The Dairy Science Department's Extension Specialists in Management, Genetics, Physiology, and Reproduction are the outreach arm of the University of Wisconsin - Madison. These specialists conduct applied research and conduct extension and outreach programs in dairy science. The Dairy Science program is part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. This website serves as a resource for clientele on dairy cattle management topics.
Victor E. Cabrera, PhD, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Dairy Management, is available to contact for more information.
Assistant Professor and Dairy Management |
EducationPh.D., University of Florida 2001-2004
Professional ExperienceAssistant Professor and Extension Dairy Specialist in Dairy Management, University of Wisconsin-Madison 2008-Present Assistant Professor and Extension Dairy Specialist Post-Doctoral Research Associate Teaching and Research Assistant Consultant Extension Agent |
Dr. Victor E. Cabrera was born and raised in the Inca's land of Cusco, Peru. After finishing High School, he moved to Lima to pursue his B.S. and Engineering degrees from La Molina Agrarian University. After graduation, he worked for three and a half years as an agriculture educator in a college. During that time he completed a 3-month post-graduate course on administration of agriculture schools in Spain and France. In 1997, Victor was awarded a fellowship from the Kellogg Foundation to pursue a M.S. degree in Farming Systems Research and Extension at the University of Florida. His M.S. research focused on improving small farm livelihood systems using alternative agronomic practices, which were evaluated with linear programming techniques. After finishing his M.S. degree, Victor accepted a 6-month interim position at the University of Florida Food and Resource Economics Department.
Victor went back to Peru in 1999 where he worked as a consultant in a project of the Inter-American Development Bank for two years. In 2001, he returned to the U.S. to pursue his Ph.D. at the University of Florida School of Natural Resources working as a research and teaching assistant in the Food and Resource Economics Department. During his Ph.D. program, he became deeply involved with dairy industry and dairy farm systems developing a comprehensive decision support system to help dairy producers cope with increasing environmental restrictions while maintaining profitability. In 2004, right after graduating, Victor accepted a Postdoctoral position with the University of Miami, where he worked performing risk analyses of using climate information under government farm programs. In early 2006, Victor accepted the position of Assistant Professor and Extension Dairy Specialist with the New Mexico State University where he worked for two years. During that time, Dr. Cabrera worked performing applied research focused on environmental decision-making for the growing dairy industry in New Mexico and Western Texas. In April 2008, he joined the faculty team of the Dairy Science Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Dairy Management with 70% Extension and 30% research appointment split.
Dr. Cabrera is focusing his extension and research programs on dairy farm economic decision-making for improved profitability and sustainability. Dr. Cabrera translates proven research into user-friendly decision making tools addressed to dairy producers, extension agents, and dairy farm consultants. During his short career, Victor has authored or coauthored 30 peer-reviewed publications, 4 book chapters, 50 Extension publications, 30 proceeding papers, and developed more than 30 scientific tools for decision-making. Victor has also been invited as speaker or consultant to Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Kosovo, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru.
Victor's ultimate goal is to help rural people to improve their life quality through applied biophysical, socio-economic, and environmental research. Coming from a farm, he has always been linked to the agricultural and rural sectors and his studies and works have always focused on enhancing farming systems. Victor is committed to providing leadership in dairy management decision-making related to cost-efficiency, profitability, and environmental stewardship. Victor believes in participatory research and Extension as a way to deliver research-based responses to felt needs. A primary focus of Victor�s Extension work is the creation and delivery of computerized decision support system tools.
