US Jersey Association Announces Staff Hires, Retirement - Cowsmo

US Jersey Association Announces Staff Hires, Retirement

Reynoldsburg, Ohio, December 13, 2012—Neal Smith, Executive Secretary and CEO of the American Jersey Cattle Association, announced today that Melanie Tipton, Pickerington, Ohio; Stephanie Mack, Galloway, Ohio; and Claire Stanley, East Fairfield, Vt.; will join the AJCA staff to provide key services and customer support to Jersey cattle owners both in the U.S. and worldwide.

“We are pleased to have hired these well-trained, knowledgeable young women,” Smith commented. “Each of them brings on-farm cow management and record-keeping experience plus extensive computer skills that will help them assist our members and customers with their identification, parentage qualification, and genotyping needs.”

Smith also announced the retirement of Ruth Ann Johnson, effective December 31 after 20 years in the Herd Services Department with particular responsibility for the parentage qualification program. “Ruth Ann has provided exemplary service across two decades to Jersey owners and A.I. organizations,” he said. “While we will miss her expertise, we understand that she is ready to move on and enjoy the next stage of her life spending more time with her family.”

Melanie Tipton begins her position in Herd Services Customer Support on December 17. She has just completed an A.S. degree in dairy cattle production and management at The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster. Tipton was a member of the county 4-H dairy judging team, selected to attend the National 4-H Dairy Conference, and served on the Fairfield County Junior Fair Board both as a member and junior advisor. She received the State FFA Degree in 2010. She has worked in various capacities on three dairies milking Jerseys, Holsteins and Ayrshires over the past four years.

Tipton’s responsibilities will include processing registrations and transfers, JerseyTag orders, and assisting with management of the linear type appraisal program.

Stephanie Mack will begin her position as Parentage Qualification Coordinator and Herd Services Assistant on December 18. She earned a B.S. degree in animal sciences from The Ohio State University in 2011, and comes to the staff from Darby Creek Nursery and Landscaping where she was nursery manager and sales associate. At Ohio State, she was a student assistant and manager at Waterman Dairy for three years, then completed an internship in the AJCA Development Department in her senior year. Mack served as president of the Buckeye Dairy Club in 2010-11 and was Jersey chair for the 2011 Buckeye Classic Sale.

Mack’s responsibilities will include coordinating the parentage qualification program for herd owners and A.I. organizations, plus assisting with animal identification services and pedigree requests.

Claire Stanley will join the Research & Genetic Programs department staff January 1, 2013 as Genetic Services Technical Specialist. She is a 2011 graduate of the University of Vermont, earning a B.S. in animal science with honors as a 2+2 FARMS Scholar. For the past year, she has been a member services representative with St. Albans Cooperative Creamery, coordinating its National FARM animal well-being evaluations and providing support for its milk quality, production tracking and payout services. Claire grew up with Registered Jerseys™ at her family’s Paul-Lin Dairy, where her efforts in sire selection and matings helped increase the herd’s average Jersey Performance Index™. She also worked at Molly Brook Farm and Butterworks Farm, which produces a nationally distributed line of organic Jersey milk yogurts, heavy cream and cheese. Claire was a member of the first class of Jersey Youth Academy (2009).

Stanley’s responsibilities will include customer support for genotyping services and JerseyTag sales, plus producing sale catalogs for Jersey Marketing Service.

The American Jersey Cattle Association, organized in 1868, compiles and maintains animal identification and performance data on Jersey cattle and provides services that support genetic improvement and greater profitability through increasing the value of and demand for Registered Jersey™ cattle and genetics, and Jersey milk and milk products. For more information on the association’s complete line of services for dairy business owners, visit the website at www.USJersey.com or follow the news feed at www.facebook.com/USJersey.

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