The California State Holstein Convention kicked off on Thursday, January 29th. The convention is being held at John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks, Nevada, just a few minutes from Reno, “The Biggest Little City in the World.”

Senior members started off the convention program with a very welcoming host night. We were treated to a fabulous and culinaraly delightful dinner buffet followed by the Convention ET Choice and Embryo Sale. Host night was truly a classy event from the food to the ambiance of the spacious ballroom. Senior members enjoyed meeting up with old friends and fraternizing about their passion, the Holstein cow.

California’s vibrant and active Junior Holstein Association kicked off their convention activities earlier in the day with scholarship and award interviews, their prepared public speaking contest and dairy bowl test. Their evening began with a Junior Holstein Association Meeting. Following a day packed with important business the juniors were entertained to a yummy pizza party and a very exciting Bingo Bash! The juniors had a ball, hanging out with friends and winning lots of fun bingo prizes.

Day two of the convention starts today, Friday, January 30th, with a jam packed schedule of events for Senior and Junior members alike. We will share more updates and award winning with you as they are announced.
~Carolina Evangelo reporting

During Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 350 NY Junior Holstein Association members filled the Radison Hotel in Corning, NY for an exciting weekend of contests, meetings, awards and more!

Saturday night participants could head just down the street from the hotel to an indoor/outdoor ice skating rink. It was COLD, but fun!!!

“My group” from the OnWego Jr. Holstein Club at the rink! Club advisors are Trish Rohe and Kelly Driver.

My turn to brag! Here’s “my” two junior dairy bowl teams from OnWego. Of course, wouldn’t you know it they would end up having to play each other in the elimination bracket after both winning two and losing one match! They were so evenly matched at the end of the toss-up round they were tied! This picture was snapped after the extra 5 “over-time” question -can you tell by the faces who won?

It was standing-room-only for the Dairy Bowl Finals Sunday afternoon! In the Junior division Oneida beat Wyoming and in the Seniors division NIOGA was victorious over Allegany–Stueben.

Here is the out-going NYJHA Executive Committee with their advisors, Patsy Gifford and Sara Van Orden, as well this year’s Honorary NY Junior Holstein Members – five very active county Jr. advisors – Cathy Galley, Kelly Driver, Shirley Hudyncia, Kathy Hanehan and Regina Lundy.

The 2009 New York Distinguished Junior Members – Katie Hanehan and Katie Donnan.

Last week I got to travel down to Corning, NY for the NY All-Breeds Convention. While the temperature outside hovered right around zero, I was greeted inside by lots of warm, smiling faces welcoming me back to NY!

The scene from the ET Sale.

The top seller in the NY Convention ET Sale was a 1st Choice Alexandaer female from Ste-Pen Shottle Winemall-ET, a VG-88 Shottle from the same maternal family as Sanchez. Pictured here is Steve & Penny Bishop, Steve Vail, and Jesse Holmes consignors, Mark Henning and Tom Murray, buyers, and Horace Backus.

Bob’s Brother’s Band played at the Merial post-sale reception. Bob’s brother is John Barrett – husband the Holstein World’s Janice Barrett!

Joel Hastings, President of DairyBusiness Communications, introduced the AFACT speaker at the Protein Breeds Luncheon. Also presented at the Protein Breeds luncheon was an overview of the year for NY Ayrshire breeders, a informative virtual tour of some of upstate NY’s Brown Swiss herds, and information from the NY Jersey breeders about the upcoming National Jersey Convention that will be in Syracuse this year!

At the Awards banquet Friday night, Jeff King presented the Outstanding Young Breeders award to Bill & Neil Peck of Welcome Stock Farm (Neil couldn’t make it because of the extreme cold). Bill accepts the award here with his oldest son.

Alan Danforth, pictured here with his wife Rosalie, was honored with the Friend of NY Holstein award.

Good friends Charlie McEvoy (Master Breeder) and Gary Culbertson (Retired Master Breeder) celebrate and congratulate each other afterwards!

Tracy Walker of Walk-Era Farms sent us this children’s story she wanted us to share with all of you! Below is her brief description, followed by the story.

“I am hoping you can take a moment to read my children’s story that follows.  I strongly think this story is unique and would be loved by all those little farm children and their parents.

I was born and raised in the central valley of California. When I was 6 my mom hand wrote and illustrated a little book called “A Brandy Story.”  It was about two little calves named Barbie and Bobby who liked to get into mischief.

