There’s more to the state of Minnesota than just the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis and a large group of convention attendees took advantage of the Pre-Convention Tour held on Saturday, June 26th to visit three farms in the central part of the state.

The first stop on the morning was at Starlight Acres in Little Falls, MN. Owned by Tracy Schaefer and Karla Smieja who are helped on the farm by their children Quentin (13) and Jacob (7). They purchased Starlight Acres seven years ago and currently milk 46 cows while focusing on high-type individuals. They love to show and several Red & Whites and Ayrshires in particular have achieved high honors in the show ring.

Starlight Acres – “Where the cows are the stars and the people make them shine!”

And here are the people! Quentin, Karla, Tracy and Jacob welcome the crowd to Starlight Acres.

Black, red, black, red…a large percentage of the herd is either red & white or *RC – not surprising when Karla admits that Advent is their favorite bull.

The long view of the lineup in the modern tie stall barn.

Scha-Way-SF Rampage Luv-Red-ET (VG-86) – Nominated Junior All-American R&W Winter Yearling and Winter Calf in 2009 & 2008 – she sure calved in nice! An 8th generation VG or EX, she is out of Crestbrooke CD Lolah-Red (EX-90) who was twice nominated All-American Red & White.

TJ-Pollema Rdlnr Shania-Red (VG-86) – the All-MN R&W Winter Yearling in 2009. Shania is out of an EX show winning Advent dam and was fresh in May.

There’s black & white ones too! The cow on the left is Havencrest Duplex Starlight (VG-88).

An interested crowd made their way around the farm.

The family gave away a Talent embryo out of Janney Pretty Cinnamon-Red (EX-92) – the Reserve All-American R&W Senior 2-Year-Old in 2006. The lucky winner was Andy Portmann of Raymond, WA!

The group then got back on the bus and travelled into Little Falls, MN to have lunch at Pine Grove Zoo.

Diane & Reid Hoover, Deb & Keith Decker and Ken Umble – all imported from Pennsylvania – take in the zoo before lunch.

Then it was onto Ralma Holsteins in Rice, MN. The home of the world famous Ralma Juror Faith (EX-91 GMD DOM) family, the farm is owned and operated by the Schmitt family. Mark & Natalie Schmitt and their children Jonathon, Michael, Katie & Austin live on the home place while Al & Brenda Schmitt live on an adjoining farm.

Mark & Natalie Schmitt on the left with their children and German trainee. On the right is Al Schmitt.

Ralma Shottle Chestnut (EX-90 3yr) at +3.33T is on the Top 100 PTAT list – her dam is Ralma Finley Choice (VG-88), then Christmas Fudge – the prepotent Durham daughter of Juror Faith.

Ralma Goldwyn Clarinet (EX-90) – the only milking Goldwyn daughter of Christmas Fudge.

Clarinet’s 3/10 Man-O-Man daughter – Ralma Man-O-Man Banjo – sells next month on the International Intrigue Sale. She carries a +2228 GTPI and a +3200 GPA LPI!

One of the most famous O-Man daughters, Ralma Christmas Cookie-ET (VG-89) accepts some loving from the crowd.

A portion of the crowd listens to Al Schmitt highlight the pedigrees of som of the heifers.

Lots of flushing means lots of heifers at Ralma Holsteins! They are a 100% homebred and closed herd and use their own cattle for recipients.

There was no shortage of food on the tour and the Schmitts served up homemade pie!

The last stop of the day was at Melarry Farms, also located at Rice, MN. Home of the Hackett family, the farm is operated by Spencer and Stacey Hackett and their sons Chris and Brook in partnership with Spencer’s parents, Mel and Darlene. They milk 135 cows and farm 1,000 acres.

Spencer Hackett welcomes the crowd to Melarry Farms.

The view as you walk into the Melarry milking barn.

Beyercrest Gold Duchess (VG-89 GTPI +1879), an eighth generation VG or EX cow.

Melarry Classic Dove (EX-90) – the #1 NM red cow in the breed – has a record over 33,000M and her red Destry son with a +1989 GTPI is going to Select Sires.

Melarry Goldwyn Fate (VG-88) is out of an EX-91 Durham dam and has over 34,000M. She carries multiple AI contracts and has a Super son headed to Select.

Melarry Hi Metro Franny (2E-91) – one of several high-scoring Hi Metro daughters in the herd.

