(Please note that the speaker biographies were current at the time the proceedings were published in which their presentation appears.)
Dr. Michael Van Amburgh
Michael Van Amburgh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Animal Science at Cornell University. He has a dual appointment in teaching and research. His teaching involves upper level nutrition courses and the Dairy Fellows Program, and he advises 30 undergraduates. In addition, he is the advisor for the Cornell Dairy Science Club. The focus of Mike's research program has been the nutrient requirements of the dairy calves and heifers and aspects of endocrine control of developmental functions such as mammary development and puberty. Other areas of interest are nitrogen metabolism and the interaction between forage and feed chemistry, rumen function and nutrient supply.
Dr. Sam Leadley
Sam Leadley is the calf/heifer management specialist for the Attica Veterinary Associates, Attica, NY, a practice devoted solely to bovine care. He consults with dairy farmers and heifer growers with the economic goal of raising healthier, faster-growing animals through better management practices. Dr. Leadley is an active member of the Professional Dairy Heifer Growers Association. He also lectures and teaches classes, primarily in the Northeast and Midwest. He has made invited presentations at the Western Veterinary Conference, Western Dairy Management Conference, Cornell Nutrition Conference, and World Dairy Expo. Dr. Leadley writes Calving Ease, a free monthly newsletter that is distributed internationally, and "Calf Connection," a column that appears regularly in the Northeast Dairy Business magazine. He created and leads the Calf Management Academy, a division of the Attica Veterinary Associates, P.C. Dr. Leadley, in cooperation with Dr. Steve Mason, created a CD entitled "Calf Manager" as a resource for learning to successfully raise young dairy calves.
For the twelve years prior to joining the veterinary practice in 2000, Dr. Leadley managed the calf and heifer enterprise on a 1200-cow dairy in western New York State. In the early years of his tenure on that farm, he was also the maternity herdsman. Other previous dairy experience includes that of herdsman for smaller dairy farms. Prior to 1982 Dr. Leadley was on the faculty of The Pennsylvania State University and the Extension staff at Cornell University. He holds B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell.
Dr. Lonnie J. King
Dr. Lonnie King is Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Michigan. As Dean and Professor of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, he initiated the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases in the college which serves as the campus leader in food safety and oversees the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center. He is a designated leader for counter-bioterrorism activities at the college and is involved in re-establishing public health programs at Michigan State University. Prior to joining the University of Michigan, Dr. King was Administrator for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), U.S. Department of Agriculture, in Washington, D.C. Dr. King served as the country's chief veterinary officer for five years and worked extensively in global trade agreements within NAFTA and the World Trade Organization. From 1988 to 1991, Dr. King was the Deputy Administrator for Veterinary Services and directed the development of the agency's National Animal Health Monitoring System. Before beginning his government career in 1977, Dr. King was in private veterinary practice for seven years in Dayton, Ohio, and Atlanta, Georgia.
As a native of Wooster, Ohio, Dr. King received his B.S. and D.V.M. degrees from The Ohio State University in 1966 and 1970, respectively. He earned his M.S. degree in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota while on special assignment with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1980. He also received his master's degree in public administration from the American University in Washington, D.C., in 1991. Dr. King is a board-certified member of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and has completed the Senior Executive Fellowship program at Harvard University. He has served as president of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges from 1999-2000 and is currently the vice-chair for the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues. Dr. King helped start the National Alliance for Food Safety and served on the Governor's Task Force on Chronic Wasting Disease, and four National Academy of Sciences Committees; most recently, he chairs the National Academies Committee on Assessing the Nation's Framework for Addressing Animal Diseases. Dr. King is one of the developers of the Science, Politics and Animal Health Policy Fellowship Program and lectures extensively on the future of animal health and veterinary medicine. He serves as a consultant and member of the Board of Scientific Advisors to the CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases, and is a member of the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Microbial Threats to Health, editor for the OIE Scientific Review on "Emerging Zoonoses," and president of the American Veterinary Epidemiology Society.
Dr. Carole Bolin
Carole Bolin received her D.V.M. degree from Purdue University in 1982 and followed with a Ph.D. in Veterinary Pathology from Iowa State University in 1986. Carole served as Research Leader for Zoonotic Diseases at the USDA National Animal Disease Center for 15 years and, in 2000, became a Professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University. She also serves as the Section Chief of Bacteriology in the Diagnostic Laboratory at MSU. Her research interests are focused on zoonotic and emerging infectious diseases, and she has been conducting research on leptospirosis in cattle and other species for 17 years.