In 1996 my father purchased a young cow from Walk-Era Farms, located just outside Wisconsin Dells.  Little did I know this show cow would have such a major impact on my life.  She brought my future husband and I together, as his family farm bred the cow.  I also found myself moving 2000 miles away from all my family and everything that was familiar. My husband Tim still farms with his father and brothers at Walk-Era Farms.  Tim and I have two little girls- Gracie 6 and Libby 3 1/2.  My oldest has always loved having someone tell her stories.  Two years ago I brought my mother’s story back to life.

One night I told Gracie “The Brandy Story.”  She loved it and wanted to hear more.  At night I would quickly think up a new story and life lesson for the two little calves.  The enclosed story is one of them.”

A BARBIE AND BOBBY STORY- THE NEW HEIFER
By Tracy Walker

Along the central coast in California, there was a dairy.  And on this dairy lived two calves, Barbie and Bobby, along with their mother, Brandy.

Barbie and Bobby were happy calves.  They had a big pasture with rolling green hills.  They loved taking naps under the old oak trees and playing chase as the cool ocean breezes blew through their black and white hair.

One day while grazing they noticed all the mothers huddled together talking.  Barbie asked Bobby, “What do you suppose they’re talking about?”  “I don’t know.” replied Bobby.  “Probably just mommy stuff.  You know, like who milked the most last week and who’s been named Big Bossy.”  Barbie thought a minute, “No this is something BIG.  Really BIG.  I must find out what they’re talking about.”

At first, Barbie tried to jump as high as she could to see over the big mama cows.  But she could only jump as high as the tops of their udders.  She then decided to squeeze her little head in between their legs.  There, she was able to hear perfectly, and her eyes grew very large as she listened.

She hurried back to tell Bobby the news.  Trying to catch her breath, she said,  “Bobby, Bobby!  Dairyman Bob bought a GIANT!”  “What!?” asked Bobby.  “A giant heifer,” explained Barbie.  “She’s from a far off land called Wisconsin.  Her family is FAMOUS and she’s SIX FEET TALL.  He paid a guzillion dollars for her!”

Bobby did not believe his sister’s tall tale.  He decided to ask his mother, who was drinking out of a near-by water trough.  “Mama. what’s this about a giant heifer coming to our dairy?”  Brandy informed her calves that, yes, a new heifer was coming.  “She does come from a well known family in the midwest.  She is tall for her age but she’s not a giant.  I want you to be extra nice to her.  She will be a long way from home and may be homesick.”  “But Mama,”  Barbie whined, “do we have to?  I’m not going to like her.  What if she makes fun of us.  What if she’s a big MEANY.  What if I can’t understand her Wisconsin accent!”  Brandy reassured her little ones.  “Now, now, don’t worry yourself to death.  Remember, you shouldn’t judge someone until you really get to know them.”

The next day Barbie and Bobby saw a big shiny red semi truck coming up the long gravel driveway.  Behind the truck was a long silver trailer.  “It’s HER,”moaned Barbie.  Come on, let’s get a peek.”  The two calves ran as fast as they could, and as they were running along the fence, all they could see were two big bright eyes peering through the rectangle shaped openings.

The truck pulled up to the barn and Dairyman Bob came out to greet the driver.  They exchanged some papers and the driver walked to the back of the trailer and swung open the door.  The smell of sawdust rolled out.  Barbie and Bobby watched with great anticipation.  The driver led out the most beautiful and elegant white heifer the calves had ever seen.  She had very long legs.  Her hair was clipped short and it was as white as the clouds above.  The breeze blew through her very fluffy tail.  “I think I’m in love,”  Bobby mumbled softly.  With her head held high the new heifer gracefully glided down the ramp.

Barbie started to feel insecure.  She noticed the green grass stains on her knees.  She discovered manure stains under her belly and on her legs and her little tail lay limp.  Her hair was shaggy and well…she felt like a common grade.

The driver handed the lead strap to Dairyman Bob and said, “Nice doing business with you,” then got in his truck and headed back down the road.  Dairyman Bob led the heifer to the pasture gate.  “Welcome to your new home,”  he said as he slid the halter off her head.

Barbie and Bobby watched her slowly pace around the pasture, sniffing her new surroundings.  “I think we should introduce ourselves,”  suggested Bobby, who was a little love struck.  Barbie replied, “Ok, but let’s not embarrass ourselves.”  Bobby agreed, “Right.”

Bobby puffed out his chest and strutted over to the new heifer.  In a deep manly voice he said, “Hi, there little lady.  My name is Roberto.  I’m the BIG MAN in the herd.  If there’s anything you need just call on me.”  With a confused look, the new heifer looked down at Bobby and answered, “Okay, thank you.  My name is Baelyn.”

