Imagine this….you wake up in the wee hours of the night to smell smoke, you discover that your house is on fire, and your grandchild is trapped in her bedroom, with no way to escape. What would you do?
This is exactly the scenario Patricia Stiles of Waverly Jerseys found herself in this past Monday morning. Without regard for her own life, she ran through the fire to t reach her seven-year-old granddaughter Reese Burdette. Both are now battling for their lives.
The fire, which apparently started with an electrical cord, quickly spread through the two-story home of Patricia and Mike Stiles at Waverly Farm Jerseys of Clear Brook, Virginia. Reese and her sister, 3 year old Brinkley Burdette, were staying at their grandparents’ home for the weekend. They are the daughters of Claire and Justin Burdette of the Holstein farm Windy Knoll View, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Mike Stiles went to Brinkley’s room and grabbed her, and Patricia Stiles went to Reese’s bedroom — where the fire originated — to get her. Mike and Brinkley escaped the fire unharmed. Both Reese and Patricia were badly burned and suffered smoke inhalation. Patricia was airlifted to MedStar Washington Hospital Center and Reese was airlifted to Johns Hopkins Hospital. 35% of Reese’s body has second- and third-degree burns, but “She is stronger than we could ever believe and definitely a fighter!” comments Reese’s father. Doctors have estimated she will need at least 15 to 30 surgeries over the next few months – many for skin grafting. Reese is a brave, strong little girl. She is quickly winning the hearts of nurses and doctors. The doctors at Johns Hopkins are optimistic about where she is right now, but they are taking it day to day. Thanks to the heroic efforts of her grandmother.
The outlook for Patricia is not as optimistic, but her vitals are good and that is positive news. Patricia’s lungs are inflamed and about 27 percent of her body — mostly her face, arms, hands and feet — have suffered mostly third-degree burns. Doctors are hopeful about both Patricia and Reese, but say it will be a long recovery. The doctor was very ‘frank’ with the family in explaining that they still need ‘many prayers, a little luck and his best work’ for Patricia to pull through this. So please, please continue to pray for Patricia and Reese. Patricia is truly a hero because she has always said she would put her life before her grandkids, and she did exactly that. (Read more: Patricia Stiles –Dairy Farmer, Grandmother, Hero, Fighting for Her Life!)
Resse’s mothers day card for Claire
If the names Justin Burdette and Windy Knoll View seem familiar, that is because Justin was the Judge at this past year’s World Dairy Expo. (Read more: World Dairy Expo 2013 Holstein Show Preview – Everything You Need To Know To Get Ready For the Show and World Dairy Expo 2013 Holstein Show Results) Known for their excellent breeding program, they have bred more than 150 Excellent Holsteins carrying the Windy Knoll View prefix, including two 96-point, four 95-point, and twelve 94-point animals. Their farm has won numerous Premier Breeder and Premier Exhibitor awards, including the 2006 World Dairy Expo Premier Breeder Award, which I am sure Justin, would trade in a heartbeat for the safe recovery of his daughter and mother in law.
Justin Burdette awarding Bonaccueil Maya Goldwyn Grand Champion honors at the 2013 World Dairy Expo Holstein Show
Tragic losses are not new to the dairy community. From barn roofs collapsing under the pressure from snow (Read more: Barn Roofs: The Bigger the snow… the Harder the Fall) to whole herds being lost to fires (Read more: 100 cattle dead after barn fire at Markvale Holsteins, Fire strikes one of Ontario’s largest dairies – London Dairy Farms and 150 Cows Dead in Quebec Barn Fire). Fires have certainly been devastating to members of the dairy community. One constant, however, is the way the dairy community has rallied around the farmers who have suffered such great loss. Clarence Marcus of Markvale Holsteins who lost his herd to a fire last July (Read more: Your Barn Is On Fire!) tells us how amazed they are at the way the dairy community came to their aid in a time of need. Producers from around the world were offering support to Clarence and his family, and thanks to that support and the great character of the Macrus family, they will soon be milking in their rebuilt barns (Watch for more on this coming soon).
Perhaps the things that break our hearts are the very things that serve to open them.
