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All-Riehl Holsteins Complete Dispersal

Friday, August 20th, 2010

It was a beautiful day in Himrod, NY today for the All-Riehl Holsteins Complete Dispersal.  A large crowd was on hand for the sale that averaged $2764 on 103 full lots. 


The high seller at $20,000 was Lot 5 - JK-Gold Dorcy Pastry, a 4/10 Dorcy with GTPI +2239 – the #2 Dorcy in the Breed from the “P Family” at All-Riehl.  She was purchased by TAW of Dryden, NY.


Second high seller at $14,500 was Lot 9 – UFM-Dubs Elemire-ET, an 8/09 Vieuxsaule Malicieux x VG-87 DOM Goldwyn x UFM-DUBS Eroy VG-87 DOM x 4 more VG/EX dams.  She is also the #1 Malicieux of the Breed at +2070 GTPI.

Other High Sellers:
LOT 48 – $5,000 – A VG-87  Toystory x Savage-Leigh Leighanna-ET EX-91 x VG-88 Aaron Linny x 2E-92 GMD-DOM Bellwood Linda
LOT 6 – $5400 – A 5/10 Dorcy from the “P Family” with GTPI +2046
LOT 6a & 6b – $8,000 – Three #1 and five #2 DT Superstition embryos from Rabur Toy Past-ET (VG-85)
LOT 4 – $6200 – Rabur Toy Past-ET (VG-85)
LOT 10 – $9500 – An 8/09 Leif backed by 11 VG/EX dams, including 4th dam Johncar Rudolph Ginger (3E-94 GMD DOM)
LOT 11 – $6000 – An 8/09 full sister to Lot 10
LOT 1 – $5300 – Maple-Nook Runaway-Red-ET, a VG-86 VG-MS @ 2-06 Advent x Ridgedale-T Radiance-ET (EX-90)
LOT 55 – $9500 – A 12/09 Planet with GTPI +2214 from the “P Family” – 8 of 9 dams VG/EX
LOT 17  - $5300 – A 4/10 Gabor from the “P Family” with GTPI +2057
LOT 13A – $8000 – 1st Choice Garrett female from three 8/10 females out of the “P Family”
LOT 13 – $7200 – A VG-86 VG-MS Toystory x VG-86 DOM Throne x VG-85 DOM Outside x 3E-93 DOM Rudolph Pansy
LOT 31 – $6500 – An 8/08 Socrates from the “P Family”

More scenes from the day:


New York Holstein’s newest Holstein breeder

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Ayden Charles McEvoy joined the New York Holstein fraternity on July 25, born to very proud first-time parents Ken & Lydia. The McEvoys own and operate Mac-Mara Holsteins in Marathon, NY, operated by Ken and his father, Charlie (the 2009 New York Active Master Breeder Award Recipient). Congratulations Ken & Lydia!!

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2010 National Red & White Convention Activities!

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

The National Red & White Convention was held July 21-23 in Harrisonburg, VA and field reporter Nate Oleniacz sent us some highlights!

A judging contest was held for youth and adults on Wednesday, July 21st and the winners were:

Under 15 years of age
1. Brooke Ambler
2. Zach Seekford

15 to 21 year of age
1. Abbi Lee Goldenberg
2. Shawon Vande Zande

21 years of age and older
1. Dick Mellinger
2. Steve Roads

R&W Junior memebers judging
Junior members put their judging skills to the test!

R&W Hannah Thompson talks about the class at hand
Hannah Thompson talks about the class at hand.

This year, the Red & White Dairy Cattle Association sponsored a the Red & White Queen contest for the first time under the direction of contest creator Stephanie Aves.

R&W contest creator Stephanie Aves and this years Queen contestants
Hannah Thompson, Queen contestant from Maryland; Stephanie Aves, contest director; Abbi Lee Goldenberg, Queen contestant from Texas.

R&W Hannah Thompson and Abbi Lee Goldenburg Hannah is our 1st Red and white Queen
Hannah Thompson of Maryland was named the 2010 Red & White Queen; Abbi Lee Goldenberg was 1st runner up.

