(Please note that the speaker biographies were current at the time the proceedings were published in which their presentation appears.)
Jolene Brown, CSP
Jolene Brown, a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), will have you laughing while you learn! She's fun and funny, long-legged but not long-winded, and so insightful audiences accuse her of sleeping under their beds. As one of the premiere professional speakers in agriculture she brings humor, hope and helpful ideas for those who want to celebrate and learn skills for the human and sometimes humorous side of agriculture. Her audiences are diverse, deserving and demanding...and the results of her work are highly praised. Jolene has made numerous guest appearances for television and radio broadcasts, and her work has been featured in several major agricultural publications. Jolene is an honored recipient of the highest earned designation of professional speaking achievement from the National Speakers Association.
Jolene and her husband Keith live on a farm near West Branch, Iowa. She's also a mom of two daughters and an avid supporter of community and church activities. Her real life stories have been gathered from every day life and shared with people throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia. This real "Farmer Brown" from West Branch, Iowa, will bring us a valuable message filled with education, appreciation, and celebration.
Dr. Jim Quigley
Dr. Jim Quigley is Senior Director of Technical Service - Worldwide. He is responsible for overseeing all research and technical service activities for Diamond V Mills in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Prior to joining Diamond V, he was Vice-President of Research for APC, Inc. He also held positions as Associate Professor of Dairy Science at the University of Tennessee and Dairy Nutritionist at Cargill, Inc.
Dr. Quigley received his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in 1985 and B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of New Hampshire. His research has focused on dairy calf nutrition health and management. Jim has published over 200 publications related to the nutrition and health of young calves and heifers. He has spoken throughout the world on calf management subjects and won several awards from scientific societies for his research contributions. Dr. Quigley also maintains the web site Calfnotes.com, which is recognized Internationally as a source of information related to calf management.
Michelle Meier
Michelle operates Meier Sunrise Calves in Watkins, Minnesota, together with her husband Vernon and children Niki, Jason, and Kirsten. The Meiers have been in the custom calf raising business for 11 years and are members of the PDHGA. The Meiers raise both heifer and bull calves for six dairies from birth to 400 lbs. There are between 400 and 450 calves on their operation at all times. They were recognized as a "FIVE-STAR" Quality Calf Facility for their Best Management Practices by the PDHGA and Dairy Quality Assurance Programs in 2004. They have 275 calf hutches on site. They installed a waste milk pasteurizer in 2004 which allows them to feed pasteurized whole milk to all calves.
John Phillips
John is a partner in the Phillips Farms LCC custom heifer raising family business in Waterloo, Indiana, which began in 2002. The family raises 1,800 heifers ranging from 200 lbs through springers. Calves originate from one grower who collects newborns from the Eastern US. The family owned a 600-cow dairy operation prior to starting their heifer raising business. The operation is run by two family members and two other employees. The farm uses 350 acres for forage crops and purchase all their commodity feeds. The family works with a nutritionist to incorporate the commodity feeds into suitable heifer rations.
Chad Felgar
Chad operates Maxwelton Valley Farms on Whidbey Island of the NW coast of Washington State. He raises 6,000 head from 200 lbs to springers on two farm sites within a mile of each other. Three dairies from the mainland supply the heifers for this unique island location. Chad uses 90 acres of pasture between April and October for a rotational grazing system. He also farms another 400 acres in partnership to provide additional feed for the heifer operation. Chad has been a member of the PDHGA since its inception in 1997.
Sarrah Biddle
Sarrah helps run Mill Creek Farm, an 8th generation family dairy in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania, together with Josh, Zach and Matt plus four part-time workers. Farm owners, Jim and Carol Biddle, work off the farm. The mainstay of the farm is 150 registered Holstein cows housed in a free-stall barn and milked through a double-six herringbone parlor. Mill Creek Farm recently earned the Pennsylvania "Dairy of Distinction Award" for portraying a good public image.
Dr. Robbi Pritchard
Dr. Robbi Pritchard is a Professor of Ruminant Nutrition in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences at South Dakota State University. Dr. Pritchard received his B.S. in 1977 and M.S. in 1978 from Southern Illinois University. He completed a Ph.D. at Washington State University in 1983. Dr. Pritchard teaches courses in ruminant nutrition, protein and energy metabolism. His research interests include ruminant nitrogen metabolism; utilization of alternative feed resources; management of shipping, heat, and cold stresses; carcass trait manipulation; cattle feeding management; and animal growth.
Dr. Temple Grandin
Dr. Temple Grandin is an Associate Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. Dr. Grandin is a consultant and designer of livestock handling facilities (Grandin Livestock Handling Systems Inc.). Dr. Grandin obtained her B.A. at Franklin Pierce College and her M.S. in Animal Science at Arizona State University. Dr. Grandin received her Ph.D. in Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 1989. Today she teaches courses on livestock behavior and facility design at Colorado State University and consults with the livestock industry on facility design, livestock handling, and animal welfare. She has appeared on television shows such as 20/20, 48 Hours, and CNN Larry King Live, and has been featured in People Magazine, the New York Times, Forbes, U.S. News and World Report, and Time Magazine. Interviews with Dr. Grandin have been broadcast on National Public Radio. Dr.
Grandin has also authored more than 300 articles in both scientific journals and livestock periodicals on animal handling, welfare, and facility design. She is the author of "Thinking in Pictures", "Livestock Handling and Transport," and "Genetics and the Behavior of Domestic Animals." Facilities she has designed are located in the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. In North America, almost half of the cattle are handled in a center track restrainer system that she designed for meat plants. Curved chute and race systems she has designed for cattle are used worldwide, and her writings on the flight zone and other principles of grazing animal behavior have helped many people reduce stress on their animals during handling. She has also developed an objective scoring system for assessing handling of cattle and pigs at meat plants. This scoring system is being used by many large corporations to improve animal welfare. Other areas of research are cattle temperament, environmental enrichment for pigs, reducing dark cutters and bruises, bull fertility, training procedures, and effective stunning methods for cattle and pigs at meat plants.
