Dave Seibert Animal Systems Educator for University of Illinois Extension in the East Peoria Extension Center provides technical support and leadership to livestock producers, commodity organizations, agribusiness, and youth. Since 1974, he has served the livestock industry in more than 60 counties in Central Illinois.
Seibert grew up in St. Clair County on a livestock and grain farm. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's in animal industries (with emphasis in Pork Production) from Southern Illinois University. He has taken postgraduate studies at the University of Illinois.
Seibert is one of a few individuals who have served the University of Illinois on several levels. Since joining the staff on August 1968, Seibert has worked on the county level (Assistant & Associate Extension Advisor in McDonough County), area/regional level (Area Livestock Advisor and Animal Systems Educator working out of Peoria), and campus based Department level (serving as Assistant and Associate Animal Scientist with the Department of Animal Sciences while managing the Swine Nutrition Research Farm in Urbana-Champaign).
Seibert specializes in livestock evaluation for composition, breeding programs and population genetics, improving management practices, efficient forage utilization, and consumer selection and utilization of meats. He has initiated such livestock programs as the Area Cow-Calf Field Days, Area Beef Cattle Seminars, Area Swine Seminars, and Illinois Swine Environmental Assurance Series. He is very active in the youth livestock program by initiating the Regional Meats Judging Workshops/Contest, Superior Young Producers Awards program and Quality Assurance and Ethics Clinics. For many years, he has served as Manager of the Illinois Performance Tested Bull Sale and Superintendent of the Illinois State Fair Junior Beef Show.
He provides assistance to the livestock industry via contacts made through e-mail, office calls, farm visits or presentations at seminars and field days.
International Involvement and Programming
For many years Seibert and his family has been involved in International work. This was initiated over 20 years ago when his family hosted from two weeks to six months four exchange students through Rotary International and IFEC. Two of the students were from Belgium, and one each from Switzerland and Chili.
This involvement resulted in his daughters traveling for additional schooling in Australia, Germany, and Britain and employment taking another daughter to India for 28 weeks during the past two years.
Over the past several years Seibert has visited and mainly studied the beef cattle industry in Mexico, Australia, Germany, Austria, Brazil, Ukraine, Argentina and Uruguay. His plans are to continue traveling until retirement and make a return trip back to Argentina in 2008 and visit New Zealand in 2009.
Upon returning to the United States after each trip Seibert has shared his experiences in Power Point presentations to sixty-two groups consisting of 2,573 individuals.
