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American Dairy Science Association recognizes four members of dairy science department

The American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) recently recognized four members of the Department of Dairy Science: Victor Cabrera, Ted Halbach, Heather White and Kent Weigel.

Victor Cabrera

Victor Cabrera, professor and extension dairy specialist, received the DeLaval Dairy Extension Award. The award recognizes outstanding achievements in dairy extension. Winners have made a valuable and noteworthy contribution to the dairy industry through dairy extension in the broad areas of production, manufacturing, marketing, and youth work. Cabrera’s extension program supports dairy farmers’ decision making toward increased profitability, decreased environmental impact and enhanced long-term sustainability. His research program blends economics, optimization and biological processes.

Ted Halbach

Ted Halbach, faculty associate, received the Hoard’s Dairyman Youth Development Award. The award recognizes a candidate who has had significant involvement in dairy-related youth activities. Winners are highly regarded for development of dairy youths and for enhancing knowledge of and interest in the dairy industry. Halbach has dedicated himself to advising and advocating for dairy youths. For 13 years, he served as coach of the Intercollegiate Dairy Judging team, which achieved three national championships and 12 top-five finishes. He now leads the Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge team, which has garnered two first-place and two second-place finishes.

Heather White

Heather White, associate professor, received the ADSA Foundation Scholar Award in Dairy Production. The award recognizes a young scholar from the production division and their potential in research and educational leadership as well as in identifying critical issues affecting the future of the dairy industry. White’s research program focuses on the health and nutrition of dairy cows and strives to determine the mechanism of nutrient partitioning, feed efficiency, and metabolic health to improve dairy cow health and productivity. She is also an instructor at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Kent Weigel

Kent Weigel, professor and chair, was named a member of the 2019 class of JDS Club 100. The club was begun in 2017 to celebrate the 100th volume of the Journal of Dairy Science and to recognize individuals who have authored or coauthored 100 or more papers in the journal. Weigel’s research focuses on international genetic comparisons, genotype by environment interactions, genetic evaluation of health and management traits and strategies to control inbreeding. He is also an dairy genetics specialist with UW–Madison Division of Extension.

The American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) recently recognized four members of the Department of Dairy Science. Three are pictured here (left to right): Victor Cabrera, Heather White and Ted Halbach. The fourth is Kent Weigel.