Everyone involved would like to thank the sponsors of this new contest:
Greenlea Holsteins – Richard Green
Julie Tracy – Wagner Farms/Glenview 4-H Club
Jake Skinner
St-Yle Holsteins
Debbie Cornman Studios
Holstein World
Southeast RWDCA

Wendon Holsteins of Innisfail, AB

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

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Wendon Holsteins is a 2x Master Breeder Herd that is owned and operated by Don & Wendy Chalack, and son Logan. They currently crop 500 acres of dry hay and barley. The milking herd consists of 50 cows with a RHA of 24,288M 876F 750P. They are scored 15 EX, 30 VG and 14 GP. Cows eat all dry hay and a 16% dairy ration.

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Left: Wendon Dundee Diva VG-87 2y (Owned with Atlappel)
Center: Wendon Dundee Divinia VG-87 2y
Right: Their Dam, Wendon Triumph Divine EX-94 2E 2*
Renaissance Triumphant x VG-87 x EX-95 15* x EX 4* x EX 11*
*There is another Dundee daughter of Divine who scored VG-87 @ 2yrs, and is now EX-91 for her owners, Ferme Arolene, Quebec.

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Left: VG-88 Damion x VG-88 Gibson
Right: VG-88 Goldwyn x VG Champion

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EX Outside x VG Cousteau

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007

Brummelhuis Morty Jenny EX-92

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2E Storm x 3E Skychief x EX Starbuck

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Left: EX Goldwyn x VG Cousteau
Right: VG-88 Goldwyn x VG Terrason

A new baby at Hodglynn!

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

Congratulations to Adam and Sarah Hodgins on the birth of their new baby girl last week, Bella Rose, who weighed in at 8lbs. 4 oz.!

Legacy of Lantland and NY Holstein Summer Picnic

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

The extremely hot tempurates and humidity all week as well as heavy rains on Friday led to a beatiful clear day on Saturday to be enjoyed by a large crowd at the NY Holstein Summer Picnic at Lantland Farm in Horseheads, NY. A delicious meal featuring home-raised beef, a barn full of high quality Lantland cattle and the beautiful scenery were enjoyed by all prior to the Legacy of Lantland Sale.Â

Legacy of Lantland Sale
Final average on 95 full lots: $2,593




The top seller at $10,700 was Lot 13 – Lantland Lucifer Imagine (EX-91 91-MS) who was consigned by the sale host, Lantland Farm, and purchased by Don & Janice Smith of Franklin, NY.


Second high seller at $7,700 was Lot 16 – Cook-Farm Mac Fever, the VG-87 Mac daughter of Cook-Farm Roy Freestyle (2E-93) followed by 6 more Excellent dams back to Elevations Fayvor (5E-95 GMD DOM). She was consigned by Gordon Cook of Hadley, MA, Jason Pullis, Agent.


The third high seller of the day was another favorite of the Lant Family, Lot 1 – Lantland Spirit Demitwo (EX-93). Sired by Lantland Spirit Hep, Demitwo is backed by 9 of 10 VG or EX dams.

Lot 21 – $6000
Lot 37 – $6000
Lot 15 – $5200
Lot 29 – $4500
Lot 6 – $4500
Lot 17 – $4350
Lot 3 – $4300
Lot 8 – $4200
Lot 54 – $4000

Other scenes from the day:

National Convention – Mississippi River Tour

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

On Sunday, June 27th – Host Day – many convention attendees climbed on a bus and headed southeast of Minneapolis to take in the the Mississippi River tour. The trip consisted of one farm stop, a paddleboat ride down the the river and a visit to the National Eagle Center.

Located a few miles outside of Lake City, MN, Sapa Ska Farm consists of 400 acres and a milking herd of about 85 cows. Owned by David & Dennis Pierson along with David’s son Todd and his wife Doris, the herd has had much success in the show ring over the years, including Sapa Ska Astronomical Sadie (VG-87), the Reserve Junior Champion at World Dairy Expo in 1985 and the All-American Spring Yearling that year.

