like proficiency awards a lot because I get to meet new people and kids who have projects similar to mine,” he said. “I also like to meet the judges who are normally industry professionals who can help me with other projects.”

This year, Bliler is the vice president of community development for the chapter that has over 300 members and is advised by Megan Beckmier, Charles Dammerman and Sue Schafer.

“We have four vice president positions to divide the work evenly,” Bliler said. “Mine entails working with the community and our alumni have a strong connection to the local food pantry, so I make sure we have kids lined up to do that and for any suppers we do I’m responsible for communicating with the alumni.”

After completing high school next spring, Bliler is planning to study agribusiness, but he has not selected a college at this time.

“I’m really interested in ag accounting and finance,” he said. “I definitely want to interact with producers and people in the agricultural industry.”

Bliler received help from many people to achieve the top National FFA award in agriscience research — animal systems.

“We have three great advisers at Taylorville who put in a lot of hours,” he said. “Our nutritionist helped me figure out the interworkings of the feed and I’m thankful for the help of our veterinarian.”

In addition, the Taylorville community is very supportive of the chapter’s activities.

“We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without the support of the community,” Bliler said. “They’re very passionate about our program.”