Rabur Shottle Temptress (VG-86 GTPI +1980) is out of Rabur Outside Pandora (EX-91) and has an Armstead son at Alta Genetics.

The calf hutches are located in a very pleasant grove of trees off to one side of the yard at Melarry.

Junior Dairy Bowl
1st – California
2nd – Minnesota

Senior Dairy Bowl
1st – Pennsylvania
2nd – Washington

Congratulations to these teams and the states they represented! Look for more information and results from the Junior Convention to come later today following the annual Junior Awards Luncheon.

Joseph and Kelsey Airosa are the proud parents of Phillip Austin Airosa who was born June 25th weighing 7 lbs. 8 oz. His grandparents are Joe & Lori Airosa of Airosa Dairy in Tulare, California. Congratulations!

Phillip Austin Airosa

It’s Day 2 of the meetings in Bloomington and today is voting day! First order of business are adoption of the Resolutions presented.

Resolution #1 – Presented by the Wisconsin Holstein Association
Holstein Association needs to re-evaluate the TPI formula and raise the type contribution to a level that more accurately reflects what breeders desire for a balance of type and porduction

Henk Van Dyk (WI) – This was a resolution presented at our winter convention unanimously. Health traits are not highly heritable.

Mark Kerndt (IA) – Would prefer less weighting on production in the TPI formula. Health traits are important – don’t ignore them.

Andy Kortman (WA) – Raise type and put production & health traits lower

APPROVED

Resolution #2 – Wisconsin Holstein Breeders advise USDA’s AIPL to create a genetic system that instills long-term confidence in the system. Breeders must be able to give feedback and know ahead of time about changes. New genetic calculations should not be published when using female DNA unless approved by Holstein Association and its board of directors.

APPROVED

Resolution #3 – Propose fundamental princpiles be recognized to ensure the long-term survival of Holstein cattle. Computation of an animal’s genomic information must only be done with owner permission. HAUSA must protect proprietary information. Breeders are entitled to review genetic information that is not influenced by genomic findings. Breeders have the right to test all of their stock, regardsles of sex. We have the right to be a part of the process that decides the ranking. HAUSA must defend our livelihood.

Steve Holte (WI) – Can we allow the creator of this resolution, a non-delegate, to speak for my allotted two minutes? Approved.

Paul Buhr (WI – non-delegate) – I have presented what is like a bill of rights over our property. As we go forward, genes will be used in many ways. Breeders need to own our DNA so that it is not used outside of our breed and industry. We need to put these items in place to protect us in the future. HAUSA was established to protect us and our breed. We must not assume that people or companies will protect it in the way we have in the future.

Don Bennick (FL) – The only way we will be able to improve genomics is to get a variety of animals in the pool. This resolution would hamper that ability. If we adopt this resoltuion, are we also going to say that we don’t want to share production records, show placings, etc.?

Mike Holschbach (WI) – Resolution is to protect our interests. We pay for these records through production and classification programs. We are required to share informaiton and the bull studs are not required to share information with us. This is not an even playing field. It is an embarassment to our association that we have gotten to this place.

Bill Peck (NY) – Resolution has good intent but is too far reaching. At the center of the genomic issue in our coversation is the poor communication from USDA. If things were better communicated we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Verbal vote, undetermined. Hand vote resulted in 69 nay, 45 yay. DENIED

Resolution #4 – Formal recognition of Holstein Association Chief Executive Officer and Executive Secretary Robert Rumler following his death this past year.

Doug Carles (CT) – Following the passing of this resolution, let us please share with the Rumler family.

APPROVED

Resolution #5 – Holstein Association USA sincerley thanks the organizers and the committees of the Minnesota Holstein Association for their hard work and their hospitality of the 125th Annual Meeting.

APPROVED with standing ovation.

Board Elections

Region 1 Director
Tom Kugler (NY)
Martha Siefert (VT)
Pete Waterman (ME)

First round of voting, no majority. Re-vote of Kugler and Waterman. Pete Waterman is the newly elected director.

Chairman of the Holstein Foundation, John Bierbaum, shared the mission of the foundation is to develop leaders. The foundation received in the past year of $110,000 support dollars, $150,000 total donations, $120,000 expenses, resulting in a net gain of $29,000. The investment gain resulting in $752,000, a 22% return. Total increase of $781,000. Hopefully YDLI is on a self-sustaining basis so that the staff is focused on program development and not on raising funds in support of the program. The seventh class will be taking place in February. Hotel management shared that they have been so impressed with the over 500 youth that have behaved so well, been so disciplined and handled themseleves so professionally. This certainly is a sign that our programs are fulfilling the mission of the foundation.

