UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Virginia Ishler (Ginny) is retiring from Penn State as an Extension Dairy Specialist, after a career that has been characterized by bringing practical knowledge to producers to help them maximize profits through improved management decisions.
A 1982 dairy science graduate of Delaware Valley College, Ishler began working as a private nutritionist and operated a Penn State NIR (Near Infrared Spectroscopy) forage testing van. She has continued her strong interest in practical dairy nutrition and over the years has helped many dairymen improve feed formulation and management, yielding increased profit in their operations.
She earned her M.S. in dairy nutrition from Penn State in 1984.
Ishler helped develop and deliver the “dairy nutrition road show,” which grew into the Penn State Nutrition Workshop, which has become a premier yearly conference attracting national and international participants.
Dr. Adele Turzillo, Head of the Department of Animal Science, “Virginia has been a tremendous asset to the department. Her expertise in nutrition and nutrient management along with her outstanding work with dairy producers and nutritionists over the years has been a shining example of productive partnerships between Penn State and the dairy industry.”
A key member of the Extension Dairy Team, she has also been a part of the Water for Ag Team, and a variety of research projects. Most recently, she and two newer dairy educators won the Extension Director’s Team Award for Impact in Programming for their work in the “Feed Assessment Program,” an on-farm feeding management assessment that is saving dairy producers money and helping them improve milk production.
Other awards she has received include the Vice President’s Pathfinder Award for Innovation and the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association Service Award.
Ishler has always been focused on problem-solving with a strong science focus. She has willingly shared her expertise by widely disseminating information through fact sheets, articles, publications, spreadsheets and mobile apps. A key contribution to the department’s Dairy Digest, she has authored or co-authored hundreds of publications.
“It has been a great pleasure to work with Ginny to develop the Income Over Feed Cost (IOFC) concept as a tool to monitor the profitability of the dairy. Initial efforts developed into how to integrate IOFC with dairy cash flow to get a practical, realistic measure that can be calculated each month to monitor financial progress. Many unforeseen opportunities to address this topic with the dairy industry happened because of Ginny’s leadership,” notes Tim Beck, Penn State Extension Educator.
Ishler has worked easily with faculty and educators across disciplines, mentoring younger staff members.
Over the years, Ishler has met the demands of a growing dairy industry, and stepped into the role of farm manager of the Penn State dairy farm, and also helped fill a need in the department’s teaching schedule when retirements caused dairy courses to be short staffed.
She worked with Dr. Lisa Holden and Rob Goodling to co-coach teams for the North American Dairy Challenge, encouraging students to apply their classroom knowledge to the real world,
“Ginny’s distinctive ability to assess herd performance and realize effective management solutions left students with more than knowledge but life skills to serve them in their burgeoning careers. Teaching and collaborating with Ginny often resulted in becoming a student as well to garner all the precious nuggets of wisdom she imparted”, says Rob Goodling, now Business Consultant with Horizon Farm Credit.
Her retirement is effective June 30.
–Sally Brown Bair, Penn State University