Accelerated Genetics Hosted Young Producer Fall Conference & Held Elections for Young Producer Committee

Three positions were filled on the Accelerated Genetics Young Producer Committee by Daniel & Patricia Solum, Spring Grove, Minn.; Jerry Gimler & Kelly, Watertown, Wis.; and Brian Koch, Waunakee, Wis. This year Brian Castleberg, Mondovi, Wis.; David & Kelly Oberreich, Plymouth, Wis.; and Blair & Kathy Sawall, Clintonville, Wis. retired from the Young Producer Committee. Other Young Producer Committee members include: Tim Bowers, Marion, Wis.; Tom & Katie Grady, Oregon, Wis.; Jamie & Amy Larson, Evansville, Wis.; Joe & Donna Parrell, Cross Plains, Wis.; and Jeff & Tammy Styczynski, Pulaski, Wisc.

The Young Producer Committee selects, organizes, and coordinates the yearly activities of the Accelerated Genetics Young Producer Program. Individuals and couples throughout Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and northern Illinois make up the committee. This dynamic group encourages producer involvement plans annual events and provides leadership to facilitate a prosperous program.

The committee elections took place during the annual Young Producer Fall Conference held this year in Wausau, Wis. November 1-2, 2008 at The Plaza Hotel & Suites. During the conference producers attended a variety of sessions including ‘Consumer Relations’ by Liz Doornink of Jon-Dee Farm, Inc.; ‘Cooperative Spirit News’ by Janet Keller, Vice President of Advertising, Communications and Public Relations for Accelerated Genetics; ‘Genomics 101’ by Dr. Mike Cowan, Vice President of Research for Accelerated Genetics and General Manager of Genetic Visions, Inc.; ‘ Herd Health & Producer Discussion’ by David Brown, DVM, Staff Veterinarian for Accelerated Genetics; ‘ Commodity Challenges’ by Kevin Wagner, Hedge Specialist for First Capitol Ag; and ‘What’s Available from the Wisconsin Farm Center’ by Frank Friar, Economic Specialist: Beginning and Transitioning Farmer Program for Wisconsin Farm Center.

In addition to the educational sessions, producers had the opportunity to network with one another, listen to a humorous and musical comedian ‘Glen Everhart’, and participate in the annual costume contest. This year’s costume contest winners were 1st Jeff & Tammy Styczynski, Pulaski, Wis. – ‘Woodstock Hippies’, 2nd Jerry Gimler & Kelly, Watertown, Wis. – ‘Rodeo Clown & Rodeo Queen’, 3rd Gerry Wesener, Shawano, Wis. ‘Devil’, 4th Donna Parrell, Cross Plains, Wis. – ‘Maid’, 5th Tom & Katie Grady, Oregon, Wis. – ‘Jack Sparrow & His Pirate Wife’, and 6th Tammy Piotraschke, Powers, Mi. – ‘School Lunch Lady’.

Upcoming Young Producer events include the Winter Get-Away – January 31-February 1, 2009 at the Kalahari Resort & Waterpark in Wisconsin Dells, Wis.; Leadership Conference – March 28-29, 2009 at the Wintergreen Resort & Conference Center in Wisconsin Dells, Wis.; and the Summer Meltdown – June 13, 2009 touring the Hoard’s Dairyman Farm, Hoard’s Museum and National Dairy Shrine Museum.

The Accelerated Genetics Young Producer Program is open to young producers (owners and herdspeople) between the ages of 18 and 45, individuals and couples–some events are for the entire family. Anyone interested in becoming involved in the program is encouraged to contact Accelerated Genetics at 1-800-451-9275, email kstanek@accelgen.com or check out our website at www.accelgen.com.

Accelerated Genetics is a global provider of bovine genetics and research, reproductive services, and solution-based animal health products. With the belief that ‘Innovation Breeds Excellence®’, the Accelerated Genetics vision is to be the forerunner in developing innovative technologies and exceptional services that will aid customers in achieving their ultimate herd goals.
~Submitted by Kari Stanek