Dairy Leaders for Tomorrow campaign to inspire, train, invigorate and build confidence. Building support for young people who are striving to make a difference in the dairy industry. All gifts received by December 31, 2010 will be matched. To date, $300,000 in gifts and pledges have been received, with a goal of reaching $500,000 by the end of the year so the final amount is $1 million. Chairman level donors, Judy & Charles Iager of Maple-Lawn Farms, MD and Hilmar Cheese Company Inc., CA.

Chairman of the Legislative committe, Gordy Cook (MA), reviewed the timeline of events that have transpired over the past year and a half regarding the Dairy Price Stabilization Program. Our efforts have made a difference. With Holstein’s initiatives, collaborative efforts are happening today that never would have happened. Today, working to pass effective legislation in 2010 in both the House and the Senate.

Loren Olson (MN) – We got to put together a game plan to unite dairymen in smaller groups. This can’t happen by just talking in this big room.

Chuck Worden (NY), Chairman of the Junior Advisory Committee, shared the activities throughout the year and the participation of the juniors at this year’s national convention. There were 82 contestants in Dairy Jeopardy, and a total of 35 teams from 21 states in the Dairy Bowl contest. 125 youth applied for production awards, representing 200 cows. There were 52 speech contestants, 12 scrapbook entries, and 40 folding displays in just the second year of the contest. New this year was the opening of the dairy bowl quiz to all juniors, 97 additional youth took the test. This past year, the association experienced a growth of 1055 new members, 30% increase. This was driven by the 2010 Mission Membership contest, that recognized Connecticut as the state with the largest percent increase in new members, 113%. Wisconsin grew the largest total amount. The Holstein USA website Youth section encourages participation in activities throughout the year with quarterly contests.

Region 4 Director
Gayle Carson (TN)
Walter McClure, Sr. (VA)
In one round of voting, Gayle Carson has been elected a new director.

Bill Peck (NY), Chairman of Genetic Advancement Committee, shared the activities of the committee and the decision to place 42% emphasis on production and 25% on conformation. Increased emphasis on Health & Fertility to 33%. All gemoic tested animals to receive parentage verification. This is an added feature and will allow for parent “discovery”, whereby an unkown parent can be discovered.

Chairman Gordie Cook (MA) of the International Committee shared the committee has focused on a more strategic approach of working with a smaller more focused group of potential markets. Plan to work more with the emerging market of Russia, and continue our work with traditional markets of Mexico and South America.

National FAIR & Animal ID Committee Chairman, John Kalmey (KY), shared that this February USDA announced a new, flexible framework for animal identification. Only apply to animals moves in interstate commerce, be administered by each state to provide more flexibility and encourage the use of lower cost technology. In May, USDA hosted 3 public meetings to discuss the framework. The goal of USDA is basic, to regulate interstate movement and provide a system for quick and efficient traceability. HAUSA questions the effectiveness of each state being able to administer their own program.

Leroy Eggink (IA) elected via affirmation as Region 6 Director.

At-Large Director
Corey Geiger
Mike Jones
Tom Kugler
Martha Seifert

Three candidates were slated for a second round of voting – Geiger, Jones & Kugler. Two candidates slated for a third round of voting – Geiger & Jones. Corey Geiger has been elected the new At-Large Director.

Jim Burdette (PA), Chairman of the Show Committee, shared the report. This year there are 11 national shows and 4 specific national junior shows. New this year was the two Judges Lists, National and Qualified. For the 2011 lists, Monday, August 2nd is the deadline to submit. 2011 list will be all new. Judges must re-apply each year. Applications will be analyzed by the committee and recommended to the board for approval. There will be three Judges Conferences in 2011 located in the Northeast, Mid-West and West. There will be one each year after that, location to be rotated around the 3 regions. Going forward, National and Qualified Judges must have participated in at least one Holstein Judges Conference within a 3-year period to remain eligible for inclusion on the list.

Dr. Les Hansen spoke on behalf of the National Dairy Shrine and shared that NDS will provide $40,000 in scholarships this year. 18,000 members across the U.S. and lifetime membership fee remains at $50. Honorees at the annual banquet this year at World Dairy Expo will be Luke & Derek Johnson, Andy & Lynn Buttles, Bill Ramsey Family, Merle Howard, Mert Sowerby, Dr. Lee Mjeskie, Dr. Rex Powell and Dr. Jack Albrecht.