From baby calves that die seemingly for no reason to cherished cattle that die unexpectedly, there is no shortage of heartbreak in being a dairy farmer. (Read more: The Magic of Francesca and 8 of the greatest Dairy Love Stories in the World) Facing these issues on a reoccurring basis has made the dairy community strong and quick to support their fellow members whenever the need arises.
The Bullvine Bottom Line
Life’s most painful experiences are the very circumstances that introduce us to who we really are. During easy times, we can be caught up in shallow pursuits and pleasures. Hard times cause us to dig deeper. Less meaningful concerns fall aside, and we awaken to what’s truly important. Family, friends, and relationships are all that matters. Whatever curve balls life throws at them, the dairy community instantly steps up with prayers, support, and encouragement for their members. That is when the dairy community is at its best.
Those wanting to show their support can do one of the following:
To contribute to Patricia and Reese’s Fund please Click HERE.
Lets show Reese Burdette how much we are thinking and praying for her with a card shower! Here is her address: John Hopkins Hospital, 1800 Orleans Street , Baltimore , MD. 21287 Attn: Reese Burdette, Bloomberg 4- South Room # 25
Bank account set up for Patricia Stiles and Reese Burdette. Mail checks to Capital One Bank 12806 Shank Farm Way Hagerstown , Maryland 21742. Place the names Patricia Stiles and Reese Burdette in the memo of check.
Please like and share this article to help support the family and spread the word about how amazing the dairy community is.
Weather has always been the #1 topic of conversation for anyone in agriculture. Changing weather patterns have made it even more topical. Current research suggests that there could be many more days of high temperature, and that means a growing potential for heat stressed dairy cows. For those of us in the dairy business, this trend has the potential to dramatically impact all aspects of the industry from breeding to milk production.
Let’s Start with the Bad News First
Numerous studies have documented the challenges (Jordan, 2003; Rensis, 2003; West, 2004) which impact reproductive performance. Heat stressed cows eat less and this nutrition deficit results in prolonged postpartum anestrus and impaired embryonic development. In addition, this inadequate nutrient intake reduces body condition score and causes cessation of estrus cycles. Unfortunately, symptoms induced by heat stress gradually pile on and the ultimate result is that the success of gestation is severely compromised even after the weather has moderated.
Find Out Who Is NOT Cool
Monitoring respiration rate is a good tool for determining the level of heat stress. Aim for less than 75 breaths per minute in milking cows or 65 in dry. Rates above 65 breaths per minute in a dry cow indicate significant heat strain and require that action be taken for cooling.
Rectal temperature is another tool to detect heat stress. If the measurement is only taken once a day, it is best to take it in the afternoon (3:00 to 5:00 p.m.) when cows are most likely to be experiencing elevated body temperature. A more detailed method of monitoring for elevated body temperature can be done by placing computerized data logger in a blank CIDR device and then capturing the results every hour.
Heat Causes Ovary Dysfunction!
Beyond the obvious discomfort experienced by heat stressed cows, the entire reproduction program may be compromised if cows fail to come into heat or ovarian function fails.
More commonly, the frequency of mounting in hot weather is reduced, and the few mounts that do occur are missed. The high temperatures have a direct effect on feeding behavior, which can become so severely reduced that insufficient nutrients are available after milk production for the ovaries to start functioning during the first 6 weeks of lactation. Cows that calve immediately before or during hot weather are most likely to be affected. Check the records for each cow not observed in estrus. It is important to look at results of the veterinarian`s 30 to 75 day postpartum palpation record for each cow. Research shows that over 95% of all cows will have either a corpus luteum (CL or Yellow Body) or a follicle on one of their two ovaries at this stage of lactation. Any herd with fewer than 75% of cows cycling by 60 days after calving should have the energy level of the feed checked. Nutritionists working in Florida recommend increasing the energy concentration of the cow`s feed to account for reduced intake during hot weather.
Turn Down the Heat Stress. Watch the Temperature Humidity Index.
Providing shade over the feeding and watering area is another way to increase the feed intake of heat-stressed cows. Combinations of soakers, fans and shades that help cows maintain a body temperature around 101.5 degrees F over the course of the day are required when the THI (temperature humidity index) exceeds 68. Note that a THI of 68 is often not perceived as detrimental to cow performance, but studies show that it is the point where cows begin to have negative symptoms due to heat stress.
