The Center can help connect you with one of four consultants who have years of experience helping dairy farm families navigate the succession planning process. Learn more about the consultants below. To get started, contact Melissa Anderson at manderson@centerfordairyexcellence.org or call 717-788-0296.
List of Consultants
Dr. Brian Reed DVM, MBA has spent the last 36 years working with dairy farmers as a veterinarian. Since receiving his MBA degree in 2001, he has also been a dairy business consultant, assisting dairy families with strategic planning, profitability analysis and farm transition planning. Dr. Reed also currently utilizes Center for Dairy Excellence resources to assist farm families going through the farm transition process.
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Dr. Charlie Gardner grew up in southern New Jersey and worked on his uncle’s dairy farm. He attended the College of Agriculture at Cornell from 1967 –1969, then transferred to Veterinary College, and graduated from Veterinary School in 1973. He then joined the Ackermanville Veterinary Hospital, doing mainly dairy cattle practice. He stayed there until 1989, when he started Dairy Management Consultants, a practice specializing in dairy herd management. Dr. Gardner became board certified as a specialist in dairy practice in 1993, and received an MBA from Moravian College in May of 1999. He joined Agway in 1999, and was director of the Agway TSPF Heifer Program. In March of 2004 he joined Cargill Animal Nutrition, and worked with producers to improve animal and financial performance. He retired from Cargill in December of 2014, and has since worked part time as a farm consultant with the Center for Dairy Excellence.
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Samantha Gehrett is a Dairy Business Management Educator with Penn State Extension and is housed in Carlisle, PA. Her primary focus is to help dairy producers determine cost of production and develop farm business plans that help farms reach long-term goals and objectives. She brings experience in Accounting, Taxation, and Dairy Processing. This work is accomplished through on-farm visits, workshops and conferences and the development of tools and resources for producers and consultants.
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Paula Ledney serves as an Education Program Associate / Financial Analyst in the Business, Energy, and Community Vitality Unit. Her focus is assisting food, agriculture, and natural resources-based businesses with financial planning; record keeping; financial statement and ratio analysis; budgeting; business and enterprise analysis; and financial literacy and decision making. Program work in these areas results in measurable improvements made by stakeholders in efficiency, growth, competitiveness, innovation and job creation. She holds Bachelors Degrees in both Finance and Environmental Resource Management, and a Certificate in Financial Planning, all from Penn State.