Holstein Association USA releases - National Holstein Convention
Holstein Association USA
Holds Exciting National Convention
(press releases provided by Jim Leuenberger)
The atmosphere of the 123rd annual meeting and national convention of Holstein Association USA, held at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., was enthusiastic, festive and upbeat. Excitement for U.S. Registered HolsteinsSM and their owners abounded as 1,800 Holstein enthusiasts participated in the convention.
It is a sign of the times when it comes to the Holstein cow and her Association. As Holstein Association USA Chief Executive Officer John M. Meyer presented in his report, “Our year was highlighted by considerable increases in key areas that measure breed interest and the strength of a dairy breed association. In 2007, your Association registered 317,128 of your animals, a four percent increase over the previous year’s total. It is interesting to note that well over three times as many Holsteins were registered in 2007 than the combined total of all other dairy breeds.”
In his State of the Association address, Meyer pointed out, “The unprecedented growth the Association has seen in program participation, not only in the past year, but over the last five years, is an excellent indication of the value dairy producers see in U.S. Registered Holsteins.” Meyer indicated that over the last five years, registrations have increased by ten percent, the number of cows classified have increased by 16 percent, the number of Holsteins on official production test increased by 20 percent and the number of herds enrolled in the Association’s hallmark program, Holstein COMPLETE, increased 123 percent, while the number of cows enrolled in COMPLETE increased 120 percent.
The Wisconsin native also stated, “These illustrations detail how we have successfully increased our market share in an industry that is getting smaller every day.” Meyer credited the members of the Association for the excellent growth, stating, “What is the real secret of this success? It is you, the members of Holstein Association USA. From our youngest junior member to the oldest adult member, you have supported and participated in the programs your Association offers.”
The demand for U.S. Registered Holsteins continues to soar. The Wisconsin Nationals Sale, managed by Tom Morris LTD, averaged $12,831 on 86 lots.
The Association’s financial strength continues as the year ending December 31, 2007 recognized revenues of $18,064,000, an increase of four percent over 2006. The Association recognized net income of $1,259,000 and an increase in net assets of $499,000.
During the convention, John Bierbaum of Burnsville, Minnesota, director at-large, and Jay Houser of Spring Mills, Pennsylvania, director representing Region II, retired from the Holstein Association board of directors. Elected to replace them are James Burdette of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania in Region II, and Boyd Schaufelberger of Greenville, Illinois as director at-large.
Next year’s Holstein Association USA national convention and annual meeting will be held in Sacramento, Calif. June 26-30.
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Mark and Angie Ulness, Valders, Wis., are Holstein Association USA’s 2008 Distinguished Young Holstein Breeders. They were presented with the award at the recent National Holstein Convention in Wisconsin Dells, Wis.
The Ulness’ have made great strides since taking over their operation in 2002, building a strong foundation for their future with Registered Holsteins based on hard work, careful decision making and strong values.
Both Mark-31 and Angie-30 grew up on Registered Holstein farms in northeast Wisconsin. Mark’s parents, Wally and Ava, established the Ragnar prefix in 1976 and started building their Registered Holstein herd. Angie grew up at Cycle Farms, a fourth-generation Registered Holstein farm, owned by Bill and Clarice Brey and their family.
Mark and Angie were actively involved in 4-H and Junior Holstein activities growing up. Following graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with degrees in Dairy Science, Mark returned to the home farm and Angie was employed by the Holstein Association as a regional field representative from 2000-2005.
Mark and Angie purchased the herd and machinery in May 2002 and were married that September. In October 2003, they purchased the house, buildings and 80 acres and continue to rent the remaining 140 acres.
Herd Management
Considerable improvement has been made in cow comfort and nutrition, which in turn has increased production per cow. The current rolling herd average on twice daily milking is 27,714 pounds of milk, 1,068 pounds of butterfat and 892 pounds of protein on 69 cows.
Breeding Program
Mark and Angie believe in using the best AI sires available to maximize genetic improvement and longevity in their herd. “The sires we use combine high type with high production and do it consistently,” Mark said. “Cows need to have strength, width and depth to allow them to consume large amounts of feed and in turn produce large quantities of milk. And if they do that over several lactations, it allows us to market more animals for dairy replacements.” Sires currently being used at Ragnar include Goldwyn, Shottle, Stormatic, Durham, Linjet, Talent, Damion, Advent, Bolton, and Fortune.
Productive Life (PL) is another tool used to help enhance the longevity of the herd. “Just in our herd, we’ve seen that daughters of bulls with high PL ratings matured gracefully and lived long, trouble-free lives while those from low PL sires often left the herd at a young age or were high maintenance animals,” Mark said.
Over the past six years, Mark and Angie have been working on developing cow families and improving profitability. “We are working on building pedigrees with Very Good and Excellent cows that have the ability to produce large amounts of milk over the course of their lifetimes,” Mark said.
“The ultimate goal of our breeding program is to breed a well-respected herd, consign animals to sales with our prefix that will have a positive impact on other people’s herds, breed an animal that will compete well at national shows and be nominated All- American, and to develop a cow family and merchandising program that will have international demand,” Angie said. “Having Registered Holsteins has allowed us to sell our genetics at a premium, resulting in extra income we have put toward paying down loans, reinvesting in new cow families and making capital investments on the farm,” she added. The Holstein COMPLETE program has saved the Ulness’ money on the many Holstein Association USA programs and products they use to market their genetics effectively.
The Ragnar herd has received the Holstein Progressive Breeders Registry Award for the past 15 years. Many of the top cows in the herd trace back to Ragnar Linjet Callie EX-93-3E-GMD-DOM, the granddam of the first bull they sent to AI. The herd’s current BAA is 108.9, with 14 cows scored Excellent, 29 Very Good and 21 Good Plus. Six cows have been named Gold Medal Dams and six cows in the herd have produced over 200,000 pounds of milk in their lifetime.
Industry Involvement
Mark and Angie are highly involved in the dairy industry and their local community, serving on national, state and local committees. In February, they received the Wisconsin Holstein Association Distinguished Young Holstein Breeder Award.
Working with and developing Registered Holsteins is the passion of Mark and Angie. They believe their investment in classification, milk testing, registration, buying higher value semen, embryo transfer, advertising and having a Web site (www.holsteinworld.com/ragnar) will pay off over time. They also see their time spent in the Registered Holstein industry as being beneficial. “Being a part of the Registered Holstein industry has given us the chance to meet many people and develop many friendships,” Angie said. “We cherish the time we spend with breeders who share the same goals and passion we do.”
Both Mark and Angie want to raise their family like they were raised, giving their three children, Clarissa-4, Garrett-3 and Whitney-8 months, the opportunity to experience many of the “life lessons” on the farm and fun activities involving Registered Holsteins as they did. “We strive to raise our children to be honest and hard working, and to have fun and dream big,” Mark and Angie said. “By paying close attention to the things we can control, and with luck on our side, we can do what we love to do everyday – work with Registered Holsteins successfully.”