 |
Brought To you by:
|
| Home |
The Gold Rush Convention last weekend in Sacramento, CA, was a celebration of people and the dairy industry. Here are some more scenes to enjoy, provided by photographer Kristi Migliazzo. Check back for even more pictures later!
Our Holstein World intern Leah Henkes has been busy following the Presidential Campaign Trail that kicked off in her home state of Iowa.
The 2008 Presidential Trail
By Leah Henkes
Upon entering the community center I saw people in their preference groups visiting with each other. The room was full of political conversation. As I sat at the table and registered I saw many new and familiar faces filling in the dot of who they planned to support. I was so excited to be part of history. The night was about to begin, the clock struck 7:00. Where was I? I was at the Iowa Caucus. As the night went on different candidates emerged as the leaders of the pact. By the end of the night all the groups remaining were viable and assigned their appropriate number of delegates. The experience was one I will never forget.
After my caucus experience, I was given the opportunity to interview dairy farmers and see what issues matter most to them. I have spent a lot of time in my government class studying the issues affecting us. I really enjoyed discussing politics with the dairymen and, of course, we got off track to discuss genetics and other issues!
Leading candidates views on agricultural policies (as reported from their websites)
Mike Huckabee - Republican, Age 52, Arkansas
* Supports Farm Subsidies - He says subsidies insulate farmers during natural disasters like droughts, floods and hurricanes as well as sudden spikes in prices of fuel, feed and fertilizer.
* Supports a fully-funded crop insurance program - His program will be based on low yields and/or low prices rather than the current program which is based on only low prices.
* He thinks subsidies are necessary so American farmers can compete with European and Asian farmers who are being subsidized.
* He knows our agriculture policies must encourage young people to enter and stay involved in farming.
John McCain - Republican, Age 71, Arizona
* Supports crop insurance.
* He says inheritance tax should kick in only at a level of about $5 million.
* Supports lowering barriers to product goods and products from other countries, if they agree to lower theirs.
* Doesn””””””””t support ethanol production.
Mitt Romney - Republican, Age 60, Massachusetts
* Supports Farm Subsidies - He believes our farmers need to be given the same treatment as farmers in Europe and other markets.
* Supports open international markets for American products.
Hillary Clinton - Democrat, Age 60, New York
* Has fought to maintain resource conservation programs, economic development programs and specialty crop programs
* Focuses on family farms - make sure trade agreements work for the big agri-businesses and the small farmers.
* Thinks trade needs to be more of a win-win situation; look for ways to maximize the impact of what America is trying to export and stop being taken advantage of by other countries.
John Edwards - Democrat, Age 54, North Carolina
* Supports rural development and plans to redirect funds so they go to the intended rural areas.
* Supports strict enforcement of laws against anticompetitive mergers, unfair pricing and country of origin laws.
* Will enact a strong national ban on packer ownership to stop the spread of large cooperate hog interests.
* To help small farmers he will also limit farm subsidies to $250,000 per person, close loopholes in payment limits and expand conservation programs.
Barack Obama - Democrat, Age 46, Illinois
* Supports capping farm subsidies and not giving the money to a few large agribusinesses.
* Supports new ethanol refineries to help jumpstart rural communities.
* Will work to break down trade barriers to keep American farmers competitive - ensures that all trade agreements contain strong and enforceable labor, environmental, health and safety standards so American farmers can complete on a level playing field.
I thought it would be fun to interview some local area Holstein breeders and get their viewpoints of the early stages of this very exciting race. Here”””””””’’s what they had to say:
(Note: These are opinions only. They do not reflect the company position at Holstein World and are not intended for promotion of any one candidate.)
Larry Tande
Medford, MN
Vice President Holstein Association USA
Herd Size: 45 Registered Holsteins
Lactation Average: 25,000 lbs with a BAA of 111.4%
He breeds for type but respects production knowing management is an important factor.
Leah: What political issues are important to you as a dairy farmer?
Larry: The Farm Bill is important to agriculture and all commodity groups. The MILC (Milk Income Loss Contract) is an issue with many of our dairy producers. The cap on production under the current program has been more advantageous for the smaller operations, with many of our larger producers wanting this cap increased. At this point in time there are different versions coming out of the House and Senate, with a Conference Committee to determine the final outcome.
