American Dairy Science Association

What American Dairy Science Association does

The American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) is a nonprofit professional membership association founded in 1906 and headquartered at 1800 S. Oak Street, Suite 100, Champaign, Illinois. ADSA serves academic researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and dairy industry professionals working in dairy science, animal science, and food science. The organization is governed by an elected Board of Directors with Production and Foods Divisions, and operates an affiliated ADSA Foundation established in 1990 to support professional development programs.

ADSA's core technology and product surface centers on peer-reviewed scientific publishing and curated knowledge assets. The flagship Journal of Dairy Science (JDS) and JDS Communications (JDSC) are gold open-access journals, both transitioning from Elsevier to Oxford University Press effective January 2027 while ADSA retains full ownership and editorial control. The S-PAC database contains 64 conferences and 737 proceedings spanning from 1935 to the present, and is described as the most comprehensive animal production and management conference proceeding database in the world. Supporting products include the Dairy Digressions Podcast, Dairy Science Weekly newsletter, JDS|JDSC Selects alerts, Large Dairy Herd Management book, myDairyCareer job platform, and the Journal Rewards author-incentive program.

ADSA's business model is a multi-stream subscription and fee model. Membership dues range from $10/year (undergraduate) to $125/year (professional), with postdoc and e-membership tiers in between. Article processing charges generate the largest revenue stream, with JDS APCs at $1,730 for members and $3,605 for non-members, and JDSC APCs at $1,100 for members and $1,865 for non-members, escalating 3% annually. S-PAC subscriptions scale from $5/year for undergraduates to $450/year for corporate access, with academic libraries at $350/year. Conference registration and annual publication sales round out the revenue base. Corporate sponsorships from Dairy Management Inc., National Milk Producers Federation, Purina Animal Nutrition, Schreiber Foods, and others co-fund student awards and paper competitions. The customer base is a long-tail of individual academic and student members, institutional S-PAC subscribers, and authors paying APCs, with no select enterprise customers disclosed.

Name

American Dairy Science Association

Legal name

The American Dairy Science Association

Website

https://adsa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1906

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) is a 1906-founded nonprofit professional membership association that publishes the Journal of Dairy Science and JDS Communications, operates the S-PAC conference proceedings database, and runs annual meetings and student development programs serving dairy science researchers, students, and industry professionals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Champaign

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees from professional, graduate student, undergraduate student, and postdoc members. Professional membership is $125/year, Graduate Student is $15/year, Undergrad is $10/year, Postdoc is $60/year, e-Membership is $60/year.
2. Journal Article Processing Charges (APCs): Gold open access journals charge APCs for publishing. JDS APCs are $1,730 for members and $3,605 for nonmembers. JDSC APCs are $1,100 for members and $1,865 for nonmembers. APCs increase 3% annually.
3. S-PAC Subscriptions: Annual database subscriptions for conference proceedings. Professional members pay $75/year, graduate students $10/year, undergraduates $5/year. Non-member individual subscriptions are $150/year, corporate $450/year. Academic libraries pay $350/year.
4. Conference Registration Fees: Revenue from annual meetings, Discover Conferences, and webinars. ADSA 2026 Annual Meeting and 49th Discover Conference are upcoming events.
5. Publication Sales: Sale of publications including Large Dairy Herd Management book, guide documents, and other educational materials.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ADSA is a professional membership association that publishes peer-reviewed scientific journals (Journal of Dairy Science and JDS Communications), operates the S-PAC searchable proceedings database covering 64 animal production conferences and 737 proceedings, and hosts the ADSA Annual Meeting plus Discover Conference Series. The organization also delivers student professional development through Graduate Student Division and Undergraduate Student Division programming, awards programs, webinars, and the myDairyCareer career platform, while retaining journal ownership and editorial control through a 2027 publisher transition from Elsevier to Oxford University Press.

Product overview

ADSA operates as a professional membership association offering a portfolio of peer-reviewed journals (Journal of Dairy Science and JDS Communications), conference proceedings database (S-PAC), educational webinars, annual meetings, and student development programs. The core offering consists of scientific publishing and professional development services. JDS and JDSC are transitioning to Oxford University Press in 2027 while ADSA retains ownership and editorial control. Additional products include newsletters (Dairy Science Weekly, ADSA News), the Dairy Digressions Podcast, career platform (myDairyCareer), and a conferences program including the Annual Meeting and Discover Conference Series. Student divisions provide structured professional development through awards competitions, mentorship, and leadership opportunities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Journal of Dairy Science: Premier peer-reviewed scientific journal covering dairy science research
• JDS Communications
• S-PAC (Searchable Proceedings of Animal Conferences)
• Dairy Science Weekly
• Discover Conference Series