Barbie, who was still jealous, decided she was going to make her grand entrance.  She stretched up tall, carried her head as high as she could, and tried to copy Baelyn’s graceful walk.  “My name is Ocean Farms Royalty Barbie.  I come from a family of five generations of Excellents.”  “No you don’t!” Bobby corrected his sister.

Just then Baelyn hung her head low.  “What’s the matter?” Asked Bobby.  Baelyn explained how she was nervous and how she really missed her family and her old farm.  She even missed her grassy hay and her cozy box stall.  “Things are so different here.  I feel so alone.”

Barbie’s jealously quickly turned to sympathy and compassion.  The two calves felt very sorry for Baelyn and wanted to comfort her.  “I have an idea,” said Barbie “When we get sad, we talk to our mommy. She always makes us feel better.  Since you can’t be with your mommy, we’ll share ours with you.  Let’s go see her.”  “I would like that,”  Baelyn said with a smile and they walked off into the sunset toward Brandy.

After the sun went down, they layed down under the big bright stars.  Brandy comforted Baelyn with her motherly ways and Baelyn soon fell fast asleep.  Baelyn was so exhausted from her long journey.  Brandy whispered to her little calves, “I’m so proud of you two.  You learned a valuable lesson.”

From that day on Brandy treated Baelyn as if she was her own.  Barbie and Bobby ended up with a new best friend, and everyday over a nice flake of hay, they loved hearing Baelyn’s stories about what it was like to live in the midwest.

THE END.

We all realize that we’re facing tough times in the dairy industry lately, but not much can compare to the trying “weather” times of Washington State. Holstein World contributor Ann Marie Magnochi lives in the middle of the excitement and has posted many of the flood pictures at the following links on her Facebook account:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57263&l=1c596&id=524668095
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57274&l=dae5d&id=524668095

Here are a few to give you an idea of the magnitude of the flooding…

And in her own words, Ann Marie retells the tale of dealing with the disruption of everyday life:

“We knew the high water was coming, and since we had water in the barns in November, pretty much everything was picked up to stay dry already (so we thought). The main concern was the animals and the feed. We hauled out heifers and calves Tuesday afternoon and night to neighboring farms in the valley that don’t get water, leaving just the milk cows and dry cows on the farm. There’s a field across the highway from the barns that during the worst flood recorded has stayed half dry. (That’s where we ran everyone during the Nov. flood) The water was predicted to be high enough to get in the barns by 4 o’clock Wednesday night. So, we milked late that morning, thinking we would run the cows across the road to the high field, and hopefully be milking Thursday night, or Friday morning.

Some neighbors brought trucks and got all the hay out Wed night, except for about 75 bales we left on a trailer in the barn.

We went back to check on the cows at 8:30 Wed night, and they weren’t in high spot of the field. We couldn’t find them, and were rather scared about trying to get through the flood waters to the barn to check the other end of the field. We were also very concerned that the “high” part of the field was nearly gone, and the river wasn’t supposed to crest for another 14 hours. Not knowing what else to do, Dad drove down the highway on the tractor to see where everyone was, fearing the worst. He found them all, water over their knees, standing at the gate, wanting back across the road to the barn. The water behind them was easily over their heads; so there they were, stuck. We couldn’t get a trailer in, and didn’t dare open the gate as they would for sure swim back over to the barn where the water was way deeper. Reports said the water was only supposed to come up another 6″, so we decided to leave them there, and hope for the best…not knowing what else to do.

About 10 minutes later, they busted down the gate and headed for the barn. By now, there was no dry ground anywhere at the farm, and the water was easily 2′ deep over the highway in front of the barn. The worst party though, was that we are in a direct route from the dike, so the current through the farm is insane. It’s not just calm flood waters, even though we’re on the very fringe of the valley. (You can see in some of the pictures how crazy the current was through there. At night, when everything was relatively calm, it sounded like a freight train rushing through there.)

We chased cows until 3:30 Thursday morning, trying to get them to my parents’ place south of the farm. By the time we were done, we didn’t know which cows were there, and which weren’t. We were sure we’d lost at least a third of the herd, as favorite faces were missing. Later that morning, one of the kids who lives at the farm said he saw three cows north of the farm on the highway on a small island of high ground. We loured them in with hay, got them caught, and took them out tied to the back of the tractor.

We never lost power, and surprisingly, no structural damage that we can tell. We dumped the milk out of the tank, and left the valve open, so the pressure would equalize in the tank and it wouldn’t go anywhere. A guy north of us in Duvall left his shut and the buoyancy of the tank pushed it out the back wall of the milk house. The hay we left on the hay trailer got wet, and the bottom of the grain bin got water. Everything we had in our quonset hut that normally stays dry got water. The tack boxes, show halters, fans, waterers…everything is soaked and covered in mud.