Dr. Don Gardner
Don Gardner graduated from Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine and has since farmed and practiced in Virginia. Don was a mixed practitioner for the first 10 years. Currently, he has an exclusively dairy-oriented practice and has been raising dairy heifers since 1980. Don started with PDHGA on the formation task force, served as director for the SE region, 2nd vice president, 1st vice president, and president. He has also served on conference, newsletter, website, and finance committees. He is currently chairman of the BMP committee. His family will host the farm tour at the Roanoke conference.
Anne Davis
Anne Davis is no stranger to the joys and challenges of farming. A partner in the family dairy business, Unicorn Associates, Inc., Anne serves in a variety of capacities on the 350-cow registered Holstein farm in Union Bridge, MD.
With more than fifteen years as an educator, from teaching college biology to training youth and adults in leadership development and personality type assessment, Anne brings a distinctive blend of personal insight, real-life experience, and gifted teaching to her workshops. With mirth and meaning, she hopes to help people advance their leadership skills and more fully reach their human potential in order to better adapt to the changes facing agriculture while celebrating its many rewards.
In addition to workshop training, Anne has created and implemented leadership curricula and served as coach and facilitator for national and regional agricultural leadership programs. She recently became the Coordinator of Service-Learning at Carroll Community College, where she'll be shaping a program to help students make real-world connections to their learning while meeting the needs of the community.
Anne received her Bachelor of Science degree in Dairy Science from Virginia Tech and her Master of Science degree in Animal Physiology from Cornell University and has completed further graduate work in group dynamics and psychological type instruments. She is a member of the Association for Psychological Type (APT) and is a qualified administrator of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator instrument or MBTI, the most widely used and accepted personality assessment tool in the world. (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and MBTI are registered trademarks of CPP, Inc.)
As an educator; dairy producer; school, church, and 4-H volunteer; mother of one teenage son and two wanna-be-teenage daughters, Anne knows that while we can't always choose what happens to us, we can choose how we respond!
Dr. Raymond L. Nebel
Dr. Ray Nebel is Professor and Extension Dairy Scientist in the Department of Dairy Science at Virginia Tech University. He is a native of Louisiana and graduate of Northeast Louisiana University, University of Maryland (MS Dairy Science), and Virginia Tech (Ph.D.,1983). After completion of his Ph.D., he served as Extension Specialist at North Carolina State University until he returned to Virginia Tech in 1985. He has spent two study leaves in New Zealand as a visiting scientist with the Livestock Improvement Corporation. Dr. Nebel has given presentations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Japan, Korea, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Sweden, and Taiwan in addition to 41 states in the U.S. In 1997 he received the Merck AgVet Dairy Management Award from the American Dairy Science Association. Electronic methods for the detection of estrus, programmed breeding systems, and methods to enhance the fertility of dairy cattle have become the primary focus of his research and extension programs.
Anne and Rod Daniels
Anne and Rod Daniels are dairy farmers in Whittemore, MI. Married in 1978 they have five daughters, Jenny, Audrey, Laura, Bonnie, and Catherine (ranging in age from 14 to 23). They farm in partnership with Rod's brothers Wallace and Lynn and their families, and Rod's mother Dorothy. Rod is the primary herdsman, handling most of the breeding, vet work etc. Anne's duties on the farm revolve around the maternity and close-up cows. She also cares for the transition calves when they leave the domes and go to the heifer barn. A city girl turned dairy farmer, Anne grew up in Detroit. Her knowledge has been gained through experience and advice of others, particularly daughter Jenny. Jenny is a recent graduate of Cornell majoring in dairy science and is currently working for a large dairy in Central New York. The W-R-L Daniels farm was established by Donald and Dorothy Daniels in 1953 and the family partnership was formed in 1972. The farm consists of a 240-cow dairy operation and 1215 acres for corn, alfalfa, wheat and oats.
Dr. Craig Jones
Dr. Craig Jones, DVM, graduated from the University of Missouri, College of Veterinary Medicine. Following graduation, he practiced in a dairy and beef cattle practice for a year and a half then returned to the University of Missouri to pursue graduate training in dairy nutrition through the Department of Animal Sciences. While attending graduate school, Dr. Jones worked in a mixed animal practice and was Staff Veterinarian at the Animal Sciences Research Center at the University of Missouri. After completion of graduate school, he returned to practice in Stockton, MO. From January 1996 until June 2000, Dr. Jones was a Technical Services Veterinarian and the Manager of Animal Health at MFA Incorporated in Columbia, MO.