Recognition of retiring board members Gordie Cook (MA), John Kalmey (KY) and Bill Peck (NY).

No Old Business.

New Business

Linda Hodorff (WI) – Congratulate the candidates and the professional nature by which the election transpired. Thank you for taking the time to run and please consider running again.

Meeting Adjourned

The 2010 National Convention Sale is took place in Jordan, MN last night and strong prices were evident throughout the evening. Featuring many high genomic testing individuals from popular cow families, the sale averaged $12,126.85 on 108 lots.

Topping the sale at $91,000 was Lot #4 – First Choice Man-O-Man from three females born in February & April, 2010. The highest genomic testing heifer of the bunch is Clear-Echo M-O-M 2150-ET at +2450 GTPI – which makes her tied for #2 GTPI female of the breed. Her dam is Clear-Echo 822 Ramo 1200-ET (EX-92 DOM) +2124 GTPI. Consigned by Clear Echo Farm of Schuylerville, NY, the choice was purchased by De-Su Holsteins of New Albin, IA.

2nd high on the night at $87,000 was Gold-N-Oaks Arabell 1765-ET (VG-87) +2188 GTPI. The Ramos daughter of Gold-N-Oaks S Marbella-ET (VG-89),the #3 PTAT cow in the breed, Arabella is a full sister to the #1 GTPI cow on the 4/10 run, Gold-N-Oaks Marabell-ET (VG-87) and sold with embryos contracts and extensive interest from numerous AI studs and embryos exporters. Arabell was consigned by her breeeders John & Judy Swenson of Barneveld, WI and Mark Hardt Landt Land & Cattle Co. bid last to take her home.

Larcrest Case-ETS, a 4/09 Planet daughter of Larcrest Crimson-ET (VG-88) GTPI +2222, sold as Lot #1 and brought $82,000. Consigned by Larcrest Holsteins of Albert Lea, MN, Case carries a +2279 GTPI and is her 2nd dam is the enormously popular Larcrest Cosmopolitan (VG-87), whose daughters and granddaughters have been topping sales all through 2010. Purchased by Robert Goldmann of New Albin, IA, Case sold with AI and embryo contracts.

$50,000 was the winning bid for Lot #5 – Ladys-Manor PL Shakira, a 6/09 Planet daughter with a +2445 GTPI. Shakira sold with numerous embryo and AI contracts and is out of Ladys-Manor Ruby D Shawn-ET (EX-90 91-MS), a Shottle who completes nine generations of VG & EX cows and eight out of nine generations of bull mothers. Consigned by My Ladys Manor Farm of Monkton, MD, Shakira was purchased by De-Su Holsteins of New Albin, IA.

Co-Vista Atwood Desire-ET, a 3/10 Atwood out of Scientific Deluxe Rae-ETS (VG-87) sold with a GTPI of +2356 and +4.61T – making her the #1 type heifer of the breed and the #1 GTPI Atwood. Her dam is the highest genomic tested Shottle daughter of Scientific Debutante Rae-ET and is a maternal sister to the popular bulls Destry, Debonair, SS Deuce and Dusk. Desire brought $42,000 and was consigned by Brian George of Arcade, NY.

A stylish 11/09 Planet heifer out of the Ralma Juror Faith family was the selection of Siemers Holsteins, Newton, WI for $40,000. Ralma Planet Century carries a +2227 GTPI and is out of a VG-87 Bolton dam and her 2nd dam is Ralma Christmas Fudge-ET (VG-88 GMD DOM), the Durham daughter of Faith with many, many high-scoring daughters and granddaughters. Century sold with an embryo contract and was consigned by Mark & Al Schmitt of Rice, MN.

Other prices:
Lot 57 – $24,000
Lot 116 – $11,000
Lot 1B – $10,000
Lot 7B – $20,100
Lot 7A – $21,000
Lot 6 – $14,700
Lot 8 – $30,000
Lot 9 – $31,000
Lot 10- $26,000
Lot 11- $26,000
Lot 53B – $14,000
Lot 12 – $16,000
Lot 17 – 26,500
Lot 36 – $15,000
Lot 40 – $18,500
Lot 18 – $28,000
Lot 16 – $16,700
Lot 14 – $19,000
Lot 20 – $15,000
Lot 30 – $22,000
Lot 27 – $13,700
Lot 23 – $13,000
Lot 21 – $16,000
Lot 41 – $12,500

One of the most honored positions juniors can hold in the Holstein Association is to be a member of JAC – the Junior Advisory Committee. This year, one of the candidates running for an open position is Tera Koebel of Three Oaks, Michigan.

