Ronald L. Belyea
Dr. Ron Belyea has served the dairy industry in Missouri in three major areas: 1) Significant Research, especially the determination of nutritional values of byproducts of corn processed for ethanol production; 2) Superior Teaching of University students who may enter the dairy production industry; and 3) Outreach to Missourians by taking part in dairy producer meetings, field days, extension training programs, and farm visits.
Ron was born and raised on a dairy and potato farm in northern Maine. He received his BS and MS degrees from the University of Maine in animal science and nutrition in 1965 and 1970. He received a doctorate in dairy nutrition from Cornell University in 1974.
He then came to the University of Missouri and worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Fred Martz from 1975 to 1978. At that time he joined the Department of Dairy Science as an assistant professor. He was promoted to professor in the Department of Animal Science in 1990.
Ron’s research program has focused on developing and evaluating diets for lactating cows that meet energy, protein, mineral, and fiber needs for maximum feed intake and milk production. Ron was one of the first proponents of the use of byproduct feedstuffs for milk production.
In the past few years Ron has been an integral part of a consortium composed of scientists from the universities of Missouri and Illinois and of the Eastern Regional Research Center in Pennsylvania. The researchers evaluated the processing of corn in ethanol plants to help make the process more efficient and to determine the steps in the process where nutrients are lost.
Removal of water and recovery of solids are economic and logistic challenges. Inconsistencies in nutrient quantity and quality hinder the use of byproduct feeds in dairy rations. The consortium has published numerous reports that summarize the current and future possibilities of the use of byproduct feeds. Their studies included minimizing waste and production of clean water during processing.
Ron has been an effective teacher of dairy production with Barry Steevens and of ruminant nutrition with Jim Williams. Both courses require a laboratory experience. Ron is particularly effective in creating laboratory exercises that combine both applied and basic principles to solve practical problems for on-farm nutritional challenges.
The dairy production class requires written evaluation of management practices where the information provided is often controversial and without a definitive answer.
A major objective is to teach students to think.
Outreach by Ron includes participation in extension and producer activities. He has taught feed formulation and basic principles of nutrition to extension specialists at in-service training conferences, taken part in Southwest Center field days, and made numerous presentations at producer meetings and field days.
Belyea’s presentations are current and applicable to specialists and producers who appreciate his enthusiasm and candor. In addition, Barry Steevens has enlisted Ron’s assistance in solving nutritional problems of producers, and he has made numerous farm visits to solve problems for Missouri dairymen. Ron was editor of the By-Product Feed Handbook published by University of Missouri Extension.
Ron and wife Paula have three children – Jennifer, Ryan, and Chris.