What have we been up to?
2019


A Cochran Fellowship group led by Martin Sieber of USLGE visited the Brown Swiss Association office on Thursday, October 9, 2019. The group consisted of dairy farmers, veterinarians, Ag Ministry personnel, researchers, and Ag teachers from Bosnia/Herzegovina (6) and Malaysia (4). The two groups are shown above with Executive Secretary Norm Magnussen, and BSCBA staff members Leonard Johnson and Rebekah Bovee. They had many questions about the breed, dairy genetics, and herd management. The visit to the Brown Swiss office was their last stop on a busy two-week learning experience that included World Dairy Expo where they saw Cutting Edge T Delilah win Grand Champion of the Brown Swiss Show and claim WDE Supreme Champion for the second year in a row!
2018

An eager-to-learn group from Ethiopia visited the Brown Swiss Cattle Breeders’ Association Friday, June 15th. Jim Sarbacker, representing US Livestock Genetics Export Inc., was leading the training program for this Cochran Fellowship group that consisted of dairy cattle owners, a veterinarian, a member of the US embassy, a dairy council member and an A.I. owner.

The BSCBA office was their last stop of a two-week tour, which included visits to Voegeli Farm, Wisconsin, and Kruse’s Swiss Farm, Iowa. The group were shown many different aspects of the dairy industry from on-farm production and management to end-product manufacturing. They learned the benefits Brown Swiss could bring to their challenged dairy environment. Shown with the Ethiopian delegation are Executive Secretary Norm Magnussen and staff members Leonard Johnson, Rebekah Bovee, Roger Neitzel, and Kelsey Kuehl.
The Cochran Fellowship Program (USDA-FAS) provides short-term training opportunities to agricultural professionals from middle-income countries, emerging markets, and emerging democracies. The goals are to help eligible countries develop agricultural systems necessary to meet the food and fiber needs of their domestic populations; and to strengthen and enhance trade linkages between eligible countries and agricultural interests in the United States.