When Paul Amundson resigned as assistant farm manager at the ISU Dairy Farm, he left a position that Mike Taylor is now happy to fill.

Amundson left in November 1999 for a position at a start-up dairy farm in Indiana that will be milking 2,600 cows by the summer, said farm manager Jay Beck.

“We were looking for a person that fit into specific criteria to fill the open position,” Beck said.

They found it in Taylor, a 1999 ISU graduate in dairy science. He took over the position Feb. 1.

Taylor first started working at the ISU Dairy Farm in August 1996 as a student employee and then began working full time as the evening milker in June 1998.

He said the job opening was good for him because he would eventually like to be a herd manager. However, Taylor knew he would have to start out as an assistant.

“This is what I went to school for. I like it a lot, especially since the hours are much better,” Taylor said. “I do miss milking the cows, though.”

Beck said Taylor will have different duties now as assistant farm manager. He is in charge of student labor, including employee evaluations and assignment of daily tasks. Then Taylor takes care of the day-to-day operations of the farm. Finally, his duties include giving lectures and taking care of tour groups.

“There is a tour scheduled for a group of first- through fourth-graders on March 9. I’m really looking forward to it,” Taylor said.

For Taylor, a typical day at work is not very typical. As the assistant farm manager, he has a few set duties, but most of the time he just takes care of the daily chores.

Taylor said he has a lot of ideas for changes and improvements for the farm.

“I would like to make the place look a lot better than it does, but fixing things up takes money. There is a shortage of that everywhere,” he said.

There are also some formalities Taylor said he would like to see improved.

“I would also like to change the system of job evaluations and raises for student employees. I have a lot of ideas, but they need to be run by Jay,” he said.

Beck said he is searching for a candidate to fill the milking position Taylor left open. He will be interviewing applicants this week.