In June 2000, Craig joined Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., (BIVI) and currently is the Manager of Technical Services for the Cattle Division. His duties include providing technical support to producers, veterinary consultants, practitioners, and academia in the cattle industry. In addition, he is involved in conducting field trials utilizing BIVI vaccines and other products.
Ron Scherbring
Ron and Marianne Scherbring own Scherbring's Heifer Hotel in Minnesota City, which is in the South East corner of MN. They employ 5 staff to support the management of 1,500 heifers from wet calves to 45 days pre-freshening. The Scherbrings live on the 3rd generation home dairy farm site. Ron headed the family dairy from 1970 until 1992 when the cows were sold. The Scherbrings began raising older heifers in 1993 and expanded to include wet calves in 1994. Ron and Marianne have been married for 27 years and have two sons Peter and Matthew.
The Scherbrings have been enthusiastic leaders and innovators in encouraging the growth of specialized custom calf and heifer enterprises throughout the United States. Ron and Marianne have been very active in the PDHGA organization since it was established in 1997. Ron has served on the PDHGA Board of Directors for a number of years and led the organization as President in 2002-2003.
Dr. Robert James
Dr. Robert "Bob" James grew up in Southeastern Pennsylvania and worked on a neighbor's dairy for several years. He received his B.S. in Animal and Poultry Science from the University of Delaware and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Dairy Science from Virginia Tech. After serving as State Dairy Extension Dairy Specialist at West Virginia University, he returned to Virginia Tech in a research and teaching position. He teaches courses in dairy management and dairy nutrition and serves as one of three academic advisors of undergraduates in the Dairy Science Department. His research deals with nutrition and management of the growing dairy heifers and prepartum dairy cows. He also has a nutrition and management consulting business.
Bob raises registered Jersey heifers as a hobby and is the smallest herd member of the PDHGA. He is one of the founding individual members of the PDHGA and has been active since its organization. Bob currently serves as secretary of the PDHGA and is the sponsorship chairperson for the 2004 conference.
Dennis Frame
Dennis Frame was born and raised in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, milking cows, raising steers, and growing crops in an area changing from agriculture to residential development. He attended the University of Wisconsin Farm and Industry Short Course in 1975 and switched to the degree program in 1976. Dennis received degrees from the University of Wisconsin- Madison in dairy science and animal science, minoring in agriculture economics. He did his master's study in ruminant nutrition under the direction of Neil Jorgenson on the feeding of ultra-filtration permeate as a replacement for corn in the diet.
Dennis left college and farmed in partnership on a dairy operation in northwestern Wisconsin in 1980. He joined the UW- Extension in 1982 as the dairy and livestock agent in Wood County. After three years, he transferred to Green Bay and became the agriculture agent for Brown County. After two years, he was given the opportunity to become the agriculture agent in Trempealeau County. This area has a rich conservation history. Dennis became active in soil and water conservation education. When the nutrient management standard was being proposed, Dennis and a group of producers looked at the impacts of these rules and regulations on this part of the state. That study led to a new focus on environmental rules and regulations and the development of a statewide nutrient-management-training program. Dennis became the co-director of the Discovery Farms Program, a program designed to conduct research on commercial operations to determine the effectiveness and effects on profitability of environmental rules and regulations. He is involved in data collection, determining the economics of environmental regulations, and maintaining the partnerships of this important program.
Dennis and his family run a commercial cow-calf operation in northern Trempealeau County.
Dr. Gordie Jones
Dr. Gordon A. Jones currently lives in Wheatfield, Indiana. He attended Michigan State University and received his Bachelor of Science in Dairy Science in 1974 and his D.V.M. in 1977. He practiced Dairy Performance Medicine in Wisconsin for 22 years. Dr. Jones was a Technical Service Specialist for Monsanto Dairy for three years. Dr. Jones currently works for Continental Milk Producers, as a production consulting specialist and a nutritionist for a consortium of large dairies, owning 12 herds with more than 28,000 cows, in Michigan, Ohio, New Mexico, California, and Indiana.
