The Dairy Calf & Heifer Association (DCHA) awarded its $1,000 scholarship to Jared Sanderson, son of Michael and Pattie Sanderson, Sandusky, Mich., and a Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine (MSUCVM) student. The DCHA scholarship program honors an outstanding student pursuing a degree in agriculture, with a particular interest in calf health and future productivity. After earning his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 2023, he plans to join a private veterinary clinic practice and pursue a career as a dairy veterinarian.
Sanderson earned his bachelor’s degree in animal science from MSU. As an undergraduate student, he gained leadership and dairy skills as the MSU Block and Bridle Club treasurer, MSU Dairy Club vice president and president, and MSU Collegiate Dairy Challenge team captain. During veterinary school, he served as the MSUCVM Food Animal Club president and MSUCVM Theriogenology Club Palpation Team coordinator.
To gain work experience, Sanderson worked on two dairies, as a farm laborer and calf raiser. For three years, he worked in the MSU VandeHaar Nutrition Lab – focusing on feed and fecal samples, and collecting blood, fecal, urine and milk samples from research cows. He spent two summers interning with nutrition-related companies – one with Caledonia (Mich.) Farmers Elevator as a feed sales intern and another with Land O’Lakes Purina (Lansing, Mich.) as a regional dairy intern. He also interned with Lew-Max, LLC, a dairy in Belding, Mich., and Riverview, LLP, a dairy in Veblen, S.D. Last summer, he worked in the MSU Veterinary Diagnostic Lab as the necropsy intern.
Looking to the future, Sanderson sees himself as a progressive and innovative practitioner that uses medical and managerial practices to prevent diseases and ensuring the health of his clients’ cattle. “Using my Spanish-speaking ability, I hope to offer employee training programs and create protocols and learning materials to ensure compliance,” he stated. “With a large amount of data being gathered on dairy operations today, I look forward to helping my clients use the data to identify improvement opportunities.” His ultimate goal is to help dairy producers generate greater profitability, herd health, employee compliance, environmental stewardship, animal welfare and judicious use of antibiotics.
The Dairy Calf & Heifer Association was founded in 1996 based on the mission to help dairy producers, calf managers and those professionally focused on the growth and management of dairy calves and heifers. With a national membership of producers, allied industries and research leaders, DCHA seeks to provide the industry’s standards for profitability, performance and leadership, serving as a catalyst to help members improve the vitality and viability of their individual efforts and that of their business.