With elections being held Tuesday, Tera has her campaigning in full swing, incorporating members of the Michigan delegation to wear “Tera” shirts and also handing out snack bags with Swedish fish. It all plays an important role in winning a position that she holds dear. “I’ve held lots of leadership positions in the past and I think being on JAC is a natural fit for my passions of breeding, showing and marketing Registered Holsteins,” says the determined youngest daughter of Terry and Jennie Koebel. “I want to bring new ideas to the table that enhance junior experiences. I’d like to create ways for juniors from different states to connect. I want to make/create opportunities for juniors to not only see and talk to others once a year, but to grow those friendships because these are the people who become your friends for life. Let’s plan more social activities. Let’s plan some ‘real world’ contests that make us work together. For instance, why don’t we have a powerpoint contest that has teams of juniors interviewing a farm that’s not in their state. Find out about different cow families and the people behind the breeding program. It would force us to step outside the box and not only work with other juniors, but meet people outside of our areas and learn how to put together our interviewing skills into a powerpoint to share with others. JAC is a great committe that provides leadership for juniors. But more importantly, the people that serve on JAC are role models for younger members. When you go through the programs and contests and you meet and learn from other juniors, it’s time to give back and keep the enthusiasm going. That’s what I’d like to do and accomplish if I get elected. It’s my turn to give back.”

Dennis Areias: Why are we turning our backs on what we’ve been founded on – cow families, a strong classification system? It seems to me that we’re just throwing away what we’ve worked hard to establish.

Meyer: It’s not the dismal picture that we’re afraid of. We’re incorporating a valuable tool to our disposal. Let’s use it for the betterment of the breed and add value to our genetic pool

Charlie Will (OH): All new technologies have learning curves. Genomics adds to performance. With the addition of more markers, things will continue to be tweaked and changed. We all love the beautiful cow, but they may not always be the cow that transmits. Many are. Some are not. Genomics will help us find that. We need to focus on what’s heritable. Let’s find the best five type cows that transmit. Or the best five production cows that transmit. I read the handout sheet that went around (from David Winkels). There are a few discrepancies. Look at the reliabilities. Look at the time frames. We’re not comparing apples to apples. The last group of bulls we had at 97% reliability – average PTA Milk and Daughter Yield Deviation was within 40 pounds. Actual proof.

Mike Holschbach (WI): Communication. We’ve heard a lot from the staff and board of directors. Who are “we?” I hope that we as an association keep US in mind – who pay for testing, who own the cows. We hope that you keep us in mind as those who care, who work day to day. Keep our opinions and understanding in mind when making decisions. Keep our model in mind when making your model of genetic evaluations. Listen to us occasionally when making decisions.

Linda Hodorff (WI): I think our board and staff have a tremendous responsibility to represent us as breeders. We are diverse, but you need to have a feel for what they are. The Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding is awesome – they represent AI, DHI and breed associations. Our representation on the Council represent our breeders and staff. Please consider modern tools to keep us informed – webinars, email updates, etc…..that will help you bring us information in a more timely manner.

Meyer: Points very well taken. I do want to share that the Council is working with USDA to have a better protocol and timeliness when it comes to communication. Ideas will be explained before they are put into effect.

Bill Peck (NY): We delved into genomic testing to really see what we have. We tested 225 females with a full 50 SNP test. We found a standard deviation – a bell curve. This is one step along the way to get genetic information. We are just doing what we can to improve – to get better – to get more information so we’re closer to that 99%. Get more cattle involved and get better data. We have the opportunity to breed cattle any way we want to. We have the chance to do that with better information available. Milk pricing is critical – we need to unify.

With nearly all chairs filled, people stood along the back wall and even sat on the floor to hear discussions on genomics.

Holstein Association’s Tom Lawlor continues with his genomic presentation….

5 of top 25 GTPI cows scored 83 or higher were imputed. Can have more confidence in them – reliabilities have gone up with additional genomic information added.

