NEW VIENNA, Iowa — The cows may be gone from the daily life of Libby Hageman, but her interest in dairy lives on through agriscience research as a Dyersville Beckman Catholic FFA member.
Hageman’s dairy-related work earned her first place in Iowa FFA this year in the integrated systems division of agriscience research, and a finalist for star in agriscience.
The awards were presented at the Iowa State FFA Convention April 14-16 in Ames.
Hageman, of New Vienna, comes from a farm where her parents, Bob and Amy, milked 70 cows until two years ago. She continues to milk cows at the neighboring McAllister dairy.
But before the Hageman cows were sold, the soon-to-be high school senior began a research project addressing a challenge on the family’s farm.
“I looked at scours in dairy calves and how bacteria on the bottles can affect the spread,” Hageman said. “We were struggling with that personally on our farm.”
Hageman’s research compared three cleaning methods for calf bottles: using a dishwasher, soaking in bleach and using hot water. She said the results surprised her.
“I thought the agitation and hot water of the dishwasher would be best, but it was the bleach,” she said.
Hageman’s work was done in the classroom lab, which presented a challenge from Iowa’s laws regulating raw milk at the time. She could not use raw milk, so she added yogurt to pasteurized milk to create bacteria.
Even so, the project brought her to the stage at the National FFA Convention & Expo 2022, where she placed eighth in animal systems after a second-place win in Iowa.
It also resulted in changes on the Hageman farm, where they began soaking bottles and buckets in bleach weekly and experienced better calf health.
In 2023, Hageman’s research project compared compaction rates in different soil types and their effect on germination in seedlings from the Conservation Reserve Program. Working again in the classroom, she used buckets to test clay, black dirt and sand compaction and resulting plant leaf size. Black dirt was the winner.
Again, her research influenced farming at home where her father had continued to raise crops and a few animals.
“It made my father more aware of things like tire tracks and traffic in the fields,” she said.
Her 2024 research came back to dairy when she tested the impact on cattle hygiene of using different types of bedding. She researched sand, sawdust, straw, corn stalks and Unical P, a fine limestone product. Again, her personal experience with dairies helped her choose the subject.
“We had used sawdust, corn stalks and straw. A lot of neighbors used sand,” she said. “My uncle used Unical P. I had never heard of that before.”
While researching in the school lab, she experienced challenges again.
“I had to get really creative with the resources,” she said.
Hageman poured liquid on the bedding and measured the time it took to drain through the bedding and its heat retention after five minutes under a heat lamp. Compression was also tested, with udder cleanliness as the goal.
While she concluded sand would have been best on the Hagemans’ former dairy, she acknowledged each dairy facility is different.
“My results would be different if I did it on a farm,” Hageman said. “I hope to pursue that and consider more variables in the future.”
Taking on FFA agriscience research and moving through the resulting competitions has changed her, she said.
“When I was younger, I was very quiet so (doing this) was a shock to me and everyone around me,” Hageman said. “Before I did this I would only talk to my parents. It’s helped me come out of my shell. It’s … pushed my brain to think in ways I normally didn’t.”
It may impact her future — she is considering dairy science — but that is still a question mark. First, she will compete for honors at the National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana, this fall, hoping for a Top 10 finish.
“I’d sure like to get back on that stage in Indy,” Hageman said.
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