(Please note that the speaker biographies were current at the time the proceedings were published in which their presentation appears.)
Patrick C. Hoffman
Patrick C. Hoffman is a dairy specialist for the Department of Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Pat received his B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and his M.S. degree in dairy science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His current responsibilities include conducting applied dairy research and development of research programs at the Marshfield Agricultural Research Station. His research focuses on growth and development of replacement heifers and perennial forage utilization by lactating dairy cows. Pat is the author of 26 peer reviewed articles and over 175 abstracts, proceedings, media, and extension publications. In addition, Pat has presented 4 invited papers for the American Dairy Science Association and the American Society of Animal Science related to replacement heifer management. He is a feature speaker at numerous state and national dairy management conferences and seminars.
Joe W. West
Joe West was born and raised on a family dairy farm in Tennessee. He has several years experience working on the family farm, has a B.S. degree from Middle Tennessee State University in Plant and Soil Science, an M.S. degree in Plant Physiology from the University of Tennessee, and a Ph.D. in dairy nutrition from Texas A&M University. He has been employed by The University of Georgia since 1986, and is located at the Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton. His research areas include forage quality, nutrition for the heat-stressed dairy cow, and mineral nutrition for dairy cattle. He is responsible for coordinating the research dairy at the experiment station, and recently oversaw the design and building of a new 250 cow production/research dairy facility. He also maintains an appointment with the Cooperative Extension Service and supports county agents and dairy producers in the areas of nutrition, management, and forage quality.
Ian W. Wickham
In 1987 Wickham conceived and founded a business in New Zealand to allow dairy farmers a reliable and professional custom heifer raising service, dedicated to improving the performance of heifer growth and development, thereby enabling dairy cows to be more profitable upon herd entry. The company he owns is named New Zealand Grazing Company Limited and it currently professionally manages over 20,000 custom heifers that are all pasture fed on 120 Grazier properties throughout New Zealand. Ian and his wife, Jacqui, own a 520 acre farm on which they have 300 sheep, 100 acres of managed pine forestry, and grow about 450 dairy heifers for his company. Wickham's previous on-farm experience includes pasture based dairy farming, bull beef production, Simmental and Limousin breeding herds and a breeding flock of up to 2,000 ewes. Off-farm he had a large involvement as a Director and Manager in all aspects of the second largest artificial insemination organization in New Zealand and was part of the AI industry for 25 years. He also presented 2 papers at the inaugural PDHGA conference in Atlanta, Georgia in 1997 and is currently one of the few international members of PDHGA.
Ron Hanson
Dr. Ron Hanson is the Neal E. Harlan Professor of Agribusiness in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Director of the Agribusiness Program for the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska. Professor Hanson has earned many recognitions for his superb teaching abilities and his dedicated work with students at the University of Nebraska. Ron has been presented the University Distinguished Teaching Award and was selected as the Outstanding University Student Adviser. He has been selected as the Outstanding College Ag Instructor for the Central US Region and received the John Deere Agribusiness Teaching Award of Excellence. He has been presented the Nebraska State Award of Merit for his dedicated service to students and Nebraska farm and ranch families.
Ron was raised on a family farm in western Illinois. He earned his B.S. degree in agricultural economics from Western Illinois University and then completed both his Master's and Doctorate degrees from the University of Illinois. Ron has counseled with families during the past 20 years to help them resolve family conflicts in a positive manner and to improve communications in developing better working relationships. Professor Hanson is a widely traveled speaker who shares an entertaining and motivating message with audiences across the country on the importance of family relationships when farming together with family members.
James K. Drackley
Dr. James K. Drackley is Professor of animal sciences and nutritional sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Drackley grew up on a small dairy farm in Minnesota, and received his B.S. in dairy production and his M.S. in Dairy Science from South Dakota State University. He received his Ph.D. in nutritional physiology from Iowa State University in 1989, and joined the faculty of the University of Illinois in May of 1989. Drackley's research program centers on nutrition and metabolism of transition cows, metabolism in the liver of ruminant animals, lipid utilization and metabolism in domestic animals, factors affecting fatty acid composition of bovine milk fat, and aspects of calf nutrition and management. Drackley has edited 2 books and authored 1 book, 2 book chapters, over 70 scientific articles in refereed journals and over 180 abstracts, technical reports, articles in conference proceedings, and popular press articles. He has trained over a dozen graduate students. He is a member of several professional and honorary societies, including the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA), American Society of Animal Science, and the American Society of Nutritional Sciences. Dr. Drackley was awarded the 1997 Agway, Inc. Young Scientist Award from the ADSA; the 1998 College Award for Excellence in Research from the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences; the 1998 Young Scholar Award from the ADSA Foundation; and the 2000 Mitchell Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Research from the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois. He is the Past President of the Midwest Branch of the ADSA and is active in the affairs of the ADSA. Drackley resides in Champaign, Illinois with his wife, Janelle, and three sons, Patrick, Michael, and Andrew.
Robbi Pritchard
Dr. Robbi Pritchard joined the Department of Animal and Range Sciences of South Dakota State University in 1984. He has a research and graduate teaching appointment emphasizing beef cattle nutrition and growth. Dr. Pritchard oversees the activities of the research feedlot and ruminant nutrition labs and metabolism facilities on campus. His research group is working on improving N utilization of growing cattle, feed delivery management techniques for improving feed efficiency, receiving calf programs, characteristics of cattle growth, nutritional value of weather damaged crops and refinement of implant strategies. Originally from a grain and livestock farm in Illinois, he received degrees from Black Hawk East Junior College, Southern Illinois University, and Washington State University. He served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Texas Tech University prior to his appointment at South Dakota State University.
Gary F. Sipiorski
Gary is the Executive Vice President at the Citizens State Bank of Loyal and a member of the Board of Directors. He was a local and state FFA officer from Denmark, Wisconsin. In 1973 he graduated from the University of Wisconsin in River Falls with a degree in animal science. Gary was a District Manager with Purina Mills for eighteen years working with feed dealers and making 1,000 calls on dairy farms a year. Gary has been married to his wife Linda for 28 years. They have three children of whom two are in college. In 1991 Gary joined the bank as an agricultural loan officer. He graduated from the Graduate School of Banking in Austin, Texas and now does business primarily with dairy producers in central Wisconsin and throughout the state. Actively involved in the state of Wisconsin, he serves on the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program and is the Chairman of the Agricultural Committee of the Community Bankers of Wisconsin. Gary chairs the Governor's Task Force on Growing Agriculture in Wisconsin. He is a conference advisor for the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin and writes for Hoard's Dairyman, Agri-View, Dairy Today, and many other agricultural publications. Gary has given many presentations in Wisconsin, the US, and internationally.