All the round bales we had stacked up behind the barn went everywhere. Some pushed through the fence to the lane and nearly ended up in the lagoon. Others went into the lean-to with the compressor and vacuum pumps, several were in the middle of the highway, and others ended up across the road and were snagged by blackberries and the fence.

The “cattle drive” was to bring the cows home. There really wasn’t anywhere to load out of at my parents’ place, so we decided to bring them home John Wayne style. There is an old railroad grade that runs parallel to the highway, so we brought them up our driveway, down the railroad grade, then down a side street to the highway, then down to the barn.

I haven’t heard of anyone losing cows, so that’s good.

This was the worst flood our area has seen by nearly 2 feet. What made it worse was that the hydrologists were predicting for the longest time that it was only going to be 60.9′ at crest. The highest recorded crest was 61.2′, so we knew where the water should go. But it never stopped. So, by going off what the hydrologists said, we were shooting ourselves in the foot kinda.

And, I can’t say it enough, when it comes to these kinds of things, it’s amazing the support you get from the community and fellow dairymen. We had probably 50 people (no exaggeration) helping bring those cows home Friday night. Folks that got hit hard last year were calling, wanting to know what they could do to help. We had all the freestalls and box stalls pitched out and bedded within 10 hours of getting back in the barns.

So, all things considered, we feel pretty lucky. No dead cows, barns all in tact, and no one got hurt. I have a lot of dry cows right now, and a lot of cows with really sore udders, but with time, they’ll be okay.”

The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo is currently going on from Jan. 16 – Feb. 8. Holstein World correspondent Megan Herberg was able to travel south from her home state of Minnesota to check out the action this year. Unfortunately, she had to get home for college and wasn’t able to get pictures of all the breed shows. For complete results, visit www.fwssr.com/results and then select ‘Livestock’, ‘Dairy Cattle’ and then your breed of choice.

Thanks, Megan, for sharing these pictures with us and best of luck for a great spring semester!

Judge Ronnie Rider selects his Grand Champion Guernsey.

Grand Champ Guernsey is the 1st place Aged Cow, exhibited by Lavon Farms of Plano, TX.

Tony Galgowski clipping a Holstein for the show that was held Tuesday, January 20.

Jeff Meyer washing with the heated water at the Fort Worth fairgrounds.

World famous Jersey “Elsie the Borden Cow” on display in Fort Worth.

The image & story below were in one of the weekly e-mail newsletters I get, and I just had to share it. It really makes you think…

PHOTO OF THE DAY: FOOD PRODUCTION MUST GO ON, EVEN IN THE MOST DANGEROUS SPOTS IN THE WORLD

Source: AgriMarketing magazine

While visiting headquarters in Israel, MANA’s North American President/CEO John Rabby forwarded this photo that was taken by a colleague near the Gaza Strip. In the background are at least 14 tanks, troop carriers and supply vehicles. Rabby reports, “I experienced my first visit to a bomb shelter. Two missiles were fired at the town (Ashdod) I was visiting today. Both exploded within a mile of the shelter we were in. That was a first for me … “The message is clear: ‘Farming is Fundamental’.”

Genomic evaluations become official

By Paul VanRaden*, George Wiggans*, Tad Sonstegard†, Curt Van Tassell†, and Leigh Walton*
*Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory, †Bovine Functional Genomics Laboratory

UPDATE (January 12, 2009) – The previously announced plans for December 2008 and January 2009 calculations were modified as follows. On December 18, lactation records were updated and new evaluations computed using an additional 3 weeks of data for cows and more data for bulls than at the November 30 cutoff used to prepare files for the December 9 Interbull deadline. However, genomic evaluations that were released on December 1 were not recomputed in mid-December as anticipated. The genomic evaluations from December 1, 2008, are official unless 1) the bull’s reliability for net merit was higher in the traditional evaluation from December 18, 2008, or 2) the bull had foreign daughters, in which case the Interbull multitrait, across-country evaluation is official. Counts of daughters and herds are from December 18, 2008, for domestic bulls and from November 30, 2008, for bulls with foreign daughters even though only daughter data from July 26 (August 2008 evaluation data) were included in genomic evaluations. Among previously active AI bulls, only 20% gained a sufficient number of daughters for their December 18 traditional evaluation to replace the December 1 genomic evaluation. For future evaluations, AIPL plans to include all new phenotypic information in genomic calculations.