New England Holstein Annual Convention & Sale
Coverage by Marion Seifert

New England breeders and friends gathered October 17-18 for their 87th annual meeting in the colorful hills of Litchfield County, Connecticut. Friday’s program consisted of farm tours to four very different locations. The tour started at Allyndale Farm in Canaan, home of Rick, Shannon and Justine Allyn. There, tour participants had the opportunity to see both the Madison winning milking fall yearling and spring calf. The Allyns are set up to house and prepare special show cattle. Next it was on to the Freund Farm. The Freund family has a very diverse enterprise which consists of a herd of 150 Holsteins and other enterprises. Matt and Ben Freund along with their families operate the dairy farm, a farm market and a cow pot manufacturing plant. The Freunds have a unique agreement with neighboring farmers to share work and protect the watershed of the Blackberry River which borders the farms in this valley. Matt’s wife, Theresa, operates the farm market where we enjoyed a delicious lunch. There she offers farm products, delicious homemade baked goods and other foods and education. A separate enterprise is the rapidly growing cow pot enterprise. The pots, made of the dried material from the methane digester, are used as starter pots for plants which then can be planted in the biodegradable pots which provide nutrients to the growing plants. Our next stop was at Arethusa Farm to view their extraordinary facilities with cattle to match. They had just completed a classification before we arrived with outstanding results that were reported earlier on www.holsteinworld.com. We not only toured the main farm with Terri Packard but visited their new heifer facilities. The last stop on the tour was at Thorncrest Farm. The Clint Thorn family is dedicated to breeding long living solid cow families, demonstrated by their Koral and Sioux families. Jethro Koral has 30 EX descendants including two at 94. Sioux (3E-92) is the dam of a winning summer yearling at Madison and Thorncrest Sapphire who was nominated All-American and All-Canadian. As a side note, Clint is a master cabinet maker who’s furniture can be seen at Arethusa’s hospitality and office complex. Friday evening’s activities included viewing the sales cattle, a social, junior activities and committee meetings.

Saturday morning was dedicated to conducting the business of the association and more junior activities. President Elizabeth Bullard presided pointing out that the membership has remained stable. The biggest news from the meeting was the passage of a resolution pertaining to the inability to get production records on cattle that are purchased from Canada. This has been an ongoing problem causing hardship to buyers as pedigrees do not reflect the complete information. The resolution directs the Board of Directors of Holstein USA, Inc. to solve this problem. If the Board of Directors does not take favorable action on the resolution at their November meeting, the New England delegates will have it placed on the agenda for the National Convention in 2009.

Elections of officers saw some new faces coming on board. Elizabeth Bullard, ME, will continue and complete her term as President, Chris Hannan, CT, continues as Vice-President, Melissa Greenbacker, CT, is the new Secretary, Arnold Nieminen, CT, continues as Treasurer and James Strout, ME, succeeds Dave Schillawski, who was not eligible for re-election, as Assistant Treasurer.

Junior contests results seated the Quiz Bowl teams for 2009. The junior team will be comprised of Heather Taft, Adam Pothier, Aryn Martin and Maddie Beaudry with Sarrah Simpson and Heath Page as alternates. The senior team includes Jasper Page, James Taft, Heather Hunt and Jared Birch with Cody Barrett as alternate. Aryn Martin will be the representative in the Junior Distinguished Junior contest.

The sale on Saturday afternoon resulted in a pleasing average over $3,000. High seller was Arethusa’s June daughter of Fradon Jet-Red-ET out of Melanie’s VG-88 September Storm daughter. She went to Frank Behling, WI. Second high was Schilldale’s first choice female by Shottle from the Goldwyn daughter of Durham Buttercup (2E-94). Buyer was Fredie Seeuwis, WI with David Sears, MA, contender.

Full sales results and pictures will be posted on www.holsteinworld.com shortly!

Our June is Dairy Month feature for today comes from Melissa Hart of North Adams, MI. A farmer’s wife, mom and freelance writer, Melissa is full of stories. One outlet that she has to share those stories is her blog. Click here to visit and read more from Melissa! Thanks, Melissa, for sharing this event with us!

It was milk mustaches for everyone as we donned white stickers over their upper lips to get their mug taken in front of a black ‘got milk?’ banner. After the photo shoot, we printed off the shots and gave them their complimentary milk mustache portrait. In addition we gave out chocolate and white milk and lots of goodie bags. By the end of the day we gave away 1000 chugs of milk, 600 goodie bags and printed off 300 pictures.

This was all part of a kids fest held each year in the county for kids to come to learn about fire and traffic safety, get their fingerprints done and play games, all for free. We were sponsored by the Hillsdale county Farm Bureau, the Hillsdale County Dairy Promoters and the Michigan Milk Producers Association.

