Victor Enrique Gomez Leon

My Extension program has focused on three major initiatives. The first is the KSU Dairy Extension Educational Program, or DEEP, in reproduction, management & health, and milk quality. In DEEP, I have trained ~860 technicians, veterinarians, and producers, through bilingual settings (Spanish/English), reaching over 7,000,000 animals. This translates into training ~15 people and reaching 100,000+ cows every month since 2021. The DEEP combines hands-on and on-farm training, workshops, and Dairy Manager Schools, directly responding to industry needs identified in “The 2021 Dairy Producer Needs Survey,” my first statewide initiative after joining KSU. Labor is the second-highest cost and a major challenge in the dairy industry. Improving employee knowledge has been associated with job satisfaction and employee retention. Thus, I believe DEEP will continue to impact our growing industry and contribute to the KSRE’s legacy.

My second Extension initiative is digital outreach. We have developed (1) The Repro Spot, a YouTube channel to interview renowned dairy cattle reproductive scientists; and (2) our website within the ASI platform (https://www.asi.k-state.edu/dairyreprolab/) to share information about extension, research, services provided, and team members’ backgrounds.

The third major Extension initiative has been conducting applied studies to help the industry make data-driven, informed decisions. We have successfully conducted 6 reproductive studies with a total of ~12,000 animals on multiple commercial farms. Industry and stakeholders have provided labor, facilities, drugs, animals, housing, and transportation for students. Some of our findings include guidelines for better heifer body condition score at breeding, disproving the benefits of certain strategies adopted by the industry, and increasing fertility (higher conception and lower pregnancy losses). This improves profitability, saves time, drugs, and labor on dairy systems.