Kris found his love for the dairy industry growing up on his grandparents dairy farm in Northern Illinois.
As a ‘04 UW-Platteville graduate with a Bachelors in Dairy Science, he partnered with his wife, Chelsea, and her family at Zirbel Dairy Farms in De Pere, WI. While overseeing the production side of the dairy, Kris specializes in fresh cow care where he can be found cow-side almost every morning. Kris enjoys the challenges of an ever-changing industry and keeps up to date with markets, current consumer concerns, and exploring new practices that will keep the dairy viable for generations to come. Kris and Chelsea proudly involve their kids, Owen (13), Olivia (10) and Evelyn (8), in any way possible on the farm.
Kris represents Foremost Farms USA as vice-chair on the FARM advisory board.
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Steve Maddox is an owner of Ruann and Maddox Dairy in California with a combined her of 4,500 cows. He is a third-generation dairy farmer with a pedigree ranking him and his dairy operation as one of the best of the best. An unselfish leader, Maddox had dedicated many years serving the dairy industry he loves while building a strong family business.
Steve’s commitment to dairying extends beyond his own dairy operation and into other sectors of the dairy industry. He was a member of the initial board of directors for California Dairies, Inc., to which both RuAnn and Maddox Dairies continue to ship milk, and he served as board secretary for 10 years.
He also assisted in establishing DairyAmerica Inc., a producer-owned dairy cooperative in the U.S., formed to supply quality dairy ingredients both nationally and internationally. During his time with the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) was created. In addition, he plays integral parts in the Dairy Sustainability Alliance, National Dairy Council and Dairy Management Inc.
Nathan Chittenden farms alongside his two brothers and his parents at Dutch Hollow Farm LLC, in Schodack Landing NY. Starting with a small herd of 55 registered Jerseys in 1976, the family has grown steadily through internal growth to the herd of 800 today. The families commitment to the registered Jersey breed as well as their public outreach has earned them a spot in the National Dairy Shrine. After receiving his BS in Animal Science at Cornell in 2000, Nate returned home to the family farm where he married his wife Jill. Today they have 3 children, Zachary, Jonathan, and Anna. In addition to managing the calves and young heifers, Nathan has also been active as a 4H leader and past president and Vice President of the local board of directors of Cooperative Extension. Nathan has also served as President and Vice President of the YC’s of his Coop, Agrimark.
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Dr. Gingrich grew up in rural northwest Ohio and graduated from Ohio State CVM in 1995. He worked for veterinarians throughout high school and was active in 4-H and FFA raising calves and sheep. Dr. Gingrich also practiced in Visalia, California, for two years in a large dairy practice then returned to Ohio where he focuses primarily on dairy practice with cow-calf and beef and owns Country Roads Veterinary Services, Inc., in Ashland, Ohio where he has practiced for 19 years.
He has been actively involved in organized veterinary medicine and with AABP has been involved with the Committee on Pharmaceutical and Biologic Issues and the AABP Executive Committee. He has a special interest in judicious drug use on beef and dairy farms including upcoming Veterinary Feed Directive issues and has been involved with the AVMA Clinical Practitioners Advisory Committee, the AVMA Council on Biologic and Therapeutic Agents and the National Milk Producers Federation residue avoidance manual.
Richard Doak is the son of a multi-generational ranch family from Montana and New Mexico. He competed his undergraduate degree at New Mexico State and his doctorate at Colorado State University. During his time at CSU, he developed a passion for the dairy industry. Upon graduation, Richard moved to Phoenix, AZ where he spent 12 years with Dairy Vet Services working with large dry-lot herds. In 2004, he moved to Plain, WI and in 2006, to Maryland where he is currently practicing with Mid-Maryland Dairy Veterinarians. Richard’s areas of interest include calves, transitions cows and dairy animal welfare. He has spoken on these subjects at many producer and veterinary meetings and served on several national boards. Through the practice he helped create Advaca LLC, a veterinary group that manages dairy animal welfare for regional milk cooperatives as well as consulting and 3rd party auditing services. He is a PAACO certified dairy auditor and a FARM Version 4 certified trainer/evaluator. Outside work, he enjoys running, the beach and family.
Brandon is the quality control veterinarian with Select Milk Producers. In that role, Brandon’s practice focuses on consulting in the areas of Milk Quality, Animal Care, Antimicrobial Stewardship, Food Safety and Worker Safety.
Dr. Brandon Treichler grew up on a family dairy farm in eastern Pennsylvania. Prior to veterinary school, Dr. Treichler worked for a major milking equipment manufacturer, troubleshooting milk quality concerns and developing training and monitoring programs on dairies. After graduating from veterinary school, he joined a 13 doctor all dairy practice in Eastern Wisconsin, where he specialized in Milk Quality consulting within veterinary practice. He joined Select Milk Producers in 2015.
Brandon is active in the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) AALC where he serves as the Vice Chair, the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO) where he serves on the board of directors. Brandon also serves on the NMC (formerly the National Mastitis Council) board of directors. Dr. Treichler is very active in the National Milk Producers Federation, where he represents NMPF on the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Animal Agriculture Liaison Committee.
Karen and her husband, Norman Jordan, Jr. own and operate Brush Creek Swiss Farms. Norman is third generation dairy farmer and Norman and Karen have operated the all registered Brown Swiss herd for over 34 years. Current herd size is 90 mature cows and they raise all of their replacement animals. Karen also operates Large Animal Veterinary Services with most of her veterinary career focused on dairy herd health.
Karen and Norman are producer members with Dairy Farmers of America where Karen serves on the Southeast Area Council. Karen is chair of the NMPF Animal Health and Wellbeing Committee and has served as chair of the Technical Writing Group of the NMPF National Dairy FARM Program. Karen has also served on the technical writing committee of the Milk and Dairy Beef Drug Residue Prevention: Producer Manual of Best Management Practices. She has also been actively involved in the North Carolina Dairy Biosecurity efforts and active in the Mid Atlantic Secure Milk Supply efforts. In the past she has also represented NMPF on the Animal Agriculture Liaison Committee of the American Veterinary Medical Association. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Institute for Animal Agriculture.
Dr. Marcia Endres is a Professor and the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Minnesota. She holds an extension and research appointment. Her research team has studied how various housing and management systems can influence health, welfare and performance of dairy cattle.
In recent years, Dr. Endres and her team have also conducted research and outreach on precision dairy technologies, including robotic milking systems, automated milk feeders and individual cow behavior sensors. She has published 58 peer reviewed research articles, and numerous abstracts, proceedings, and popular press articles, in addition to 7 book chapters and being the editor for the upcoming book “Understanding the Behavior and Improving the Welfare of Dairy Cattle”.
She teaches two classes in dairy herd management and coaches the University of Minnesota Dairy Challenge teams. Dr. Endres serves as director and committee chair on the PAACO (Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization) Board (the national organization that certifies animal welfare audits and auditors) and recently served as President of the Dairy Cattle Welfare Council. In addition, Dr. Endres has chaired US and International Precision Dairy Conference Planning Committees and serves as chair of the International Precision Dairy Farming Association. Dr. Endres received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, M.S. from Iowa State University, and Veterinary Medicine degree from University of Parana, Brazil.
