Holstein World: As the General Manager of a National Show (Spring Dairy Expo), what challenges have you faced with the changing book of ethics and how do you properly implement and carry out an effective and efficient testing procedure that is fair to all exhibitors?

Seth Johnson: Ethics enforcement has certainly come to the forefront of issues facing National Shows in recent years. We have a somewhat unique situation in Ohio in that the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) is in charge of all ethics enforcement and show management is not directly involved in the testing or any disciplinary actions. However, we do work closely with ODA to ensure that the testing and procedures used are reasonable and will be acceptable to the exhibitors. Lining up to wait for an ultrasound or having hair measured is never convenient, but we try to make it as pain-free as possible. I think as each National Show has added additional ethics testing procedures, there have been some growing pains in the process, but overall, I think that we are able to run a clean show where exhibitors feel confident showing on a level playing field. It was dissappointing to see decreased participation when ethics testing was first added to our show many years ago, but I think that we still present a show with tremendous quality. We had 245 Holsteins and 150 Jerseys in 2006, one of our largest shows ever, and we look forward to even better things in 2007.

Holstein World: What elements of marketing does the American Guernsey Association provide for its members? What things have worked well and been the most beneficial to the membership?

Seth Johnson: Through Guernsey Marketing Service, the AGA essentially provides full service in marketing from private treaty sales to herd dispersals to annual consignment sales. We manage five consignment sales each year and assist with another four. Since there are no commercial entities that specialize in marketing Guernseys, we feel that it is important to provide this service to our members so that they feel confident that public sales are being conducted with the highest integrity and that there is continuity in the effort to market high-quality animals from year to year. I think that buyers and sellers trust that they will be treated fairly by the AGA.

Our marketing activity also allows us to directly work with the many individuals that call the AGA looking to purchase Guernsey cattle or embryos. We have been very active in marketing embryos in recent years. We help facilitate everything from the sale to shipping/delivery of the embryos to make sure the buyers are happy and successful with their purchases. There aren”t Guernseys for sale in every town, so we try to be a clearinghouse where people can call and we can send them in the right direction to find what they are looking for or actually go find it for them.

Holstein World: Share with our readers a little bit about your background. What experiences and achievements have brought you to your position as Executive Secretary?

Seth Johnson: I grew up in Rhode Island. My family has a greenhouse operation and a florist shop. Although nobody in my family has a dairy farm, I showed Ayrshires in 4-H and was very active in FFA. I graduated with a degree in Dairy Science from Virginia Tech in 1995. My participation in the Dairy Club of Virginia Tech and the judging team there were extremely valuable experiences that really opened my eyes to the opportunities that were available in the dairy industry. I started two weeks after college graduation with the American Guernsey Association. During my first four years I traveled almost all the time, scoring cows for Guernsey, Brown Swiss and Milking Shorthorn and working primarily with the AGA marketing and young sire programs. In 1999, I was offered the Executive Secretary job after my boss resigned to milk cows with his family in Wisconsin. I was only 25 when I took this position, but I tried to learn from those that had been involved in the Guernsey breed for far longer than I had and those in similar positions in the industry.

This week, we”re visiting with the Executive Secretary-Treasurer and General Manager of the American Guernsey Association, Seth Johnson.  The association is based in Reynoldsburg, OH, and publishes a very informative and colorful monthly publication, The Guernsey Breeders” Journal.

Holstein World:  What are the current stats of the American Guernsey Association - approximate number of members, cows, etc.?  What are the key responsibilities of the association to its members?

Seth Johnson:  We have about 200 herds participating in our performance programs (TPE) and
have just finished up our second consecutive year with increased registrations, finishing with 5,224 in 2006. We have also just finished a strong year financially, ending up solidly in the black. We have approximately 750 active members nationwide with the largest concentration being in Wisconsin.

