Bernard (Bernie) Erven

Bernie Erven is professor emeritus of agricultural economics at Ohio State University. At Ohio State his teaching, extension and research activities were in human resource management and business management. He continues to teach a course in Human Resource Management in Small Businesses at Ohio State. His consulting work with small businesses through Erven HR Services LLC focuses on family business relations and human resource management. For nearly 40 years he has worked on issues such as hiring, training, motivation, discipline, compensation, and performance feedback. He also does workshops on succession and human relations in family businesses, communication, handling the stress of management, team building and time management. His work on these important topics has taken him to more than 30 U.S. states and Canadian provinces.

Learn more about Dr. Erven

Robert Milligan

Dr. Milligan is a Professor Emeritus from Cornell University in the Department of Applied Economics and Development, as well as a senior consultant Dairy Strategies LLC in Minnesota a dairy business and management business. Dr Milligan received his B.S. and M.S. in Dairy Science from Michigan State and his PhD from University of California-Davis.

Learn more about Dr. Robert Milligan

Alvaro Garcia

Dr. Garcia joined the SDSU Dairy Science Department on January 22, 2001 as the Extension Dairy Specialist/Assistant Professor. His duties include providing leadership in developing, implementing and evaluating impact/ outcome based formal and non-formal education programs as per current concepts in Dairy Science and the "Vision" for the South Dakota Cooperative Extension Service. Dr. Garcia received his degrees from DVM University of Uruguay, Veterinary College in 1983´ MS University of Minnesota Animal Science- Forages/Nutrition in 1987 and his PhD from the University of Minnesota Animal Science-Dairy Cattle Nutrition 1997.

Chuck Schwartau

Chuck Schwartau has been an Extension Educator for nearly thirty years, specializing in livestock and dairy management. In recent years Chuck´s focus has changed to labor management and quality business management. He is co-author is a labor management curriculum that has been used in Minnesota for several years and has more recently been on the leadership team of a quality management program being offered to Minnesota dairy farmers. Chuck is currently based in the Rochester Regional Extension Office at Rochester, MN, following several years in various southeast Minnesota county extension offices.

Kevin Opp

Kevin Opp with Employment USA, LLC based in Aberdeen, SD. This company provides US based employers with effective international workers who wish to work in the US on a seasonal/temporary basis. This company works directly with the local, state, and regional Department of Labor and USCIS to ensure that all legal requirements are being met. Kevin Opp will discuss the H-2A and H-2B programs dealing with guest workers.

Trautman Karla

Karla is a 20 year Extension veteran with experience at the county and state level. She serves as the principal investigator for the South Dakota Horizons project – a community development effort currently working with 40 South Dakota communities. Her current work also includes the development of leadership programs for the community as well as student programs on the campus of SDSU.

Robbi Pritchard

Dr. Robbi Pritchard is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences at South Dakota State University. He has a research and graduate teaching appointment emphasizing beef cattle nutrition and growth and oversees the activities of the research feedlot and ruminant nutrition labs on campus. He is the current recipient of the Larson Award in Beef Cattle Nutrition at SDSU.

Dorothy Elliott

Dorothy Elliott moved to Lake Norden SD in Feb 2006 with her husband Rodney and their three children from Northern Ireland. They milk 1500 cows in their purpose built Cross ventilation facility at Drumgoon Dairy and employ 24 people. Dorothy’s previous experience had been in the Health care field managing staff and services. Now she uses these skills to assist her husband in managing the staff who work on the Dairy.

Howard Manlove

Howard Manlove is the Dairy Farm Complex Manager at the Midwest Dairy Institute in Milbank, SD. He and his staff milk 2000 cows, raise the replacement heifers from birth to 90 days of age, and operate an anaerobic digester that powers an electrical generator.

Patty DeZeeuw

Patty DeZeeuw is the owner of D & D Crop Service and has been providing crop insurance services to agricultural producers in SD and MN since 1996. Patty and her husband Rufus farm near Elkton, SD, where they also have a commercial cow/calf operation and raise purebred Suffolk, Columbia & Hampshire sheep. Patty received her B.S. in Animal Science and Microbiology and M.S. in Biology from SDSU.