The total cap on farm subsidies paid to individual farm operations has been a political football. Some advocate limits, which is more than our Southern States Legislators are comfortable with due to their size, especially around cotton, peanuts & sugar. Then there is the question, how will they be paid for, especially if there is a larger increase in the total Farm Bill, than the White House is comfortable with — and the threat of a veto.
2007 has been a great year for milk prices, but the costs of petroleum, corn, protein, hay, fertilizer, land prices (rent), etc. have reduced the profit margins. The ethanol production in the United States has really increased the cost of feed (corn, protein, hay, etc.). What will be the long term effect on livestock production in the US?
Leah: Is there a specific candidate who is more for agriculture than another?
Larry: An interesting question. While the media is full of everything else on each candidate, very little has been said or questions have been asked on agriculture. While most generally follow their “party lines,” details are never known until they win their party”””””””’’s endorsement, and they make a major statement on Agricultural Policy, before commodity groups in the US. I really couldn””””””””t point to any current candidate over another in the “agriculture arena.”
Mark Kerndt
Premier Genetics
Waukon, IA
Herd Size: 45 Registered Holsteins
Rolling Herd Average: 25,000 lbs
Leah: What political issues are important to you as a dairy farmer?
Mark: I am a dairy farmer but a U.S. Citizen first. The economy is a major issue. It is still going good as of now though. I hope the trade policies stay fair and don””””””””t become a hindrance to people who want to export goods. I think National Security is our nation”””””””’’s most important issue. But I also hope that interest rates remain reasonable so we don””””””””t go into a recession. Energy independence is also very important especially for our state and agriculture in general. I hope that the next president will continue to support the production of ethanol and renewable energy.
Leah: Is there a specific candidate who is more for agriculture than another?
Mark: It is hard to get a candidate for agriculture. They won””””””””t come out with their ag policies until after the primaries.
Phil Specht
McGregor, IA
Herd Size: 165 Registered Holsteins, 98% homebred
Lactation Average: 19,000 lbs as a grazier herd
Phil is a member of the State Central Democratic Committee and a past chair of state platform committee.
Leah: Is there a specific candidate who you are supporting for their agriculture policies?
Phil: I supported John Edwards because of his promises to end corporate interests in Washington taking over. The justice department hasn””””””””t taken the right responses to competitive forces (”monopoly tendencies”) of the corporate interests that are gaining the the upper hand. The cost of health care is also a pressing issue for the nation. John Edwards offers the most comprehensive plan for the total United States and especially farm families.
In my precinct, however, the John Edwards group was not viable so I joined Barack Obama”””””””’’s group. I didn””””””””t back Hillary Clinton because of the choices the justice department made in 1998 when they failed to defend independent hog producers during the 1998 packer squeeze. Although I think Clinton as Senator of New York better understands the dairy issues.
Leroy Eggink
Great Heritage Holsteins
Sibley, IA
Herd Size: 46 Registered Holsteins
Rolling Herd Average: 24,000 lbs of milk with a BAA of 110.3%
Leah: Is there a specific candidate who you are supporting for their agriculture policies?
Leroy: I am supporting Mike Huckabee because of moral values and where he stands on the moral issues. It isn””””””””t all about just him as president but also the people he elects to serve with him. I have a strong faith and I want my president to have the same values.
For a period of fourteen hours the residents of Southwest and South Central Missouri were terrorized Monday evening into Tuesday morning with dozens of tornados and a total of sixty-two seperate tornado warnings. Two fatalities occurred along with dozens of injuries and damages that were very extensive from the Southwest tip of Missouri in McDonald County to Phelps County in Rolla and at too many points to name in between.
We were hit by a twister on the farm that came through at 3:30 AM. It is indeed a miracle and most fortunate looking at the aftermath that we and/or some of our animals were not hurt. Here”””’’s a look at some of the property damage. There”””’’s going to be a lot of clean up which will become apparent to some that have visited this farm, because we do try to keep it looking neat. It is not so neat in places right now-as follows-
These two sheds, which previously frequently housed some of my show heifers, were pulled from the ground, lifted up and dropped onto a fence where they were impaled on the steel posts, like some Paul Bunyan size character had been playing and suddenly became tired of his toys……They are damaged enough they””””ll probably be broken down and hauled away….. This is looking to the west and you can barely see my home in the back of the second barn. My wonderment is, how did all the beautiful big trees near the yard stay up? And you””””ll wonder too, in another couple of shots….
