Haowen Hu
2023 - 2026 FFAR Fellow
Introduction
The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) is pleased to announce the sixth cohort of graduate students to be accepted to the FFAR Fellows Program.
Haowen Hu is a doctoral student at Cornell University and was selected as a FFAR Fellow studying Animal Sciences.
Keep reading to learn more about Haowen's research and why he applied to be a FFAR Fellow.
About Me
Hometown: Wuhan, China
Growing up in the suburbs of Hubei Province in central China, agriculture was always a part of my life. My grandparents had a small garden around their house where they grew pumpkins, sweet potatoes, beans, peas, bok choy and other vegetables. I spent many summers helping them with watering, sowing and harvesting. I enjoyed the feeling of working in the garden, the scent of the soil, and the taste of fresh produce. During special holidays like the Spring Festival, my family would visit relatives who lived in the countryside and farmed for a living. I was exposed to real farming life, watching water buffalo tilling the fields and farmers harvesting water chestnuts from the ground. These experiences made me realize that farming is not just a way of making a living; it is also a choice of a lifestyle that encompasses a healthy environment, nutritious food and positive connections with others. My passion for digital agriculture began during my undergraduate animal agricultural economics course where we had a discussion on how big data impacts animal farming practices, and I have since trained myself in statistics and programming while pursuing my study and research in animal and dairy science. Joining the Ruminant Farm Systems team at Cornell University, I am excited to further utilize my expertise to develop digital agriculture solutions on the whole-farm level and improve decision-making in the dairy industry.
Why the FFAR Fellowship?
The mission and values of the FFAR Fellows program align well with my passions for sustainable agriculture and food security. Throughout my academic and professional career, I have consistently demonstrated my commitment to the issue of food security and sustainable agriculture, and I am eager to contribute my skills and knowledge to drive positive change in the industry. Additionally, with my strong expertise in data analysis and modeling, I am confident that I can contribute to the program's efforts to promote a sustainable food system. Furthermore, I have demonstrated my leadership skills in various roles throughout my academic and professional career and am eager to continue developing and applying these skills to the agriculture industry. In summary, I am keen to contribute and make a positive impact on the agriculture industry with my skills, passions and dedication. Through participation in this program, I am thrilled to connect with more like-minded peers, and I look forward to working collaboratively with them towards addressing the current challenges in food and agriculture.
My Research
Advancements in computation are revolutionizing farming practices. The Ruminant Farm Systems (RuFaS) model, a next-generation whole-farm dairy systems model, assesses the effects of management practices on production and environmental outcomes at both individual animal and whole-farm level. The RuFaS model utilizes various inputs such as herd dynamics, reproductive protocols and available feed ingredients to produce reports on milk production, economic impacts, as well as environmental outputs including greenhouse gas emissions, carbon sequestration and water usage. This tool enables farm management decisions to be evaluated without the need for actual intervention in farm activities, resulting in increased efficiency and reduced costs. Thus, I am convinced that the RuFaS project is in line with the objective of the Advanced Animal Systems Challenge Area of the FFAR program. My current projects involve the evaluations of the animal module in the RuFaS model. Moving forward, I also hope to incorporate animal health components to the RuFaS model using modeling techniques such as machine learning. Additionally, I also want to connect RuFaS with farm management software and/or data engines to improve model performance, starting with one or a few data streams.
Sponsor
My sponsor is Cornell University. I'm grateful for their support.
More About Me
Outside work, you can often find me hiking and camping in the summertime and downhill skiing in the winter. Life itself is an adventure. As Forrest Gump’s mother famously said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” I may never be fully prepared for life, but I bring curiosity, courage and a sense of wonder with me wherever I go.
