By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA
For November, NEAFA sat down with Richie Shepardson, the Northeast regional sales representative at Elanco for a NEAFA member profile. “Since the 1950’s, Elanco has been involved in Animal Health,” said Shepardson. “Elanco is based out of Greenfield, Indiana. They have an extremely broad portfolio, which is one of the great professional perks of working here. There’s a lot going on with technology and products for dairy farms, nutrition consultants, veterinarians, etc. There are a number of feed additives for production animals, and items categorized as ‘packaged goods’ which include vaccines, antibiotics, and other animal health products. We also have the EKS - Elanco Knowledge Systems. EKS is a data analytics space where there are currently a lot of conversations going on around how to continue to help dairies to model and reduce their carbon footprint, while continuing to pursue production efficiency and improved animal health.”
Shepardson grew up on a small farm in New Hampshire and was introduced to the dairy industry while attending the University of New Hampshire to major in biochemistry. “It became apparent to me that a career in biochemistry wasn’t something that I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” said Shepardson. “When a couple of friends were going to take a dairy course, it sounded interesting, so I signed up too. I immediately fell in love with it and started a minor in dairy management. After finishing my undergraduate at UNH, I started grad school at Penn State, eventually receiving my Masters in Animal Science, focused on dairy nutrition.”
As the Northeast Regional Sales Representative, Shepardson is based out of Vermont, and covers New York, New England, and some of Pennsylvania. “Elanco is very much a global company,” said Shepardson. “My main focus in the Northeast is on the farm animal side of the business and is generally dairy related products. I have some conversations around poultry and swine, but dairy is my bread and butter.”
For Elanco and Shepardson, supporting agriculture in the Northeast is an integral part of doing business here. “You want to be supportive of the people that you’re working with,” said Shepardson. “Elanco wants to continue to be involved with agriculture in the Northeast, and believes that you should support the organizations that support nutritionists, dairy farmers, and other agribusiness. NEAFA and the events that they help put together are great opportunities to have discussions with others in the industry that may have different points of views on the best way to support and move agriculture forward. Their events are great learning opportunities.”
For Shepardson, the myriad of different agribusinesses in the Northeast is a boon for the area. “One great thing about working in agriculture in the Northeast is the wide diversity in the size and type of dairies and agribusinesses,” said Shepardson. “There are so many bright and progressive dairies, high quality feed companies and nutrition consultants here. I’m really excited to have great conversations with them at events, to talk about research, to hear what they’re up to. I think that Elanco in general is excited about new technology and research with existing productions and working on new products. We’re looking forward to continue to share information, to innovate, and to help dairies and other agribusinesses improve.”
For more information on Elanco, visit www.elanco.com