Professional Title:
DVM, PhD
Description of professional services:
Dairy Nutrition and Management Consultant
Professional experience:
As an independent dairy consultant, I provide nutrition and management consultation to dairies including nutrition and feed management, feed and additive evaluation, operational effectiveness, and people capital management. Before joining GPS Dairy Consulting I worked as Director of Operations in a large multi-site dairy in WI where my main responsibilities were feed quality control, crops harvesting, employee training, protocols and SOPs, and Nutrient Management Plans.
I grew up on a dairy farm in Toledo, Spain. I obtained my Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Extremadura in 2004 and worked as a dairy veterinarian for six years before joining the dairy team at South Dakota State University, where I received a Master of Science in Dairy Nutrition. I also obtained a Ph.D. in Ruminant Nutrition at the Technical University of Madrid (Spain). My research career has been mainly focused in protein nutrition and metabolism. I have conducted studies based on rumen-protected amino acids, slow-release urea, and protein co-products with the objectives of improving the performance and feed efficiency of high production dairy cows, and the sustainability/profitability of dairy farms. I have published several peer-reviewed scientific journal articles, 12 scientific abstracts, more than 90 popular press papers, and a Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) book chapter titled “Feeding Biofuel Co-Products to Dairy Cattle”.
I am a member of the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA), American Association of Bovine Practitioner (AABP), Dairy Calf and Heifer Association (DCHA), and European Federation for Animal Science (EAAP). I am certified by the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS) and by the American College of Animal Nutrition Science (ACANS). In addition, I am a volunteer consultant on the El Salvador Farmer-to-Farmer Program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Fernando lives in Brookings, SD with my wife Nuria and my daughter Daniela.
Coverage area:
International
Location:
Brookings, South Dakota, United States