Errors made -
farmers didn’t know changes were coming
farmers didn’t know why the change was recommended
farmers didn’t see any evidence that the change was right
farmers didn’t know what the avg. change in TPI on their cows would be

April lessons
Yes, it’s a cow business, but a people business too
Need to explain when & why a change is going to be made, what it will do, who it will impact and how the change will lead to more accurate genetic evaluations

What’s ahead
advances in technology
new testing tools – DNA chips; greater use of haplotypes & imputation
new traits – fertility
implementation of new research findings
imputation process will go from 3K (markers) to 50K (markers)

USDA changes
May 2010 start of monthly genomic evaluations
If a SNP-marker could not be determined, the marker with the higher allele frequency from the base population was used – this will be changed to the current population.
July 2010, USDA along with 8 other countries will submit its genomic evaluations to Interbull for a validation test. Countries passing the test will be eligble to market genomic test bulls in Europe.
August 2010 Two new traits introduced – cow and heifer conception rates – only calculated on herds participating in AI testing program
December 2010 Two new traits introduced – sire conception rate on conventional semen and sire conception rate on sexed semen
December 2010 genotypes from the 3K SNP chip may receive official GTPAs AND a code indicating whether a 3k, 50K or HD SNP chip will be included in the genetic evaluation files

April 2011 – USDA’s target date for having a resolution for the cow adjustments so genotyped and imputed cows are on the same base as the cows that are not genotyped.

Making genotyped and non-genotyped cows more comparable -
reduce heritability
differential adjustment by herd

….Keep hitting refreshed as we’ll update the entire time the meeting goes on!

March 2013 Genomic testing of all males & females will be available to all

QUESTIONS
David Winkels – MN
Winkels presented independent research he had done on questions regarding bull proofs – all which he documented on paper (but not enough copies to blanket the capacity crowd) including discrepancies he had found in both type and production based on genomic proofs and conventional proofs.  Winkels questioned the reliability of the current system as well as the ability for an average dairyman to get all information available.

Why has this been allowed to happen?

Lawlor:  Different sources of information get combined together to give us the final evaluation.  We add in genomic and foreign information to come up with an official evaluation to release to the industry.  Availability of that information is there and put out in between full updates.  Don’t continue to put numbers side by side.

But why have we thrown all conventional things out the window?

Lawlor:  Again, we do use traditional information – and we are using genomic information as well.  These genomics are more accurate.  We have made the decision to use genomic as official because its the most complete and enhanced evaluation.

Willard Peck (NY) – limit time at microphone to two minutes
and seconded…

Paul Buhr (WI) – I’m a breeder first, dairyman second and farmer third.  We are breeders here – and should be addresses as such.  This system does an excellent job for commercial breeders.  A high percentage of our genetics is in commercial dairies.  If we adopt this – we will only recognize one set of perfect genes.  When we achieve that – and it will be done – we will have bred ourselves in a corner.  And that won’t bode well for our Holstein breed.  We must promote different breeding goals so that we don’t have the paradox of breeding for health traits while decreasing vitality and fertility.  The only solution is crossbreeding and then we will have smaller market share for the registered breeders.

Lawlor:  You have made some good points but you’ve hit on one that’s quite important – our main focus was to talk about the April evaluations.  We want to regain people’s confidence in genomic predictions.  But you’re right.  Genomics – we are learning as we go.  We still need to find the outlyers and address that challenge.  The good thing is that genomics are available on all traits – so we can look at individual traits – so we can find outlyers for production, etc…  Let’s not focus on one single description of what makes a good cow.  We need to have accurate information on a variety of traits.  Narrowing down to a few bloodlines and having high genomic animals in those fews – that’s not what we’re looking for.  Unfortunately we haven’t figured out how to find those outlyers.

Glen Brown (UT):  The last minute decision on these adjustments seems to be based on being validated by Interbull in July.  If that’s the case, when did we know that these adjustments needed to be made?  Who is Interbull?  Who validates us?  Who evaluates USDA and Holstein’s judgments on evaluations?

Lawlor:  You are right on the rush for the July deadline.  The belief is that the USDA genomic evaluations would NOT have passed if these adjustments had not been made.  It had to be done – maybe not as quickly, but it had to be done.  We all know about the inflation of PTAs – we’ve known about that for a while.  USDA suggested a lowered heritability.  The Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding is who we look to for approval on changes.  That wasn’t done this last cycle because of the rush deadline.

