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MILLSBORO, Del. (March 5, 2004) - Intervet Inc., one of the world's leading animal-health companies, announced at the recent World Ag Expo that it is bringing Dr. Tom Shultz and his dairy expertise out of retirement and back to dairy producers in Central California.

As Intervet's consultant to dairy producers in Tulare County, Calif., and its surrounding areas, Shultz will be in the field on a regular basis to address herd systems issues and train dairy employees in the following areas:

• Applied dairy nutrition and feeding management
  
• Animal facility planning and animal stress behavior
  
• Manure and manure water utilization planning and environmental impacts
  
• Nuisance insect control
  
• Milk quality control and labor training for milkers
  
• Dairy herd improvement records and integrated dairy management

Prior to his position with Intervet, Dr. Shultz served for 22 years as a dairy specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) in Tulare County, helping to grow the area's dairy businesses. Dr. Shultz also spent six years working on the family dairy and two years at the University of California, Davis, dairy research farm, and he was an animal nutrition professor and researcher for 11 years at Central University of Venezuela. In addition, he is fluent in Spanish, and his work has been published in English and Spanish in numerous animal-science journals.

"It is ironic that the top milk-producing county in California has been without dairy extension support since Dr. Shultz's retirement in 2001," said Jim Graber, Intervet dairy marketing manager. "We felt it was time to bring Dr. Shultz back to the area as a consultant and to help Tulare County dairy producers continue to be successful."

According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, California ranked first among milk-producing states in 2002. Within California, Tulare County ranked first among all milk-producing counties, producing 26 percent of the state's milk.

"I am excited to get back into the field and provide assistance to dairy producers in the Tulare County area," said Dr. Shultz. "I think the available employee-training programs are going to be extremely beneficial to participating dairies in Central California."

Producers can request an employee-training meeting with Dr. Tom Shultz - in English and/or Spanish - by contacting their Intervet sales representative, by calling 559-636-8810 or by e-mailing Dr. Shultz at tomshultz@comcast.net.

At the World Ag Expo, Intervet also hosted an informational dairy seminar entitled "Short-and Long-Term Management: It's More Than Milk Volume." David M. Sousa, certified public accountant and owner of Sousa and Company in Tulare, Calif., outlined dairy economic strategies to help attendees reach long-term business objectives. Sousa, who provides financial services and advice to more than 70 dairies located in multiple states, encouraged producers to:

• Plan ahead. Your actions today should help to prepare your family business for profitability 30 years from now.
  
• Know your production costs and put together a management team that is going to help you set the stage for profitability 20 or 30 years from now.
  
• Take action to ensure your lender is going to be able to support your business 10 years from now.
  
• Talk to advisers who can help you manage areas of your business in which you may not have expertise.
  
• Stay on top of your game. Take a look at successful businesses and learn from their practices.

"Intervet wants to demonstrate its commitment to the dairy industry, not only through its extensive line of animal-health products, such as NeoGuard(TM) and Safe-Guard(R), and services like the Parasite Evaluation program, but also by bringing experts like Dr. Shultz and David Sousa directly to dairy producers," said Graber.

For more information about Intervet or its products, please call 1-800-441-8272.

Intervet Inc. (www.intervetusa.com) is an affiliate of Intervet International, one of the world's leading animal-health companies and currently ranked third among global animal health suppliers. The company is a leader in research and is dedicated to the development, production and marketing of innovative, high-quality animal-health products, such as Safe-Guard(R), Vision(R), Titanium(R), Fertagyl(R), Chorulon(R), GAINPRO(R) and NeoGuard(TM). Intervet International employs more than 4,800 personnel and maintains a global distribution network of subsidiary companies and agents in 120 countries.