Ted Probert

Ted Probert spent his early years living on his family’s dairy farm near Jasper and Carthage, Missouri. He learned the dairy business from the ground up with a wide variety of first-hand experience. Always interested in animals and farming, Probert was active in 4H and later, FFA.

While in college at the University of Missouri, he met his wife Pam—also a student. After achieving his Master’s Degree, he and Pam married. He accepted a sales position with an artificial insemination company named the Northern Ohio Breeder’s Association (NOBA), which has since merged to now be called Genex. After servicing a sales territory covering eastern Missouri, Probert moved to Ohio where he continued working for NOBA as the Coordinator of Holstein progeny testing.

In 1985, Probert made a career move, accepting the position of Dairy Specialist with MU Extension in the Hartville office. As a land grant college, the extension service is designed to share knowledge and research information with the local community. A year after moving to Hartville, Probert brought a farm in the area.

Ted Probert built a small herd of Holstein heifers for his daughter Kate to show. Kate Probert has earned five separate Junior All-American nominations.

While raising the dairy show heifers, Probert branched out his cattle venture to include a beef herd of registered Gelbvieh cattle. He uses a rotational grazing system with high quality forages to maintain his cow herd. Through an AI breeding program, Probert has developed and maintained premium animals. He sells breeding bulls and is a member of the Seed Stock Plus organization. At present, he has five bulls participating in a bull test in Northern Missouri.

Serving as MU Extension dairy specialist for nearly thirty years, Probert has worked closely with dairy producers, dairy youth and community leaders. One of his major programmatic efforts in recent years has been pasture-based dairy production. Missouri has experienced a fifty percent drop in the number of licensed dairy farms since the mid 1990’s. Rising input costs and fluctuations in the price farmers receive for milk have triggered this trend. Economic reality led producers to search for an alternative system of dairying whereby milk could be produced with less reliance of off-farm inputs. The pasture-based production system that Probert promotes offers a viable alternative.

Probert’s education programming in pasture-based dairying has targeted local, state and national audiences. His teaching focuses on four system components critical to successful pasture-based milk production: management of the cow, forage system management, facilities design and management, and providing a viable career path for dairymen.

Probert has always been interested in dairy cattle genetics. He has made dairy cattle breeding presentations to several international groups visiting the University of Missouri. Given his interest in dairy genetics, he was a natural to work with 4-H youth teaching the skills of dairy cattle judging and showing.

Probert serves a co-coordinator of the Missouri state dairy judging program, including the selection, training and coaching of Missouri’s state 4-H dairy judging team. Under his leadership, the 2013 team placed second at the Invitational Youth Dairy Cattle Judging Contest in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and sixth with two All-Americans at the National 4-H Dairy Judging Contest in Madison, Wisconsin. As a result of their outstanding performance, the team was invited to compete internationally as a part of the 2014 International Dairy Youth Tour, placing second while competing in both Scotland and Ireland. Ted Probert has also served on the planning committee for the Missouri 4-H Cow Camp since its inception in 1997.

Besides his roles as MU Extension dairy specialist and farmer, Probert has been active in working with the Wright County Soil and Water Conservation Board, helping with their educational program. He also served as an Extension County Program Director in Wright County.

Probert was nominated by Karla Deaver, MU associate extension professional in Lawrence County, Missouri. Deaver, who is an expert working with youth in 4-H, believes that Probert’s outstanding endeavors teaching and coaching the 4-H dairy judging teams and his role in the development of the 4-H Dairy Cow Camp has provided Missouri youth with opportunities to learn a variety of life skills, including teamwork, cooperation and responsibility. Probert has given youth a “hands-on” opportunity to care for dairy animals while learning multiple aspects of dairy production. Deaver believes that Ted Probert has served the Missouri Dairy Industry well and has influenced generations of dairymen, from youth to long-time producers.

Dr. Barry Steevens, professor emeritus, University of Missouri Animal Science Division, wrote a letter of support for Probert’s nomination. He stated in his endorsement that Ted Probert has spent most of his life helping others in the dairy industry. Steevens believes that Probert is an exceptional communicator on the concepts of sire selection and breeding values. He lauded Probert’s communication abilities to help other nations develop the quality of their dairy herds.