Cornell CALS Dean Benjamin Houlton, Photo provided
By Rick Zimmerman, NEAFA Executive Director
Ben Houlton, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, met virtually via zoom with the NEAFA Board of Directors during their February 8th Board meeting. Houlton started as the 12th Dean of Cornell CALS October 1st, 2020. Despite COVID-19 restrictions, Houlton is using virtual platforms to meet with and continue the CALS tradition of working agriculture community leaders. The meeting with NEAFA was informative for both the Dean and the Board, as they identified common ground on industry challenges and opportunities.
Houlton’s upper Midwest dairy farming and feed manufacturing family background provided him with a formative platform for an academic career in global ecosystem processes, climate change solutions, and agricultural sustainability. Houlton currently holds a faculty position in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, as well as in the Department Global Development.
During the meeting, Houlton recognized NEAFA for its leadership in successfully seeding two faculty positions within the Department of Animal Science. NEAFA led the drive to raise $1 million from the agribusiness community to fund these positions. Kristan Reed and Joe McFadden, the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance Partners Sesquicentennial Fellows in Dairy Cattle Biology, were recognized by Houlton for their contribution to advancing animal science. Houlton further thanked the NEAFA Board for their support of key programs such as PRO-DAIRY, Integrated Pest Management, and FarmNet.