Chad Dechow
- Associate Professor of Dairy Cattle Genetics
- Undergraduate Adviser, Dairy, Genetics
University Park, PA 16802
- Email cdechow@psu.edu
- Office 814-863-3659
Education
- Ph.D., Animal Science, The University of Tennessee, 2003
- M.S., Animal Science, The Pennsylvania State University, 2000
- CIC Traveling Scholar Program, The University of Wisconsin at Madison, 2001
- B.S., Animal Science with Honors, Cornell University, 1997
- A.A.S., Agricultural Science, The State University of New York at Morrisville, 1995
Employment
- Associate Professor of Dairy Cattle Genetics. Department of Dairy and Animal Science. The Pennsylvania State University. July 1, 2009
- Assistant Professor of Dairy Cattle Genetics. Department of Dairy and Animal Science. The Pennsylvania State University. Starting date of employment: August 1, 2003 - June 30, 2009
- Instructor of Dairy Science. Department of Agricultural Science, S.U.N.Y. Morrisville. January 2003 - May 2003
Research and Teaching Interests
The primary focus of our research program is the improvement of dairy cow health and well-being as we continue to breed for higher levels of milk yield and milk production efficiency. We have demonstrated that genetic selection for stable body weight and body condition can help maintain high levels of cow health in high yielding and efficient dairy cows; however, our research also suggests that adopting more efficient farm management systems in order to facilitate the economic survival of dairy farms has not benefited cow health. We have researched the use of dairy farm records as a potential source of health records for direct selection for disease resistance, and continue to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of crossbreeding programs in regard to cow performance. We are also continuing to develop evaluation methods that estimate and demonstrate genetic trends for individual dairy farms.
I teach all or part of the following courses:
- Principles of Animal Breeding
- Dairy Problem Solving
- Dairy Cattle Evaluation and Selection
- Dairy Farm Management Systems
- Introduction to Dairy Science at Penn State