National Convention - Sapa Ska

National Convention - Sunday 072

National Convention - Corn Country
This is corn country! June 27th and the corn in this part of the state was chest to shoulder high already!

National Convention - Dave
A former National Board Director and former Chairman of the Holstein Foundation, David Pierson welcomes the crowd to the farm.

National Convention - Reisling
A few of the very best cows were out by the bunk so the group could get a good look at them. On the left is an EX Durham out of the Mueller Star Blazer cow family and on the right is their current star, Sapa Ska Goldwyn Reisling (VG-88) who has recently been named 1st Senior 2-year-old and Intermediate Champion at the Western National Spring Show and the MN State Show this year.
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National Convention - Diablo
Sapa-Ska Shottle Diablo (VG-87), a Shottle daughter with three EX dams that carries a +1930 CTPI and is contracted to Semex.

National Convention - Todd
Todd Pierson points out a couple of fancy heifers to Gordy Cook.

National Convention - Reanna
Sapa-Ska Outside Reeanna (VG-87), an Outside 2-year-old out of Sapa-Ska Hilite Rosie (3E-95), their homebred 95-point cow that is still in the herd.

National Convention - Delilah
Sapa-Ska Titanic Delilah (EX-92) is out of three EX dams and has a son at Semex.

National Convention - Crest
An eye-catching young cow right on the walk was Sapa-Ska Advent Crest (VG-88), a silky *RC Advent out of an EX-91 Bacculum, then two more EX dams.

National Convention - Nursery
A new addition to the farm is the calf nursery, a well-designed area that houses up to 15 newborn calves at any one time.

Then it was off to the Mississippi River and on to the paddleboat ‘Pearl of the Lake’ for a cruise! The lake refers to Lake Pepin, a very wide section of the river.National Convention - paddleboat

National Convention - River

National Convention - River 2

National Convention - barge
The sight of barges is quite common on the river as much of the grain produced and shipped in this country at one time makes part of its journey down the Mississippi. The cost is quite low compared to other methods of transport as one barge can move the equivalent of 1500 semi truck loads of grain.

National Convention - Sand
With the importance of barge traffic on the river, the water depth must be kept at a minimum of nine feet in order to accomodate the big boats. To the left you see the massive sand dune that consists of sand dredged from where the Chippewa River meets the Mississippi. The Chippewa carries quite a bit of sand and soil deposits and this intersection must be dredged quite regularly to maintain the proper depth at this spot.

National Convention - Eagle Center
The National Eagle Center is located down the river from Lake City in Wabasha, MN. This section of the river is loaded with many nesting pairs of bald eagles.

National Convention - Harriet
Inside, the group listened to a very informative and engaging educational presentation about the bald eagle and its journey from near extinction to its removal from the Endangered Species List in 2007. Here, the speaker presents Harriet, a 29-year-old bald eagle that resides at the center. The facility is home to several of the big birds, but only those that cannot survive in the wild.

National Convention - Boyd
National Director Boyd Schaufelberger of Illinois gets his ‘wingspan’ measured – yep – he made the bald eagle standard! The crowd enjoyed the presentation and there were several juniors sitting in the front that will remember several eagle facts for years!

National Convention - young
Here a juvenile male bald eagle has a bit of lunch (the back half of a white rat). The young males do not yet sport the totally white head feathers, but they are coming in on this guy.

National Convention - Center
The facility is beautifully designed and looks out over the river. If you’re ever in the Southeast Minnesota area, this is a highly recommended stop!

National Convention - river view

National Convention - Bill
Bill Ehrke of Wisconsin scouts for some eagles!

National Convention – Central Minnesota Farm Tour

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

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

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

Starlight calves
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.

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

Starlight Rampage
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.

Starlight Redliner
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.

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

Starlight crowd
An interested crowd made their way around the farm.

