2020 December Board Book

December 2020

Dear CMAB Board of Directors:

We are pleased to present our proposed research portfolio and funding request for the year ahead. CDRF is primarily funded by the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) in the form of check-off dollars from California dairy producers. CDRF proactively seeks project co-funding from research institutions, government agencies and private industry to maximize research investment opportunities in support of its goals. CDRF is currently managing several projects either fully funded, co-funded or in collaboration with partner organizations. Partner organizations include: Dairy Management Inc., Hilmar Cheese Company, Inc., the International Milk Genomics Consortium, California Department of Food and Agriculture, the Almond Board of California and Audubon California. Ten research teams presented their project proposals for 2021 to the CDRF Board in early November; since that time, they have worked to refine their proposals to increase the project benefits based on the direct feedback from the CDRF board and staff. CDRF is continuing to maintain its goal of expending 60 percent of funding in the area of Environmental Management and investing in co-funded projects throughout its portfolio. Our 2020 Annual Projects Report was presented at the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) Meeting in September and a hard copy was mailed to board members. CDRF, in November, co-hosted the California Dairy Sustainability Summit, during which several projects funded by CDRF were presented to more than 600 attendees, including state and federal government representatives, California dairy farmers, Western- states dairy farmers, researchers and other important stakeholders and industry collaborators. This year, CDRF again aims to maintain a portfolio of research and education programs that will provide short- and long-term resources to our dairy farmers and a flexible response to urgently needed research as critical events may dictate. Please see the following pages for the outline of our focus areas, a brief proposal for each of the 2021 research projects in our portfolio, and our proposed budget request from CMAB for the 2021 fiscal year. On behalf of the CDRF board and staff, I look forward to your input and the chance to continually support our California dairy farmers.

Thank you,

Denise Mullinax Executive Director, CDRF