Another view of one barn looking to the east. The tornado came from the west and continued on to the north and west as you will see.
Continuing the path to the North and slightly west-I would estimate that at least 60% of this small patch of woods, which is just south of our big barn and where my registered cows spent many a happy hour resting beside their hillside pasture venue, are demolished and will have to be cut down, cut up, and cleaned up.
Mother Nature”””’’s way of making a property remodel necessary. If it isn””””t down, it”””’’s mangled….
Of course it took down the tall ones. Some of the biggest ones are down, gone for good.
Mother Nature”””’’s other “calling card” was to our house, and that”””’’s a little harder to show with the same drama, but let”””’’s just say, she cranked on it. The roof will need to be replaced, the insulation in the attic is soaked which of course must be taken out and replaced, there”””’’s cracks and twists and brick moved iout of position and well, it”””’’s kind of a mess. We are still analyzing the extent of that at this time.
The weather had called for a possible risk of an “isolated tornado” with no expectation of an outbreak and one of the weathermen locally said when it was over,”In case you were wondering, that was an outbreak.”
We feel so glad we are OK, as we were in the house when it happened and it was just that fast, there was not time to think about it much. I never knew in time to get frightened, and was only after I saw everything that occurred. I did hear sort of a rumble comparable to a stock trailer driving along for about thirty seconds, but no roar like the infamous train you hear about, and the house just sort of shuddered for just a moment, like a living creature when cold….that was all. There was lots of hail and water, and that started coming in all over the place a bit later. That”””’’s when we knew, still prior to daylight, that we had issues with the house.
Many, many homes were completely destroyed in this storm. My parents lost three small barns and my aunt and cousins lost three of their bigger barns. They are all 100 miles west. It was a “perfect storm” in some ways and records indicate the last outbreak of this kind in January happened in the late 60”””’’s.
Many across the country are facing their first real blasts of winter this week, with snow, ice and cold temperatures. Accelerated Genetics has just released an informational update on how to care for baby calves during this very tough season. The article was published in the Fall 2007 issue of Genetic Trends.
Click here or paste this link into your web browser:
http://www.holsteinworld.com/Classified/uploaded/nov07.6.pdf
Lynn and Sara Harbaugh are the proud new parents of Logan Alan Harbaugh, 8 pounds 2 ounces, 19 inches long, born Friday morning at 7:55 a.m! Logan joins his big brother Jacob and their parents at home in Pine River, WI. Congratulations to a fantastic family!
Siobhan Sullivan, pictured here with John Bierbaum, host of the Summer Event Sale, and her family”’’s consignment (Sully Hill Dairy Co.) that topped the sale, is a Holstein Youth with equal passions for registered Holsteins and figure skating. A member of the Rochester Figure Skating Club, she””ll be showing cows at the Minnesota State Fair and competing in Figure Skating Finals the same week! Siobhan”’’s goal is to make the nationals that will be hosted in Minneapolis in January 2008. She already has been designated an award presenter at these finals. Good luck Siobhan, with your skating and continued success with your Holsteins!
Richman Farms in Medina, Ohio was the site of destruction last week as a tornado blasted through the farm and destroyed three barns. Richman Farms is the family operation where our staff member, Jenny Thomas, grew up. Follwing is a link to an article in the Medina County Gazette, that contains a lot of detail about how the surrounding community came together to help. http://wp.medina-gazette.com/2007/08/11/top-stories/ruined-barn-remains-a-monument-to-farming-life/
It is a very moving, well-written piece.
