Daniela González Carranza

• Field and focus area of study: Animal Science, Dairy Business Management 
• Hometown: Mexico City 
• Fun fact: When I was 12 years old, I met Pelé (the soccer player)

What were you doing prior to the MPS degree program?

I was working in a dairy farm as a veterinarian. I also worked with small dairy farms around the community providing basic services, like artificial insemination, calving emergencies, treatments, etc. 

What are your short-term and long-term career goals?

Short-term is to get more involved with extension work. I think extension gives you the opportunity to look at a lot of dairy farms and learn from all their differences. Long term is to go back to Mexico and work as an independent consultant.

How has your MPS experience changed you, both personally and professionally?

I have changed for the better in all ways. Personally by adapting to a new country. Professionally I feel so much more prepared and encouraged to take on new challenges, as well as purpose-driven.

What’s a typical day like for you as a Dairy Business Management MPS student?

My daily routine involves a lot of lectures and office-work, working through assignments, my capstone project, and courses. Every week I have one laboratory practice in the Teaching Dairy Barn, and I enjoy spending time with the animals. Depending on the week, we have case studies that involve spending the weekend in a different part of the New York State (or even another state) evaluating a dairy. It’s a really intense weekend where you have to figure out all the aspects of just one dairy and implement practical solutions according to their objectives.

How has pursuing an MPS helped your understanding of Dairy Business Management? The future of Dairy Business Management? 

The MPS was perfect because I was able to learn about nutrition, business, herd management, reproduction, economy, and dairy markets. I think the future is bright for dairy. It's impossible to be an expert in all areas, however if you understand how it all interacts then you will have a better understanding of the whole picture.

Share about your capstone project. What are you focused on?

My capstone project is about evaluating the financial feasibility for a small dairy farm to acquire an Automated Health Monitoring system through a partial budget. How is the addition of this type of technology going to change the net farm income? What areas are going to change and how will they change? I look forward to evaluating this for different farms in the future and taking it to different technologies, like robot parlors.