Our main mission is to promote and advance the Guernsey breed in the U.S. To do this, we are active in marketing cattle, organizing young sire sampling programs, youth programs and general promotion of the breed. Essentially, we try to do all that we can to allow our members to be successful in their ownership of Guernseys. Our most basic job, of course, is to work to maintain the integrity and accuracy of the pedigree records of the Association. Due to the smaller size of our membership, we work hard to try to give each member as much individual and personal service as we can. As the value of high-component milk has increased nationwide, we have seen our members being more successful and increased interest in working with Guernseys from others.

Holstein World: Where does Trans Ova Genetics see the future of cloning headed? What kind of an impact will it have on the Holstein genetics business? With the FDA statement, will the popularity of animal cloning increase?

Trans Ova Genetics: We see cloning as the next step in a continuum of advanced reproductive technologies available for cattle breeders. If one studies the impact of A.I., ET, and now IVF with sexed semen and frozen embryos, all have had or are having a significant impact on dairy producers’ business. Cloning certainly could represent the next step in this advancement of reproductive technology.

We do expect the interest in and application of cloning to increase. However, even now, cloning will remain a technology suited exclusively for the most elite tier of genetics, and cloned individuals will represent only a fraction of a percentage of tomorrow’s cattle breeding foundation. Cloning technology could help breeders produce significantly more embryos/offspring from the same genetic source. And, A.I. companies and bull owners could produce more semen from their most popular bulls, which may not be able to keep up with demand for their genetic influence. Cloning technology also can benefit breeders interested in using the genetics of cows or bulls that may have been lost before their true genetic merit is known.

Holstein World: Do you have any additional comments you’d like to provide?

Trans Ova Genetics: For breeders interested in cloning technology but perhaps not ready to make the investment, a genetic preservation is a great place to start. This first step in the cloning process involves cryogenically preserving a cell line of the animal, which can be used to start the cloning process at any time in the future. Many breeders who have done this see it as a form of insurance on their valuable animals.

Holstein World: Walk us through the basic cloning process – beginning with genetic preservation of the animal and leading up to the clone’s first month of life.

Trans Ova Genetics: A clone is a genetic twin of the original (donor) animal. The donor provides the tissue sample from which a cell line is made. The clone has the exact same DNA – genetic material – as the donor. There is no genetic manipulation (genetic engineering or modification) involved.

Trans Ova Genetics starts the process by obtaining cells from the donor animal to be cloned. We prefer to use an ear biopsy, including the cartilage found within the ear.

This sample is deconstructed into small pieces and put into culture media designed to reproduce copies of the diploid cells of the animal. Diploid cells contain two sets of chromosomes, one set from the animal’s dam, and one set from the sire. These cells are cultured for two weeks, or until there is a significant amount of cells to be frozen down. They are placed into multiple storage vials and are then frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen. At least 20 million cells are frozen per sample. These cells can be re-cultured at any time to produce more cells, thus creating an infinite supply of cells from the donor animal. This alone is a genetic preservation, the first step in cloning.

To continue the cloning process, one vial of cells will be thawed. These cells will be placed individually into an oocyte (egg) that has been obtained from a host cow’s ovaries. The nucleus – which includes the DNA – of this oocyte has been removed. Without the nuclear material, the cell is basically cytoplasm. The diploid cell from the donor animal is inserted along side this cytoplasm within the shell of the oocyte. An electrical current is then passed through the media containing the oocyte, and the diploid cell fuses to the cytoplasm, a process know as electro fusion. The diploid cell, containing the original animal’s DNA, will now cleave and divide - like a conventionally created embryo would - and develop into a seven to eight day old embryo.

Then, the embryo is transferred into a synchronized, health-certified recipient cow. The resulting cloned calf will have identical DNA to the original animal that contributed the cell line. The calves will be genetically identical to the original animal; however, they may differ slightly in appearance. In Holsteins, for example, the color patterns will not be identical.

Holstein World: Describe Trans Ova Genetics’ experience with cloning technology. Share with us the benefits and drawbacks, if any, that producers should be aware of.