Two local dairy families organized and worked the event. The pictures are of the Hillsdale County Sheriff, Stan Burchart, and my son JW and me.

Our 4-H club, in Harvard, IL called the Milky Way 4-H Club, celebrates Dairy month by doing a dairy exhibit and a petting zoo at the local festival called Harvard Milk Days. Attached is a picture of the very last class at our Milk Days Dairy Cattle Show 2008. The class is the Pee Wee Showmanship. The youngster all the way to the left is my son, Justin (1yr and 2 month) with his uncle Philip Shanks (15). This class is to help get the younger youth interested in the dairy.

For the Dairy Exhibit, we hand out flyers with information on them about the dairy industry. We also run a video on the TV showing two of the local dairy farms. The video shows cows being fed, milked and relaxing. You can view the video by going to http://milkdays.com and clicking on the photos link, and then clicking on the youtube link.

For the Petting Zoo, we had a Jersey calf, Brown Swiss calf, and a cross (Holstein & Brown Swiss).
~Submitted by Tim Shanks

Sale week is progressing at warp speed at Kingsmill Farm II. The week’s flush activity took place on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for March
calves with good results. Embryos that were frozen for later implantation can soon be viewed on the embryo page of www.kingsmillfarmii.com.

The Kingsmill showstring is in place at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds. Approximately 115 lots will sell in the sale and they are shaping up nicely under the direction of Joel Phoenix and his crew. All show and sale events are being held in the spacious Jim Graham building where air conditioning protects the 100,000 square feet of exhibition space from the warm North Carolina temperatures. Many sale guests and sale staff members will arrive today and details surrounding the sale are being shored up.

Exciting late breaking updates for the sale cattle include yesterday’s classification at the farm of the host, Kingsmill. The dam of Lot 28, Topaz, is now EX-93 and really looks the part, as does the dam of Lot 113, Robust, at EX-91, making this consignment a potential 15th generation EX. Duchess, a Durham from Chief Adeen is now VG-88
in her 1st lactation and is the dam of Lot 37, while Addella-Red, the Advent sister to Della-Red is now EX-91 and is the dam of Lot 117.

Tomorrow, June 6, is the open house at the farm and sale at the fairgrounds. If you can’t attend the sale, be sure to check out all the action live online beginning at 4 pm.

As reported by Julie Brown

Hi – I’m Nicole Head from Headline Farm in Madison County, NY. I am currently entered in a contest to sing with Rascal Flatts on www.milkrocks.com. I am the only video that truly does state that “milk rocks” and you’ll find me singing in the barn with all my milkmakers! If you could go on milkrocks.com and look for my video and vote, that would be greatly appreciated! Also, if you could spread the word around the dairy universe, that would be awesome! Thank you so much!

* currently on page 6 of the entries

25th Annual Young Producer Leadership Conference Hosted by Accelerated Genetics

Guest Bloggers: Kari Stanek, Communications & Public Relations Coordinator – Accelerated Genetics
Amber Elliott, Public Relations & Advertising Intern – Accelerated Genetics

This past weekend (March 29-30, 2008) Accelerated Genetics CELEBRATED by hosting it’s 25th Annual Young Producer Leadership Conference entitled ‘Cultivating Leaders’! Over 60 producers representing dairy and beef operations across Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois ‘grew’ their leadership, communication and inter-generational relationship skills.

March 29, 2008:
The conference kicked off Saturday morning with Kari Stanek setting the parameters of the weekend and challenging the producers right away with a homework assignment of developing individual and business goals throughout the weekend. As goals provide direction and purpose and will ultimately help these producers to be more successful.

Jolene Brown otherwise known as ‘Farmer Brown’ of West Branch, Iowa helped producers find ‘humor’ in everyday life. Through her entertaining real-life stories, she shared how humor is essential to making life interesting and bearable especially during the challenges life throws at us.

Producers then had the opportunity to introduce themselves by sharing an item they brought with that shows the role they play on the farm or tells something about them personally. A tool of choice for many producers was the handy pocket knife or a wrench, but there was also breeding guns, syringes, and duct tape as some of the other favorites of the group.