Starlight Cinnamon
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.
PA folks
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.
Ralma

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

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

Ralma Banjo
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!

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

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

Ralma 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.

Ralma lunch
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.
Melarry

Melarry crowd
Spencer Hackett welcomes the crowd to Melarry Farms.

Melarry lineup
The view as you walk into the Melarry milking barn.

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

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

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

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

Convention Meeting Day 1 continued

Monday, June 28th, 2010


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.

National Guernsey Convention Sale

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

The National Guernsey Convention Sale took place yesterday, June 21st, at Warwick Manor Farm in East Earl, PA. It averaged $4,153 on 41 live lots. Below are some scenes and highlights from the exciting event.


It was a beautiful day for a sale! Here is a look down at the sale tents and Warwick Manor Farm.


The first animal through the ring was lot 2 – Sniders Yogi Anise-ET, a daughter of Cedar Fringed Altann (EX-95). She sold for $10,100 to Joe Piskorowski of Ithaca, NY. Altann was Grand Champion at World Dairy Expo in 2000 and Harrisburg in 2000 and 2001; she currently has 5 sons on the Active A.I. list, including the top two; and she has numerous Excellent daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters! At 14-year-old, Altann can still be found in the Snider Homestead barn and was one of the highlights of the farm tour convention goers took there.


Indian Acres N Cutie Pie was the top seller at $15,000. The first, and probably only daughter of Indian Acres MM Pistachio Pie (EX-94) to sell in public auction will stay in East Earl, PA, since she was purchased by Warwick Manor Farm and Hollow View Farm! The contending bid was from Richard Green and Mike Hellenbrand. She was consigned by Ashley Sears of South Deerfield, MA.


A large crowd was on hand for the sale!


Stanley Chupp called the sale while Blaine Crosser read pedigrees.


AGA’s Executive Secretary, Seth Johnson, plays Sale Manager and Dad.


The high selling animal of the sale – Indian Acres N Cutie Pie with Tim Frantz on the halter. To the left is buyers Kevin & Dina Stoltzfus and their children Kaila, Karli & Kolby and Dina’s mother Darlene Yoder along with the new National Guernsey Princess Ashlee Dietz, and to the right are more members of the partnership, Dina’s sister Denise, brother-in-law Micah and their daughters as well as Elise Wolff of Hollow View Farm. To the right of them is Carrie Sears of Indian Acres, the consignor, and the newly crowned National Guernsey Queen, Brooke Vander Veen.


Second high selling animal was Sniders Yogi Anise. Pictured l-r: Ashlee Dietz, 2010 National Guernsey Princess; Bella, Amy and Berneta Gable, consignors; Emily Stuff, leadsperson; Seth Johnson, representing buyer; Blaine Crosser, sale staff; and Brooke Vander Veen, 2010 National Guernsey Queen.


Fourth high seller – Knapps Challenge Admiration-ET sold for $7,400. Pictured l-r: Ashlee Dietz, National Guernsey Princess; Wanda, Austin & Landen Knapp, consignors; Judy & Dick Whalen, buyers; Dale Chupp, sale staff; Justin Kaufman, leadsperson; Brooke Vander Veen, National Guernsey Queen; Mike Weimer, Blaine Crosser, Jim Trotter and Stanley Chupp, sale staff.


A colorful sale staff were on hand to take bids, call the sale, lead animals and work the phones! Pictured l-r: Chris Reichard, Emily Stuff, Justin Kaufman, Jim Trotter, Dale Chupp, Seth Johnson, Stanley Chupp, Blaine Crosser, Mike Weimer and Brian Schnebly.

More prices (click here to view catalog):

3- 9,000 – Challenge Summer Yearling from EX-93 All-American Joke – Sold to Land of Living, OH

30 – 6,700 – Full Sister was Junior Champion at Madison

28 – $4,500 – Winter Calf - Deep Pedigree & Show Ring Ready

19 – $5,200 – Regis Winter Calf From Luxury Tami