Quantifiable outcome

• JDS is transitioning from Elsevier to Oxford University Press in 2027 to better serve authors, reviewers, editors, and the ADSA community.
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Oxford University Press (OUP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2027ADSA is transitioning its journals (Journal of Dairy Science and JDS Communications) from Elsevier to Oxford University Press starting January 1, 2027. OUP will host journal websites, invoice authors, and collect licenses while ADSA continues to manage peer review, editing, and production. This is a publisher-only change; ADSA retains full ownership of both journals.
• ElseviercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCurrent journal publisher for JDS and JDSC through end of 2026. Elsevier has been the publishing partner during a period of significant growth for the journals. Additional JDS and JDSC sites on ScienceDirect will no longer show new content after the transition but all articles published by Elsevier will remain accessible.
• ZoetisminorOthersCorporate partner supporting the ADSA Foundation. Matt Utt from Zoetis serves as Foundation Chair (2026).
• Daisy BrandminorOthersCorporate partner supporting the ADSA Foundation. Brandon Nelson from Daisy Brand serves as Foundation Vice Chair (2026).
• Land O'LakesminorOthersCorporate partner with Laura Colby representing Land O'Lakes on the Foundation Committee.
• Dairy Management Inc. (DMI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDMI sponsors the Graduate Student Paper Presentation Contest in Dairy Foods Research and related award programs. Rohit Kapoor from DMI serves on the Foundation Committee.
• National Milk Producers FederationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsors Graduate Student Paper Presentation Contests in Dairy Production (PhD and MS divisions). Major industry partner supporting student awards.
• Purina Animal NutritioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsors Graduate Student Poster Contests in Dairy Production (PhD and MS divisions). Major industry partner supporting student awards.
• Schreiber FoodscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsors Graduate Student Poster Presentation Contest in Dairy Foods Research.
• Novus InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsors the ADSA/EAAP PhD Student Travel Award, supporting graduate student attendance at international conferences.
• ARPAS (American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorARPAS members qualify for ADSA member rates on S-PAC subscriptions. Corporate members pay $225/year. Strong institutional partnership for professional development.
• FASS (Federation of Animal Science Societies)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerADSA is a client society of FASS, which provides website development services (fass.org). FASS provides Unified Login technology allowing single login across member societies.
• Cornell UniversityminorOthersMultiple Cornell University faculty serve in ADSA leadership positions, including Miranda Farricker (GSD President), and the university hosts various ADSA student leaders.
• University of GuelphminorOthersMultiple University of Guelph faculty and students participate in ADSA leadership and awards. Marina Madureira and Jack Myers are notable participants.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• International Dairy Federation (IDF): Global peer organization focused on the dairy sector. IDF serves a similar mission of advancing dairy science and standards, with international membership and publications that overlap with ADSA's audience and contributor base.
• American Society of Animal Science (ASAS): Direct peer in animal science professional association and publishing. ASAS operates the Journal of Animal Science with a similar membership, journal, and conference model, and is jointly offered via FASS—the same federation of which ADSA is a client society.
• Poultry Science Association (PSA): Direct peer in animal agriculture scientific publishing. PSA publishes Poultry Science and The Journal of Applied Poultry Research and runs an annual meeting with similar professional society structure, serving as a comparable model for ADSA's journal and conference operations.
• American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS): Channel partner with overlapping membership. ARPAS members qualify for ADSA member rates on S-PAC subscriptions, and the two organizations share corporate sustaining membership and professional development audiences in animal science.
• International Association for Food Protection (IAFP): Direct peer in food science professional association. IAFP publishes the Journal of Food Protection and operates annual meetings spanning dairy and food safety, overlapping with ADSA's Dairy Foods division audience and authorship.

Broad incumbents

• American Society of Agronomy (ASA) / Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) / Soil Science Society of America (SSSA): Broad incumbent in agricultural science professional publishing. ASA/CSSA/SSSA operate multiple journals, annual meetings, and a member services model closely paralleling ADSA's, but at a larger scale across agronomic sciences.
• American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA): Broad incumbent in veterinary/animal health professional membership. AVMA operates a larger-scale version of ADSA's professional society model with journals, conventions, and continuing education, with overlapping audience in dairy health and production.

Regional players

• Dairy Australia: Regional dairy industry research and marketing organization. Dairy Australia funds dairy science research and extension in Australia, serving a comparable dairy-focused audience with overlapping adjacency to ADSA's industry-affiliated membership.
• European Association for Animal Production (EAAP): Regional peer covering animal science associations across Europe. EAAP co-sponsors international graduate student travel awards with ADSA (e.g., ADSA/EAAP PhD Student Travel Award), indicating overlapping member communities and conference ecosystems.

Others

• Federation of Animal Science Societies (FASS): Strategic infrastructure partner and shared services provider. ADSA is a client society of FASS, which provides website development and Unified Login technology serving multiple animal science member societies—directly comparable to ADSA's operational backbone.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/adsagsd
• Facebookfacebook.com/embryotransfer
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/adsaorg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about American Dairy Science Association