Dr. Jones has consulted with dairy producers and veterinarians across the U.S. and internationally on dairy herd performance, nutrition, cow environments and dairy housing, expansion, and cow comfort. He has placed considerable emphasis on housing design to keep cows clean, dry, and comfortable. He has influenced the development of several cow-comfort features in barn construction through work with environmental consultants and contractors.
Dr. Jones was awarded the Merial Excellence in Preventive Medicine Award for Dairy by the American Association of Bovine Practitioners in 2001.
He has been a contributing columnist with Dairy Herd Management magazine, authoring articles concerning herd health issues. Dr. Jones has also written for most of the other dairy magazines in the U.S. and Canada. Gordie and his wife, Mary, have been married 31 years and have 3 children: Brian 27, Janis 25, and Peter 23. He is an avid fly fisherman and bird hunter.
Patrick C. Hoffman
Patrick C. Hoffman is a Professor-UWEX and 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. He has been employed at the University of Wisconsin for the past 22 years. His current responsibilities include conducting applied dairy research and development of dairy outreach educational programs for the University of Wisconsin. His research focuses on growth and development of dairy replacement heifers and perennial forage utilization by lactating dairy cows. Pat is the author of 28 peer-reviewed articles and 65 scientific abstracts. In addition, Pat has written more than 165 proceeding, media, and extension publications. Pat has presented five invited papers for the American Dairy Science Association and the American Society of Animal Science related to replacement heifer management. Pat has been an ADSA member since 1987 and has served on and been chair of numerous committees. Pat has also served on the editorial board for the Journal of Dairy Science for the past 6 years. Awards include the "Second Mile Award" from the University of Wisconsin - Extension and the "Outstanding Forage Research" award from the Wisconsin Forage Council. He is a featured speaker at numerous state and national dairy management conferences and seminars.
Dr. Jud Heinrichs
Jud is a native of Sullivan County, New York, where he was raised on a small Holstein farm. He attended Cornell University where he received his B.S. degree and Ohio State University where he received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.
After working in the feed industry, Jud joined the faculty of Penn State University in 1982, initially in an extension appointment and later in an extension/research appointment. His program area is dairy nutrition and management with an emphasis in replacements. Jud's interest in the growth and management of dairy heifers has allowed him to work on several population studies of growth rates of dairy heifers as well as revise the Holstein weight tapes currently used worldwide. He is also a co-inventor of the Penn State Forage and TMR Particle Size Separator. Jud spent his sabbatical from 1991 to 1992 with the USDA, where he was in charge of the National Dairy Heifer Evaluation Project. He has authored more than 50 journal articles and book chapters as well as many extension publications, primarily in the area of dairy replacements and forages.
Dr. Alvaro Garcia
Dr. Alvaro Garcia joined the South Dakota State University, Brookings, faculty in 2001 as a Dairy Extension Specialist. Dr. Garcia and his family are originally from Uruguay, South America. Dr. Garcia qualified as a DVM from the University of Uruguay in 1983 and completed his MS and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Minnesota in 1987 and 1997, respectively. Prior to accepting the position in South Dakota, Dr. Garcia was a faculty member at the University of Uruguay with a focus on animal nutrition and production. Dr. Garcia has been recipient of post graduate fellowships in Colombia (1988) and at the University of Minnesota (1992).
Dr. Garcia was the Uruguay project coordinator for The Farmer to Farmer Program of Partners of America effort in Comparative Cooperative and Dairy Herd Management Systems in Dairy Production. His efforts were recognized with an Award of Excellence in 1994. Recently, Dr. Garcia was recipient of the 2002 Team Award from the SDSU College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences. Dr. Garcia is very active in Midwest regional dairy extension programs. He is a member of the 2004 PDHGA Conference Committee and resumes the Chair position for the 2005 PDHGA Conference to be held in Sioux Falls, SD in conjunction with the Central Plains Dairy Expo.
Dr. Jim Ehrlich
Dr. Ehrlich, DVM, is a veterinary practitioner at Dairy Veterinarians Group in Argyle, NY. He has a special interest in computers and information technology. He coined the term "intelligent reports" in 1995, to mean reports (on screen or paper) that combine sophisticated data analysis with visual display techniques to make complex problems, such as the management of a dairy herd, more efficient. One of his earliest designs was for monitoring growth of heifers, and diagnosing growth problems.
Dr. Ehrlich has served as a Director of American Association of Bovine Practitioners and on the AABP Information Management Committee, where he was instrumental in developing AABP's involvement with computers and the Internet.