Lithuanian representatives attended World Dairy Expo.

Madison Vilnius Sister Cities has been working to invite delegates from Lithuania to the World Dairy Expo, an international agricultural exposition held annually in Madison with an average attendance of 60,000. This year, thanks to efforts by MVSC vice-president Gediminas Vidugiris, this goal has been accomplished.

Four delegates arrived on October 1 to attend the Expo: Drs. Girmantas Gumauskas, Jonas Gutauskas, Jonas Kutra, and Vilius Ziogas. Besides attending the Expo, with its many exhibits and events, the delegates were invited to an International Night sponsored by WDE at the Madison Concourse Hotel. They were also taken to tour the Accelerated Genetics facility in Westby, Wisconsin, to visit a Wisconsin farm, and attend a banquet given by Accelerated Genetics and World Wide Sires Ltd., a bovine breeding corporation with branches in Lithuania. They were guests on a tour of the University of Wisconsin's Department of Dairy Science by Ric Grummer, Ph.D,, Professor and Department Chair. And they were able to visit the headquarters of Promega Corporation, a worldwide leader in biochemistry and molecular biology, where Gediminas Vidugiris is a senior research scientist.

On a more social level, members of the MVSC Board of Directors introduced them to Madison's unique Willy Street neighborhood with a dinner at the Ban Dung Indonesian Restaurant. This was followed by an event hosted by MVSC at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Monona Terrace Convention Center, on the shores of Madison's beautiful Lake Monona. MVSC President Daina Zemliauskaite Juozeviciene introduced the four delegates, who then presented a talk on "Lithuanian Agriculture: Past, Present, and Future".
Dr. Girmantas Gumauskas, DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) recently earned his degree in veterinarian sciences from the Lithuanian Veterinary Academy (LVA), where he is now in his residency in their department of Veterinary Obstetrics as well as working as a veterinarian at the Padovinio Agricultural Company. He described the activities of the Padovinio enterprise, a large private dairy cooperative.

Dr. Jonas Gutauskas, Ph.D. graduated from the Lithuanian University of Agriculture (LUA) as an agronomist and holds an Agricultural Science Doctoral degree. Dr. Gutauskas heads the UAB Agrolitpa, providing project management and consulting services, specializing in forage grass seed production, pasture management, and dairy farming. His presentation focused on the place of forage production in Lithuanian agriculture.

Dr. Jonas Kutra, DVM, Ph.D. graduated from the Lithuanian Veterinary Academy as a Veterinary Doctor and holds a doctorate in biomedical sciences/biology. In addition to his academic career at the Lithuanian Veterinary Institute of Animal Science, Dr. Kutra acts as distributor for World Wide Sires Ltd. (USA) in Lithuania. He spoke on his areas of expertise – animal reproduction biology, embryo transplantation and sperm cryoconservation.

Dr. Vilius Ziogas, DVM graduated from the Lithuanian Veterinary Academy in 2000. Along with his private veterinarian practice, Dr. Ziogas administers a 350 hectare family organic farm with 230 animals from which 110 are milking cows, producing over 8700kg of milk per annual lactic cycle. His is one of the few organic farms now starting up in Lithuania. He spoke on the complexity, the range and the benefits of organic farming.

All of the delegates spoke in English, with translation where necessary by Dr. Jonas Juozevicius. An open and candid question-and-answer period was followed by refreshments and socializing with the four charming guests.

Following their stay in Madison, the delegates spent a week-end in Chicago before flying home. MVSC hopes this is only the beginning of a long-standing association amongst Lithuanian agriculturalists, the WDE, and the University of Wisconsin.