Jim Rickert (WI):  Calculating of the TPI formula – needs to be reviewed.

John Meyer – Board of Directors met this week and will be reviewing the current TPI formula – and will decide if changes will be made.

Linda Hodorf (WI) – Changes in August 2010 – information available on cow and heifer conception rate – is that only on herds on AI testing programs?  What about other herds that submit this info to their testing centers be included?

Lawlor:  Information that is being used for this conception rates is limited to those herds participating on AI testing programs.  It is open to everyone else.  Right now the process is not in place, but we as an Association need to help individual herds have that information submitted.  There will probably be a small fee for that.

Paul Buhr (WI) – Define unique genetic sequence and until recently, I could look at information on the AIPL site on males.  That’s no longer – and why can’t I see that on females as well.

Lawlor:   Regarding chromosomal display – you just told me something I didn’t know.  I don’t know the answer to that.  In terms of female information, we have been slow in putting that information forward.

Mark Ulness (WI):  Lack of ability to find those outlyers.  My feeling is that there’s too strong of a sire influence in these genetic calculations.  Cows that have proven themselves through classification and DHIA records, they are reputable.  Why are the cows with both high type and milk not found themselves on top of these lists?  Like Frosty or Elsie who are both Excellent and have made records of 50,000 lbs of milk?  Aren’t they the gold standard of what we want to breed?

Lawlor:  That is a goal of us to find outstanding individual cows.  Unfortunately – heritability doesn’t always work that way.  So all these outstanding cows won’t be good transmitters of these genes in some cases.  But we keep looking to try and improve the correlation between those good characteristics.

Chuck Will (MN):  Interesting point that has been raised – I have a member of one of the best cow families in the world.  A cow with 338,000 lifetime.  But she is minus on milk and minus on type (she is 94 points).  She is 97 in mammary and is minus on mammary.  She has a minus productive life.  She has a dtr with 53,000 and is Excellent.  I don’t understand on why we use what they COULD do instead of what they HAVE done?  Something is wrong with the formula.

Lawlor:  I understand you feel passion about breeding good cows and we have a variety of people who like a variety of cows.  We can’t stand up and say this is the final answer and this is the only way you can judge cattle.  The Association has tried to address this issue – we recognize DOM and GMD cows.  Progressive Genetics Award.  PBR award.  They all address different breeders and different goals.  We’d just like you to breed the type of cows that you believe in.

Dave Rama (NY):  Genomics – first calves born from the bulls – would it make sense to go through first 30 dtrs and genomic test them?  Maybe they’re doing that.  If we’re putting all our emphasis there – test the offspring immediately and see if this bull is doing what it’s supposed to be doing instead of waiting 4 years for a proof.  It may help with the confidence level in this system.  Whatever the government gets involved with – it’s calf scours!  These guys know how hard it is to develop good cow families.  They have confidence in what they’ve been doing.  Right now there’s a lack of confidence in USDA.  Tread lightly with the federal government.

Lawlor:  Doing the genomic testing of first 30 dtrs – it all comes down to costs.  Those that are believers in predictions have worked hard to a cheaper genetic tests.  You might see your idea come to pass very quickly.  Fewer will go into an active lineup because of that screening.  Those that actually get in will be the best of the best.  In regards to USDA, they do try to make the information available for us to see.   I try to study their numbers so that I can be of service to this association.  Need to validate the information – is it reliable?  Can we trust it?  Should we use it?  Yes.  Use these tools as you see fit and get the benefits of it.  We’re trying to look after your success.

Bill Eustice (MN):  I’ve witnessed 40 years of changing TPI formulas and you never know where you’ll be with the next set of changes.  Will Holstein consider a poll like this before reviewing the TPI formula? 50.7% breeders ranked type as their highest priority – feet and legs was second highest trait.  (according to an HI poll)

Tande:  Jonathan Lamb will be heading the GAC committee – talk to him about the TPI formula review.

Kevin Jorgensen (WI):  Still feel the compelling need to say that breeders are concerned about the direction of the breed.  We can be successful in a variety of paths.  Is everything moving to one direction/philosophy?  The greatest part of this business is the variety.  Our success will come when we listen to our members and encourage diversity.

Ron Wood (PA):  Could you have literature passed around by David Winkels copied.  It was very confusing and we want to know if it warrants further discussion.