Dr. Grandin's web page (www.grandin.com) was put up to educate people throughout the world about modern methods of livestock handling which will improve animal welfare and productivity. You have permission to copy articles, pictures, and diagrams. Please acknowledge Temple Grandin at all times when doing so.
John Metzger
John works for Trans Ova Genetics in the Dairy Division at Sioux Center, Iowa. He grew up on a dairy farm in Northwest Iowa. John received his B.S. degree in Dairy Science from Iowa State University and a M.S. degree in Animal Science from the University of Minnesota. Upon graduation, joined the A.I. company Noba Inc., as a Sire Analyst. He then worked on a large start-up dairy in west central Minnesota (Riverview Dairy, Inc.) prior to joining Trans Ova.
Dr. Michael Van Amburgh
Dr. Michael Van Amburgh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Animal Science at Cornell University. He is a native of Ohio and received his degrees from The Ohio State University and Cornell. For five years he was district sales manager for an agricultural cooperative and taught at SUNY Cobleskill. 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.
A focus of Mike's research program has been the re-evaluation of nutrient requirements of growing cattle, specifically Holstein dairy calves and heifers. Recent work has included the development of more accurate descriptions of nutrient requirements of pre-weaned calves and aspects of growth regulation and nutrient partitioning, nitrogen metabolism, rumen function, and feed chemistry. His work also has investigated endocrine control of developmental functions such as mammary development and puberty.
Dr. Jerry Olson
Jerry D. Olson, DVM, MS, is a senior veterinarian in the Pfizer Animal Health Group. He grew up on a small dairy farm in central Minnesota and received his DVM degree from the University of Minnesota in 1970. He has worked at several universities including Cornell, Colorado State University and the University of Minnesota. He left the University of Minnesota in 1998 to work for Pharmacia and Upjohn as a Technical Services Veterinarian.
Steve Elliot
Steven Elliot, MS PAS, is Sel-Plex product manger and southern region team leader for Alltech. A graduate of the University of California, Elliot formerly worked as a nutritionist for a large regional feed company serving both dairy and equine markets.
Dr. Scott Nordstorm
Scott Nordstorm, DVM, is a technical services veterinarian with Intervet. He is a former a cardiovascular pharmacologist with Hoechst Roussel Pharmaceuticals. He received a DVM degree from Ohio State College. He also has held several several positions in large Midwest animal clinics.
Dr. Al Kertz
Al Kertz, DVM, is the founder of Andhill Consulting, St. Louis, MO. Prior to starting his own business in 2001, Al provided 28 years of service as a nutritionist and researcher with Purina Mills. He was promoted to Director of Dairy Research and Technical Services in 1991 and International Director of Ruminant Nutrition for Agribrands in 2000. Al has 21 scientific publications to his credit and has written numerous popular press articles.
Dr. Jim Drackley
Dr. Jim Drackley is a professor of animal science at the University of Illinois and has been teaching and researching there since 1989. He was appointed associate professor in 1995 and full professor in 2000. Jim's areas of expertise include lipid metabolism in dairy cattle, especially during transition, as well as nutrient requirement of calves. He has earned numerous teaching and professional awards during his career and has published 58 scientific articles.
Dr. Dave Ellefson
Dave Ellefson, DVM, has worked for Ft. Dodge Animal Health for the past six years and has focused primarily on cattle and equine biologicals. He is a South Dakota native and a SDSU graduate. He continued his studies at Iowa State University and after graduating became a partner in an eight-person veterinary practice in southwest Minnesota. He has extension background in biological manufacturing and has consulted with many vaccinate companies on technical level.
Dr. Ed Garret
Ed Garrett, DVM, is a Novartis Animal Health Technical Services Veterinarian. His passion for cattle began as a young boy on his family's 200-head cow ranch in Florida. His professional experiences range from private veterinary practice to mastitis researcher. He also manages his own Jersey herd.
Dr. Dennis Hauseman
Denny Hauseman, DVM, resides in Broomfield, Colorado, and is employed by Alpharma Animal Health. He received his Bachelor of Science in 1969 and his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1971 from Kansas State University. Following graduation, and until 1987, he conducted a private medical practice in South Dakota.
Upon relocating to Colorado in 1987, he held positions as sales and technical consultant within the feed industry. From 1995 to 2000, Dr. Hauseman was employed as Technical Services Manager-Cattle with Roche Vitamins. Immediately prior to joining Alpharma Animal Health, he held a cattle technical service position with Fort Dodge Animal Health.
His responsibilities as Technical Service Manager-Cattle, include research, sales support, and interacting with consulting veterinarians and nutritionists.
Dr. Jim Vannet
James A. Vannet was raised on a beef and dairy operation in the Red River Valley of Minnesota. At this time, he is managing partner of Tender LeafyCorn, LLC, a foundation corn seed company based out of Minnesota. Jim has spent more than 20 years as a forage specialist and has presented more than 700 forage management seminars in North and South America. The past 15 years have been focused on developing corn hybrids specifically for silage production and the management of silage corn crops.
Dr. Robert Callan
Robert Callan, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVIM, is an associate professor at Colorado State University in the Department of Clinical Sciences. He also provides clinical care for food animal patients at the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Dr. Callan's research interests focus on ruminant infectious diseases and infectious disease immunity.