Tana DennisCalf and Heifer SpecialistProvimi North AmericaMillersville, Pennsylvania

What education are you bringing with you to this position?

  • Bachelor of Science in animal sciences, University of Florida, May 2008
  • Master of Science in animal sciences, Purdue University, May 2011
  • Completing Ph.D. in animal sciences, Purdue University, December 2015

Please describe your agricultural background.
My interest in agriculture was fostered through 10 years of experience in the Florida 4-H program. Livestock projects including swine and beef gave me an appreciation for agribusiness and animal husbandry at a young age. The interest continued into my undergraduate experience when I joined the professional sorority Sigma Alpha my freshman year. I learned most about dairy production after moving to Purdue and working with dairy extension specialists throughout my graduate studies.

What territory will you cover?
I will be located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and service customers in Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont and throughout the Northeast.

What are your new responsibilities?
I will be responsible for providing technical service to customers with respect to calf and heifer products, including on-farm troubleshooting and sales support.

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What previous positions have you held?
This will be the first industry position I have held since finishing graduate school.

Who has made the biggest impact on your career?
I’m fairly new to the feed industry, but my outreach experiences in graduate school with my advisor Tamilee Nennich (now with Famo Feeds) have helped form the framework for how I support customers and producers.

How will you be of most help to producers in your region or area of expertise?
I will help most with supporting producers who use our milk replacers and calf technologies, or have an opportunity to use our products. I will be providing nutrition and management recommendations to help improve calf growth and efficiency in the most economical way for the producer.

Why did you choose this company?
I chose Provimi because of their long-standing reputation for providing research-based recommendations and support to customers. Provimi places emphasis on providing solutions that are nutritionally “right” for the animal, which was appealing for me from a sales support perspective.

What goals would you like to accomplish while in this position?
My hope is to bring more awareness to providing improved nutritional support to replacement heifers, particularly following weaning. With so many different feeding philosophies in the industry for calves and weaned heifers, I hope to deliver consistent results for customers to help build trust in our research-supported feeding programs and technologies.  PD