Researchers in Florida suggest that the body of a dairy cow begins to respond to warm temperatures in the environment at slightly over 70 degrees F. Recent studies show that the reproductive performance of cows does not suffer until environmental temperatures are over 90 degrees F. Additionally, the sun’s rays can directly have an adverse effect on fertility. Cows with black markings will absorb more heat from the sun’s rays, further elevating body temperature. Blood flow may be diverted from internal circulation to peripheral circulation in an attempt to reduce body temperature. The reduction in blood flow to internal organs including the uterus, oviducts and ovaries may reduce available nutrients and increase biochemical waste products at the tissue level. There are many good nutrition supplements specifically formulated to moderate the effects of heat stress.
Heat Stress and Heat Detection
Under the influence of heat stress, the duration and intensity of oestrus are reduced. There is a clear decrease in motor activity and other manifestations of oestrus such as mounting. Nobel et al. (1997) found that Holstein cows during the summer have 4.5 mounts per oestrus versus 8.6 per oestrus in winter. Higher incidence of silent heat and anoestrus is, therefore, one of the most often reported findings in cows exposed to high ambient temperatures. It is important to recognize the challenges of marginal heats and establish best practices to compensate. The use of timed breeding protocols could also help by ensuring that cows showing no signs of heat do not continuously get skipped when breeding. There are several, well researched timed breeding programs to pick from, so work with your veterinarian to implement one that works best for your dairy
Heat Affects Bulls Too
Heat stress can also cause infertility in bulls. Under normal conditions, testicles are kept a few degrees cooler than the body because heat interferes with proper sperm development, but during hot weather the body’s methods for keeping the testes cool are not adequate.
In some cases, producers decide to discontinue A.I. breeding because they are concerned that A. I. Performance declines in the summer. This is a big mistake because nature service bulls’ fertility suffers just as much or more than cow fertility so now heat stress has a detrimental effect on both sides of the reproductive process.
Heat Affects Semen
Heat stress causes hyperthermia of the scrotum and testes that can lead to poorer morphological and functional semen quality. Hansen (1997) reported deterioration of bull fertility caused by heat stress during the summer months. Semen quality declines markedly during extreme temperatures. There are carry-over effects, since the spermatogenic cycle is about 60 days from the time the cell is produced until it is out of the system. You might have problems with infertile bulls even up to two months after the hot weather ends.
Heat Causes Low Conception Rates
Assuming you do not have problems with the semen, heat stress problems may still result in conception rates falling below 20% during the summer months. Often, fertility will not return to normal until late October or November, even though environmental temperatures became unstressful in late September or early October.
Heat Affects Uterine Environment
Heat stress compromises uterine environment with decreased blood flow to the uterus. High uterine temperature of the heat stressed cow can impair embryonic development, resulting in reduced embryo implantation and increased embryo mortality (Jordan, 2003 and West, 2004).
Heat Stress Causes Pregnancy Losses
The most common time for heat stress to cause embryonic loss is in the first week after mating (the embryo fails to attach to the uterus); though in some circumstances a pregnancy can be lost up to the first month of gestation. More rarely, heat stress can cause pregnancy loss in late gestation. Anything that stresses the cow or fetus at that time can trigger premature birth, which usually results in death of the calf. Some advisors advise against breeding during July, August or September reports Dr. Gary Williams with the Animal Reproduction Laboratory in Texas.
As things heat up, don’t let your profitability go down. Research shows that cooling cows during their dry period can keep the milk coming for months to come.
The Bullvine Bottom Line
When the heat is on, it`s up to you to keep your cool!
One minute we are waiting for a long winter to make its way into the history books and the next we are noticing how it’s almost too warm to work outdoors comfortably. No doubt our working dairy herd is also feeling the effects of changes in the weather. Too cold or too hot we must always be anticipating ways to recover any dollars that because of climate conditions have resulted in more expenses or less production. Having said that, why then are we “surprised” by a change in the weather?
Perhaps it`s time to think beyond current the season and decide how best to tweak the three or five year plan. Factors such as costs, labor and profit margins might be telling you it`s time for a major change. Before this year`s crops are all seeded, it might be a good time to make a dramatic change in your feed delivery system. Is it time to think outside the box stall or feed pen. Have you considered management intensive grazing (MiG)? This involves repeating periods of grazing and rest among two or more paddocks or pastures.