Trans Ova Genetics: Trans Ova Genetics has produced more than 600 cloned calves in the past seven years, the vast majority of them for pharmaceutical research purposes. In 2006, 70 cloned calves were born for dairy and beef breeder clients; we are expecting more than 200 in 2007. About 140 clients have created genetic preservations, or cell lines, of one or more of their elite animals. A genetic preservation is the first step in cloning. One to two percent of Trans Ova Genetics’ client base have actually taken the next step and created clones from these preserved cell lines, representing the most elite genetics in the industry.

While the cost of cloning can be a drawback to some breeders, having a genetic twin of a valuable animal can be priceless, especially if that original animal dies or loses reproductive ability early in its career. Being able to further propagate that animal’s genetics can be enormously beneficial. Another consideration is that like other reproductive technologies, success is not always assured, and we’ve learned that certain cell lines are better producers of cloned offspring than others.

Holstein World: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently released a study that concludes meat and milk from cloned animals is in fact safe for human consumption. What is Trans Ova Genetics’ stance on this subject of global concern? What is the reasoning behind producers” decision to clone their animals?

Trans Ova Genetics: The FDA’s study and statement are exactly what we have expected. Confirming the safety of meat and milk produced from clones and their offspring is a milestone in the advancement of breeding and developing superior genetics, whether for food production or breeding stock. The most elite, upper-tier of the genetic pyramid will be the most likely cloning candidates, allowing the influence of those genetics to impact other herds striving to improve milk and meat production.

Cloning is a tool that Trans Ova Genetics offers progressive, responsible breeders. This technology can be an effective part of a strategic breeding program, allowing the extension of elite genetics for embryo and semen production that will help breeders to further leverage the lifespan and generational influence of their very best genetics.

Holstein World: More information about Trans Ova and their cloning technology can be found on their website, www.transova.com.

Holstein World: Share with our readers some background information about Trans Ova Genetics. Company history, location, employees, mission, services, etc.

Trans Ova Genetics: In 1980, Trans Ova Genetics began as a premier “on-farm” embryo transfer (ET) service organization as an extension of a large-animal veterinary practice. Because the interest in and application of ET technology rapidly grew, Trans Ova Genetics expanded with an “in-clinic” facility to house donor cows and recipients to meet the growing needs of beef and dairy cattle producers.

Today, Trans Ova Genetics still offers industry-leading ET services, in addition to advanced reproductive technologies, including in-vitro fertilization (IVF), sexed semen, genetic preservation and cloning. Trans Ova Genetics is the only company to use semen-sorting together with IVF to help breeders get more calves – of the sex of the breeder’s choice - from their special donor cows.

Trans Ova Genetics is headquartered in Sioux Center, Iowa, with three other main centers and several day-clinic facilities across the U.S. In total, these facilities represent around 1,200 donor spaces. The company employs approximately 130 people, with 80 based in Sioux Center. Emily Miller is the dairy sales manager, and Diane Broek is the cloning technology product manager; both can be contacted at 1-800-999-3586. More information can be found at www.transova.com.

If you”re in the winter doldrums after the holidays, and you”re wishing for a good cattle show you could attend to pick your spirits up-think Fort Worth, TX!  The weather is usually mild, and the show is enthusiastically attended by spectators and exhibitors alike from several states to get an early test of the competition for the year to come.  Youth will kick off the dairy schedule with the Southwest Intercollegiate, 4-H and FFA Dairy Cattle Judging contest on Sunday, January 14th, while the dairy breed shows begin on Monday January 15th with the Texas State Brown Swiss and Guernsey shows, then the Jersey show and later in the afternoon, the Holsteins.  On Tuesday January 16th the Junior shows are scheduled.  Fort Worth Livestock Show and Rodeo began in 1896 and in 2007 runs from January 12th through February 4th. It will host some 22,000 animals including rabbits, lamas, goats,horses, beef and dairy cattle. It’’s a huge exposition with four acres of shopping, a variety of food and activities as only the state of Texas can host! It’’s a great competitive show and a welcome respite if you are seeking a cure for the winter blues and can get away for a couple of days! Can”t get away?  Check our website for show results!