CEO John Meyer greets a packed meeting room during his State of the Association address, while President Larry Tande also gave his remarks to welcome the crowd.

* 1,055 new junior members joined the Association in 2009

* Holstein Complete revenues increased 5%

* Identification revenues decreased 1%

* Registration revenues decreased 9%

* Transfer registrations decreased 19%

* Genetic test revenues increased 62%

* TriStar revenues increased 5%

* Adult membership 19,878 and Junior membership 8,514

* Operating revenues decreased 3%

* Consolidated Net Income $2,576,000
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Tom Lawlor – What happened in April & What we can Expect in the Future

Lots of changes in April – very poor advanced notices of those changes. But now – we’ll step back and evaluate those changes and move forward. One of the roles of USDA is to make a more accurate prediction of performance with genomic information. What happened in April? Imputation – and rescaling of PTAs. Rescaling done for animals only with genomic information. GTPI cows treated differently than CTPI cows. Are these genomic predictions any better or more accurate? Yes, they are. We should be happy about that.

Cows with multiple genotyped offpsring received an imputed genotype. TPI points fell by 137 points (average). Most animals came down 83% – while 17% went up.

Notes on Imputation – determine the dam’s genotype from the genotype of its progeny. It also relies upon the fact that the markers come linked together in a sequence. The sequence of DNA markers is called a haplotype. In the Holstein breed there’s a limited number of unique DNA sequences. Often we can match the dam’s DNA sequence with a unique sequence. We usually need 4 or 5 progeny to determine her genotype. A cow will receive an imputed genotype only if at least 90% of her haplotypes can be determined. Imputed cows have 97% of their markers known. $501,000 – genotyping costs saved.

Cow adjustments – PTAs on elite cows are too high. This is not a U.S. issue only. Lots of management decisions going on – you know who your good cows are. You take care of them a little bit better. They get treated immediately. All these little things add up to inflating the PTAs on the elite cows and their families. It’s not cheating. According to New Zealand “conventional parent averages are inflated which leads to inflated genomic prediction of young bulls.” Their solution – downward adjustment of parent averages. Longer term – recognizing the value of cow information. Rather than have farmers pay for genotyping on elite cows only – Dairy NZ will pay to genotype 15,000 random cows. In Germany, “The use of traditional parent average caused a serious overestimation in the genomic predictions of young bulls.” They say the dam is almost the sole source of this estimation. They use pedigree indexes – bull proofs only – for parent averages. The cow’s information is totally excluded.

How do we know if the adjustment works? Have done validation studies. Over 100 done in the U.S. to date.
Real life example – Bull with +728 in PTA Milk
47 progeny
16 sons with proofs (by 9 different sires with 99% reliability)

PTA milk of those 16 sons +26
Numbers in January +467 and in April +103 (closer to original +26)

So in April – rescaling means the higher PTAs were scaled down more than the lower PTAs.

Rescaling brought most cows down – 98% went down and 2% went up
Imputation & genomic prediction work much more equitably
56% cows went up – 44% down

Net result
17% of the cows went up and 83% went down

Are we better or worse off? Better off! Parent averages are unbiased – reliabilities have increased by 3%

It’s all relative – well proven cows whose genetic merit was substantiated with genomic information.

To be continued…

It was a busy day of farm tours, river cruising and garden walking as Host Day at the 2010 Convention came to a close.

One of the stops on “Tour West” was Raylore Farm, the Olson Family. All three of the Olson girls were part of the Princess Kay of the Milky Way dairy promotions program, and as a result, had butterhead sculptures made of themselves.

Elizabeth Olson (at right) talks about the Raylore herd.

Kelly Schmidt (at right) talks with visitors at Raylore.

An impressive display at Floralawn, the Rickert family.

The impressive house (with studio behind) of Bonnie & John Mohr and family.

Lunchtime at the Mohrs!

Pennsylvanians Dave & Phoebe Bitler catch up with Ken Umble.

The Flower Brook herd, Andy & Jodene Stuewe, was our last stop for the day.

A beautifully uddered Red Devil daughter at Flower Brook.

Dean & Rebecca Jackson at the Bonnie Mohr studio.

Lisa and Gus Schwartzbeck at the Minnesota Family Fun Night.

Tom Kugler (NY) and Hank Van Exel (CA)

Not everyone is a Favre fan anymore! Packer fan Kathleen O’Keefe gets her digs in on Vikings fan Todd Stanek.