I was suprised and saddened to receive news from Scientific Holsteins last week about the passing of their great Durham, Debutante. Named Reserve Grand Champion of the International Holstein Show at World Dairy Expo in 2005, Debutante was admired by so many as not only a tremendous show winner, but a prominent member of the Roxy family. Among the great memories, many including this HW staff member will never forget seeing Matt and Mandy’’s daughters interact with this stunning animal. Clearly the admiration was mutual between her and the girls. Last week Mandy wrote what was, I am sure a very difficult note to holstein enthusiasts all over, as follows:
The Ehrhardt family of Baldwin, MD, sadly announces that Ehrhardt Astro Jody-ET (EX-94) was put to sleep earlier this month. Jody would have been 17 years old in September. She had an amazing list of accomplishments, including five lactations over 30,000M and lifetime totals of 327,000M and 15,330F. Kevin Ehrhardt reports that Jody was still milking 35 lbs. on their test day in June…and that was on a lactation of 3,054 days. Jody has 25 daughters to date, with two more pregnancies coming in September by Outside. Those two are her last offspring to be born. Of the 25 on the ground, nine are EX (3 at 93, 3 at 91 and 3 at 90) and 10 are VG.
Jody spent a month at New Bolton’’s Veterinary Hospital as a 5-year-old, suffering from a heart murmur. The staff sent her home and recommended that the family dry her off and let her rest for the remainder of the lactation. They didn”t think she”d milk any more that year. It turns out, that was 1996…the year Jody completed a record of over 40,000M, was Res. Grand Champion in the Junior Show at Harrisburg and 1st 5-year-old in the Junior Show at Madison. She went on to become Junior All-American that year as well.
Jody is buried on the farm right next to the farm sign, and incidentally, is the cow that’’s painted on their farm sign.
You don”t often run across cows like this - that have such a strong will to survive, succeed in the showring and at home, and fuel a passion for Registered Holsteins in four young men at Ehrhardt Farms. She’’s known on a one-name basis by many across the state and country, and she can most likely be connected to part of the success that Ehrhardt Farms continues to have today. You can read more about Jody, her offspring and the entire Ehrhardt family by visiting their website at www.ehrhardtfarms.net.
What could be better than picture-perfect weather, a visit to one of Wisconsin”””’’s premier Norwegian towns (which is important to Scandinavians!!) and a day spent with the top journalists of the industry…all hosted by an extremely fun and hospitable group of A.I. people? Not much! This time last week, I was enjoying just such a day when Accelerated Genetics opened their doors for a special media tour. The group of journalists were treated to an opening reception at the Main Production Facility in Westby, WI, site, with opening remarks made by Roger Ripley, President and CEO of Accelerated Genetics.
Some brief history for you — Accelerated Genetics was formed in March 1941 as Tri-State Breeders, a cooperative offering high quality genetics and choices for dairy producers. The membership area covers Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and parts of northern Illinois, and includes a group of dynamic producers that are very involved in the evolution of product development at Accelerated Genetics. The last three years of business have been the best in history, with a 10% increase in sales last year over the previous year (37.6 million). This year is right on target to exceed those figures and Ripley credits three main reasons for their growth 1. they are at their highest genetic levels ever, giving their sales reps a great lineup to work with; 2. innovative technologies stressing fertility first are now available; 3. PEOPLE!
The Accelerated Genetics team then gave us a tour of their West Farm Production Facility, which is just west of town and is the site of where the most recent facilities have been built. The Main Facility continues to be in use for bull housing and collection. The West Farm Facility houses the largest EU qualified population of bulls in the US and is also home to the largest collection facility in the country. Roger Hanson, Vice President of Farm & Barn Operations explained that there are 750 bulls housed on three different farms on Accelerated Genetics 750 acres. They raise all their own feed and the biggest management issue they face is nutrition, ensuring proper weight management of the bulls. Young bulls are brought into the facility early (3-5 mos.), so that Accelerated Genetics personnel can properly manage nutrition from an early age. Currently they are sampling 150 Holstein and 25-30 protein breed bulls a year.
Hanson also let us see the collection area from a special viewing window, explaining that they collect five days a week, starting at 6:30 in the morning. Each bull is collected three times a week, and while we were there, Walhowdon Marshall Harry-ET, an EX-93 BW Marshall son, was in the collection ring. Bulls stand on a lime/shavings mix during collection, not rubber matting. They average 70 bulls/day in the collection arena, with 35 people working in the barns, 7 people processing semen and 5 people in the semen distribution center. A brand new 10,000-sq. foot semen distribution center and new EU semen processing laboratory are adjacent to the collection facility, the Accel Inn bull barn and the Palace bull barn, and they are spotlessly clean, right down the windows and doorways!