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Genomic predictions of genetic merit become official in January 2009. Predicted transmitting abilities (PTAs) use genomic data derived from DNA in addition to traditional phenotypic and pedigree data. Genotypes for 38,416 single-nucleotide polymorphisms evenly distributed across all 30 chromosomes document which genes each animal inherited and provide a new source of information for genetic evaluations. Formats 38 and 105 indicate genotyped status in bytes 547 and 190, respectively. Codes are 0 for traditional evaluations, 1 for genotyped animals, and 2 for descendants of genotyped animals with reliabilities that increased by at least 1% because of inclusion of genomic information in the parent average (PA). Descendants of genotyped animals have updated PAs and PTAs using the same methods developed previously to include information from foreign parents. Ancestors are not updated because programs are not yet available to transfer genomic information from a genotyped calf to its nongenotyped dam, for example.

Genotyped heifers are eligible for elite status and have records in the format-105 files. Genotyped young bulls are not eligible for active artificial-insemination (AI) status. However, genomically tested bulls that will be marketed are identified as G status. Format-38 files include a record for each bull with a National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB; Columbia, MO) code, and the genomic PTA is listed as official for genotyped bull calves only after they receive an NAAB code because of NAAB’s 5-year exclusive license or after they reach 24 months of age. Domestic test files for cows in format 105 and for bulls in format 38 are available for inspection. Evaluations contained in these files are not from the latest December calculations but rather from an earlier test in October. A U.S.-only version of format 38 without genomic information added is provided so that genomic adjustments can be better understood. Genomic equations are solved using data from the previous multitrait, across-country evaluation from the Interbull Centre (Uppsala, Sweden). The official PTA for each proven bull includes the extra information from genomics or from new daughters added since the last evaluation, but not both, because recalculating genomic predictions after the arrival of Interbull data on the Thursday prior to Tuesday release is not feasible.

Calving-trait and type files also include genomic evaluations as official, and programming to include those records has begun. Breed associations and NAAB continue to distribute calving-trait and type files. Genomic predictions are available for 16 linear traits but not feet/legs score, rear-teat placement, or rear-udder width. Currently, genomic net merit is obtained by directly analyzing net merit as a trait, because genomic results were not available for all individual traits. Genomic evaluations for stillbirth began in October 2008. In the future, genomic net merit could be obtained as a sum of individual genomic PTAs as is done for breed association composites and indexes.

Genomic predictions for Holsteins have been computed about every 2 months since April 1, 2008. Initially, letters to owners and computer files labeled as unofficial were distributed directly from the Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory (AIPL), but breed associations and NAAB now provide those services. Jersey genomic PTAs were tested in June, found to be significantly better than PAs, and distributed unofficially to owners in October 2008. Because of limited numbers of genotyped bulls, Brown Swiss predictions were not much better than PAs and were not distributed. Negotiations have begun on obtaining more Brown Swiss genotypes from Europe. As of October 2008, the USDA database includes 368 Brown Swiss, 1,558 Jersey, and 14,720 Holstein genotypes.

Genomic inbreeding coefficients and genomic estimates of future inbreeding (GFI) analogous to expected future inbreeding (EFI) are now included in computer files for genotyped animals. Genotypes allow measuring actual homozygosity and percentages of genes in common instead of the expected fractions computed from pedigrees by Wright’s 1922 formulas. For GFI, the reference population is all genotyped animals born in the last 10 years. For EFI, the reference population is a sample of females born in the last 5 years. Thus, GFI and EFI should have nearly the same interpretation and, in fact, are similar numerically. Genomic inbreeding is about 2% higher for males than for females because the X chromosome is coded as homozygous in males.

Reliability of PA for young Holstein bulls and heifers averaged 36% for net merit but increased to 66% when genomic information was included. Theoretical reliabilities were reported initially but now have been reduced by multiplying the theoretical gain in daughter equivalents by 0.6. For young bulls, genomic PTAs for some traits average a little lower than PAs because upward biases in PA are being corrected. For example, genomic net merit averaged $388 compared with $420 for traditional PA; genomic PTA protein averaged 34 pounds compared with 39 pounds for traditional PA. For active AI bulls, genomic evaluations had significantly higher reliabilities than traditional evaluations for nearly all traits and were distributed unofficially on the AIPL web site beginning in August 2008.

Frank Putman recently went north to look for colder temps and more snow, but found a warm welcome and great cow care and cows at Kingsway. Gord and Pauline McMillan showed the stock to Frank and shared views on care and breeding of the great Holstein cow. The view of the barn and the familier Kingsway “stone sign”-solid as the breeding program, Gord and Pauline, and a few promising Goldwyn daughters.

World Staff member Frank Putman was recently invited to the Franklin County Holstein Club’s annual meeting/Christmas party. He spoke on advertising & promoting your herd.