Mike VandeHaar grew up on a dairy farm near Pella, Iowa, attended Dordt College in northwest Iowa to study biology, and attended Iowa State University for MS and PhD degrees in nutritional physiology. He joined the faculty at Michigan State University in 1988; his position is 60% research, 35% teaching, and 5% service.
VandeHaar has been a member of ADSA since 1982. He believes that ADSA and our annual meeting were instrumental in his career. He served on the Journal of Dairy Science Editorial Board, the Production Division Council, the Board of Directors from 2018 to 2021, and as chair of the Overall Program Committee for the 2019, 2020, and 2021 annual meetings. He led that committee through the challenge of holding annual meetings in both virtual and hybrid formats.
VandeHaar's research goal is to improve dairy feed efficiency, and he has led a large collaborative project to develop genomic selection tools for feed efficiency for the past 12 years. This resulted in the inclusion of a new trait "Feed Saved" in the US Net Merit Index in 2021 at a 21% weighting. He also served on the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) committee to re-evaluate the Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle, published in 2021, and currently serves on the USDA National Animal Nutrition Program. VandeHaar has published 97 refereed publications, 52 conference proceedings, and 183 abstracts; given 158 invited presentations; and developed dairy nutrition software. He has trained 21 graduate students as major professor, taught nutrition or lactation physiology to 5,200 undergraduate and veterinary students, and led study-abroad programs to Europe. In 2013, ADSA awarded him the American Feed Industry Association Award. VandeHaar finds great satisfaction knowing that his research is helping farmers produce quality food for people in a sustainable manner and that his teaching and mentorship are helping young people learn and gain confidence to be future leaders. In his free time, Mike enjoys gardening, boating, traveling, taking care of his beef cows, and spending time with his wife Val and their children and grandchildren.
One of his strengths is a broad perspective of dairy science; he has extensive collaborations with researchers, teachers, extension educators, and dairy industry professionals in many disciplines. As a leader, he is diligent, authentic, and strategic, listening to all viewpoints to try to reach consensus, and making joint decisions in a timely fashion. VandeHaar fully supports the current ADSA strategic initiatives set by the board and wants our influence to grow, partnering with dairy science organizations across the globe. He believes ADSA should (1) be vibrant and relevant so early career professionals will join and attend our meetings, (2) have journals that are first choice for publishing dairy research, (3) strive for excellent working relationships with other scientific and industry organizations, (4) enhance opportunities for our newest members, especially graduate students, to network and find meaningful careers, and (5) stay fiscally strong. He is proud to be a member of ADSA and, if elected, looks forward to serving with enthusiasm.