Following lunch Jolene Brown took the group on a unique journey in her session titled ‘How to Lead When No One Wants to Follow’. She helped the group uncover what makes a good leader and why. Then shared the generational profiles, as many family farms have multiple generations involved, thus having a clear understanding of the ways each likes to work, how they communicate and even how they think will help foster better farm family relationships and in the end help the farm business succeed. She concluded her session sharing from her perspective ‘The Top Ten Stupid Things Families Do to Break Up Their Business’ This thought provoking section kept producers at the edge of their seats and brought out many more questions they will need to consider. Ultimately Jolene’s session helped producers laugh, celebrate and understand the value of leadership.

During the dinner Saturday evening, Roger Ripley, President and CEO of Accelerated Genetics shared some of the cooperative’s achievements, direction and some of the vision for the future, which encouraged the importance of listening to cooperative member input. Next Brian Brown, Chair of the Board of Directors for Accelerated Genetics talked of cooperative opportunities and how being involved off of the farm in agricultural organizations, like Accelerated Genetics, is important to the success of the farm business as you have the opportunity to network with others and learn how there are different ways to be successful.

Then Kari Stanek brought the group together to help CELEBRATE the 25th Young Producer Leadership Conference with a special program recognizing Roger Ripley for his dedication to cultivating leaders for agriculture and Accelerated Genetics. Roger helped to originally develop the Young Producer Program at Accelerated Genetics. Through gifts of gardening supplies as symbols representing how Roger ‘cultivated leaders’, Kari along with Brian Brown, Chair of the Board of Directors; Yogi Brown, past Young Producer Committee member; Janet Keller, Vice President of Advertising, Public Relations and Communications; Carol Anderson, Board of Director; John Pronschinske, Board of Director; Bruce Odeen, retired Vice President of Public Relations and Advertising; and Jolene Brown gave Roger a heartfelt dedication ceremony.

Jolene Brown presented Roger the a bag of fertilizer signifying some the special things such as P for Patience and K for Kindness that Roger has sprinkled into producers to encourage them to do more and help them grow as leaders.

The evening concluded with the Keepers and Questions session which gave producers the opportunity to share a keeper from the day (a quote, a thought or an idea they will take home) and to ask questions of Jolene Brown about her thought provoking day, Roger Ripley, Brian Brown and Janet Keller about Accelerated Genetics. Then producers had the opportunity to network with each other the rest of the night and celebrate time away together!

Samantha Miller of Lodi, Wis. shares her question and keeper.

Roger Ripley answers questions about the future of Accelerated Genetics as it is a bright one with future leaders like this group.

Much fun was had throughout the nights networking time and one couple, Randy & Ashley Thull of Keewauskum, Wis., even showed off their Polka dancing abilities to get the fun started!

March 30, 2008:
The morning came early for this group, and they raised their blood pressure up quickly with the first session ‘Make Every Conversation Count’ presented by Stacy Dohle an Industry Relations Manager for Midwest
Dairy Association of Pleasant Hope, Missouri. She started off by asking the group their thoughts on what are some of the big issues facing the dairy and beef industries today.

Next she introduced a surprise guest for a panel discussion that provoked the group into a frenzy. When it was all over the producers were able to re-evaluate how they should handle those difficult questions from consumers and news media.

Dan Schriener, Westby, Wis.; Virginia Hatfield, Viola, Wis.; Craig Fietzer, Manawa, Wis.; and special guest Wendy Pinkerton a.k.a. ‘Annie House’ discuss the tough issues.

This session continued with Stacy and Wendy sharing some recent data about what information and assurances consumers are demanding and needing from agricultural producers. And producers were then given tools and techniques to help them to step out, stand up and Speak Out about their farm business, the nutritious product they produce and why communication outreach is a necessary aspect of the business plan for dairy and beef operations these days. And finally producers got to practice their communication skills through mock situations that they as a producer could find themselves in.

Becky Simonson and Jeff Muellenberg of Norwalk, Wis. practice their communication skills as if they were talking to a group of 7th graders visiting their farm.

Next Tom Jadin, a mental health counselor and speaker from Shioton, Wisconsin, shared a humorous session called ‘Only the Strong Survive”. He raised the question to the producer group “Why do some people look enthused, dedicated and vigorous (and have successful farm businesses) as they take on new changes, challenges, and choices while others look frazzled and worn out?”

The conference ended with a graduation ceremony for producers and the comment “Leaders aren’t born – They invent themselves through effort – so its really up to you to become a leader!”

