What are your job duties/job responsibilities in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources?

My job is to manage Foremost Dairy, leading a team of both full time and student employees to accomplish all the tasks involved with being a dairy producer and research center. This includes keeping a strict routine of daily chores, such as milking twice a day, calf rearing, feeding of the herd, reproductive management, following synchronization protocols and timed AI breeding methods, maintaining cow health and comfort with daily health screenings throughout transition periods, manure application management, crop planning and forage harvesting of both hay and silage to provide the highest quality feed to our herd as possible, daily record keeping and book keeping, facilitating on-farm research opportunities conducted by faculty and students, making plans and implementing improvements to systems, facilities and procedures to aid in modernizing the farm with the goal of increasing production and reducing inputs.

How long have you worked in CAFNR?

I became Farm Manager March 1st of this year. 

What do you enjoy about working for CAFNR/Mizzou?

What I enjoy most are the students gaining experience that they may have never had the opportunity to before. Working on the dairy farm presents an array of challenges for them both mentally and physically, and I know that whatever direction they wish to go after their time at Mizzou, they will be more prepared by the time spent here.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Whatever time I spend away from the farm will be spent with my beautiful wife, Becca and my two sons, Isaac, 4, and Emet, 2, doing something fun outside, even if it’s just running around in the yard or grilling.

What is something your co-workers/other CAFNR employees don’t know about you?

First, I want them all to know that I am Mizzou-made, and I consider it a blessing to be working at my alma mater, M-I-Z! I also allocate time to allow myself to pursue another passion, which is coaching football at a local high school. Go, Trailblazers!