Probably the biggest news coming from Accelerated Genetics these days is the introduction of two new technologies — Affirm™ and Bovatel™.
AFFIRM™is an innovative new technology that enhances the fertility of semen to improve conception rates in both cows and heifers. Affirm semen uses the same breeding protocols as conventional semen and is available on virtually all Accelerated Genetics bulls. This semen lives longer than conventional semen and that means an average of 6% more conceptions (based on field trial data).
BOVATEL™ is gender-bias semen that will yield more heifer calves without compromising fertility. Research has shown that Bovatel provides an additional 10 heifer calves for every 100 pregnancies. Bovatel is the only product of its kind that uses a gender-bias processing procedure which is proprietary to and available exclusively from Accelerated Genetics. Other sexed semen technologies have lower fertility because of their processing, while Bovatel”””’’s processing procedure does not lower fertility. The key advantages of Bovatel is it can be used on both cows and heifers, requires no special equipment or handling and is available on virtually all proven sires in the lineup and is now also available on PACE young sires.
Accelerated Genetics sales representatives carry both conventional (014 stud code) and Bovatel (514 stud code) semen.
Plans for the future
Accelerated Genetics is continuing to build barns at their West Farm site, with a specialty bull barn in progress for both dairy and beef sires. It will will contain 24 stalls with some having outside runs for their beef bulls. And another barn is almost completed that will house 54 bulls individually and this new barn along with 2 other similarly built barns will all be qualified for EU status, adding another 150 bulls to their already large population EU qualified sires.
One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to downtown Baraboo and dinner with my good friends Joe & Kari Stanek and their daughter Sykora. Joe & Kari both work at Accelerated Genetics (Joe is in charge of the Accelerated Genetics GEMpc mating program and also covers south central Wisconsin as a Herd Analyst while Kari is the Communications & Public Relations Coordinator with numerous responsibilities that include being Young Producer Program leader). We had a great dinner while Joe shared some fun cultural experiences he”””’’s had while mating cows for Accelerated Genetics in Costa Rica, Panama and Mexico to name just a few places! We also went to the opening night of the Sauk County Fair and I got to attend one of my favorite summertime events — the tractor pull! They pulled conventional tractors, modified tractors and even semi trucks!
The next day I spent riding with Joe as he visited several herds on the Accelerated Genetics GEMpc Mating Program. There are some herds he visits four times a year (usually the larger 1,000+ cow dairies) and others that he goes to just once a year, depending on producer preferences. One of our stops was to a 100-cow Holstein & Jersey organic dairy. There was quite an improvement in the younger 2-year-olds in the herd that were a result of the mating program, and the producer was more than a little excited about the visual progress he was seeing. We hopped in his gator and took off for the pastures to evaluate cows. I haven””””t laughed (or bounced) that hard in a long time. This was the first time I had been to an organic farm, and was interested to hear how this producer felt about the marketing of organic versus conventional milk. It was refreshing to hear him say that he wished there wasn””””t so much competition between the two. He feels that misleading labeling has confused most consumers to believe that there”””’’s a huge difference between the two types of milk. His hope is that both “sides” can come together to market milk in a unified effort — making it better for all producers involved.
Joe said he enjoys working with the GEMpc mating program for the sole reason of seeing improvements in his customers”””” herds. “The program is so flexible that it can really meet every producers”””” needs and it interfaces with all farm software.” Any bull that”””’’s had a USDA proof and/or has been frozen/sold in the U.S. is available to use on the program, and all studs are included, even some herd bulls.
We went to a few more stops that day, listening to what producers biggest concerns were and what results they””””ve been happy with and walking through numerous cows to inspect and evaluate them. We went to large dairies, smaller dairies, farms that dock tails, farms that use pasture and farms that don””””t…you name it and we saw it…even some of the original “Big Ass” fans that truly were just that! It is impressive to see how uniform and consistent the resulting generations of cows are and it”””’’s always a good reminder to see how varied and diverse the industry is.
For more information on any bulls, products or services offered by Accelerated Genetics, please visit their website at www.accelgen.com. There, you””””ll find special sections on Affirm and Bovatel as well. And if you get a chance to stop by Westby, WI, be sure stop for lunch at the Westby House Bed & Breakfast in town…you””””ll eat some of the best desserts in the world!