Many producers asked this weekend ‘Why’ Accelerated Genetics feels so strongly about cultivating leaders. Kari Stanek responded, “Accelerated Genetics wants to help producers be more successful in their farm business and since most farms are family owned fostering farm family relationships is key to business prosperity. We want producers to be strong leaders and promoters of agriculture as they are their own best advocates for the product they produce (milk, beef, etc). And they need to inform the consumer how they care for their animals and the environment. Furthermore, Accelerated Genetics is a cooperative, the attendees of this conference are cooperative members and we need strong, progressive leaders to help guide this cooperative in the future!”

For those interested in Accelerated Genetics Young Producer events, the upcoming activities include:

Summer Meltdown – June 7, 2008 at Larson Acres, Inc. in Evansville, Wis. Producers and their families will tour their calf barn, special needs barn, parlor, two four-row freestall barns, feed storage along with the highlight will be learning about their new innovative approach to nutrient management with their sand/manure separator and water filtration system. Then producers will enjoy a picnic lunch on the farm followed by a special Farm Safety Demonstration.

Fall Conference – November 1-2, 2008 in Wausau, Wis. This conference will feature numerous speakers and educational sessions pertaining to Recycling On-arm Plastic, Obtaining Farm Grants, Animal Health and Vaccination Programs, Commodity Marketing, and Media Training and Consumer Impressions. Saturday evening there will be a themed dinner along with a comedian and Sunday the conference will conclude with elections for the Young Producer Committee. This committee, made up of young producers from across the Midwest, is responsible for brainstorming and coordinating each of the Young Producer activities.

Winter Get-Away – January 31-February 1, 2009 in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. Bring the whole family for a weekend of fun, learning and networking at this Young Producer activity!

If you live in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois – the Accelerated Genetics cooperative membership areas – and are interested in attending future Young Producer events check out the Accelerated Genetics website www.accelgen.com or contact Kari Stanek 800.451.9275 ext. 222 or kstanek@accelgen.com.

This weekend marks the start of another Accelerated Genetics Young Producer program in Wisconsin Dells, WI. The 2008 Winter Get-Away is open to any producer-farm owners or herdspeople in the Accelerated Genetics member areas. This wild weekend get-away at the Kalahari Resort in the Dells is designed for young producers – individuals, couples and their families. It is a great way to get rid of the winter blahs, get off the farm to spend time enjoying life and learn something new. This is just one weekend of four Young Producer programs during the year. A leadership conference is scheduled for late March; the summer meltdown weekend for June and a fall conference in late autumn.

Combining a mixture of fun activities (Safari dress code, waterpark time, scavenger hunts, etc.) and informational seminars (such as farm safety, balancing work and family life, networking), it is an action-packed weekend.

Look for updates from the Accelerated staff as the action kicks off. And be sure to watch for photos from the Kalahari, as this will also serve as the official site of this June””””s National Holstein Convention!

HW: What”s the biggest struggle you face as a young dairyman in today”s industry?  Where do you see yourself five years from now? 
 
Saul Dorado Rodriguez: The greatest fight in Spain is the little support that occurs to our sector.  From raising young cattle to selling milk, we need a new milk pricing system that will stabilize the profitability of farmers and give confidence to those investing in our business.  The system of quotas, at this moment, is not safe and less and less people want to work with cows.
 
I hope that in the near future, things are solved and we receive more support from the government, since in the end, we are the producers of a food of first necessity for the world…milk. 
I hope to be able to continue working on the farm and to expand my herd a little.  Mainly, I hope to be able to continue improving the quality of the animals and consequently, raise the confidence that our clients have in our cattle.

HW: What bulls are you using and why?  Do you feel there are particular bloodlines from the U.S. that would work well in your herd?

Saul Dorado Rodriguez: In this moment, we are using: Roylane Jordan , STVBQ Rubens, Ocean-View Zenith, Erbacres Damion, Goldwyn , Mesland Duplex for breeding cows.  And for flushing, we are using Dolman, Lou, Baxter, Carisma and other modern sires.  The bloodlines of the USA that we like the most are the DURHAM lines. I think they are very consistent in type, udder, structures and have enough production.  In fact, we feel that Durham will probably have the most influence in the history of the breed!  We’re waiting to see which BW Marshall son will turn out the best, but will use them and Roy sons in the future.