Every Line on Your Financial Statement Must Be Re-considered
When it comes to choosing to use a rotational pasture program, those who have mastered pasture suggest many questions that should be answered when considering grazing over confinement feeding of the dairy herd:
How much feed do you currently grow? How much less will you need if cows are pastured?
What is the current value of feeding equipment – both growing and delivery —? Can you recoup dollars from selling? What annual maintenance and repair fees will be eliminated?
How long will your current equipment, which won’t be as heavily used, contribute to your 3-5-10 year plan?
What current costs are applied to manure haulage? What savings can be realized if cows are on pasture?
Fuel inputs could be dramatically lowered, with less planting, harvesting and feeding.
What are your current herd health costs? If exercise and fresh air reduce vet, medication and staff health care inputs, what could that add to your bottom line?
Once you have an itemized list of potential savings, you have the opportunity to decide how that can be applied to your specific long-term dairy strategy.
Who is Thinking MIG these days? What is Pushing and Pulling them to Pasture
Farmers who are starting out or closing out. If the farm supports sizable pastures, intensive grazing could be a good start-up dairy feeding plan for a farmer just starting in to dairying. At the other end of the spectrum, it could have the same attraction as a way of downsizing from a long-term established dairy.
Farmers who anticipate that high quality pasture forage can be provided for half the cost of stored forages.
Pasture feeding is a requirement for organic dairy farmers.
Purely from the financial side, grazing can make more money with less debt load.
Should YOU be Thinking MIG?
We often use the expression that a project or a purchase “ticks all the boxes”. Before changing from confinement dairy housing to management intensive grazing, see if your situation gets a “yes” checkmark for each of these questions:
Does your farm lend itself to producing pasture as well as or, more than, cropping?
Can you accept a lower herd average than average for the top half of confinement herds?
Are you willing to adjust dairy ration based on current pasture conditions?
Ready for a change in chores?
Is there adequate pasture to meet most of the daily forage needs for livestock for the grazing season?
Can milk cows get to and from the milking parlor as needed from the pasture?
Will you provide fresh water to ALL the paddocks?
And the most important question
Are you willing to change?
Oops! Make Sure You`re Not Harboring Misconceptions About Intensive Grazing
If you`re looking at grazing as a simple proposition of turning the cows out of the barn and onto fenced in fields as a huge savings in labor you may be misinformed. Depending on the quantity and quality of the pasture and the size of your herd, you may actually be looking at the “intensive” part of Management Intensive Grazing could be the number of moves that must be made from pasture to pasture. Depending on the season there could be several every day. There is a definite skill in managing grazing so that it improves the soil, the legumes and herd health and that definitely does not mean out to pasture – out of sight – out of mind. As with any other dairy management problem, once you have named it (too many pasture changes) you are one step closer to the solution. For some pasture managers they use a gate that opens electronically, thus reducing the number of times they have to work with fences.
From the Cows’ Perspectives do you have the BITE Stuff
When looking at pasture you may be taking in the size of the pasture when assessing how it will meet your herd’s nutrition requirements. It is important that you are providing enough Dry Matter Intake (DMI). In a day on pasture cows take in approximately 22 to 28 pounds of dry matter. The best way to make sure cows are eating enough DMI from pasture is to pay close attention to the size of the bite of pasture they receive. Pasture height and density determines this bite size. If the pasture is too short, then they cannot get enough pasture in each bite to meet their DMI needs, even if given a larger area to graze. Sometimes the obvious eludes our attention. In the case of pasture grazing, we must accept that cows only take a certain number of bites each day and only graze for part of each day because they must also spend time resting and ruminating. Once you have determined that you have the required amount and quality of pasture, the challenge becomes how to get your cows to eat enough of it in eight hours to supply their production needs. This is one reason to provide a new pasture, which is tall and dense, after each milking. When cows go into a pasture that is tall enough, they can rapidly fill their rumens with high quality high protein feed.
Mistakes and Pitfalls of Managed Pastures
In researching the benefits of using management intensive grazing, one can easily be won over to the benefits and overlook the potential downsides of this system. As with any thing “managed” they are ways to do it well and there are ways to fail. The latter can include the following.
Poor plant growth due to overgrazing damage.
Poor animal performance (including poor reproductive performance) and
reduced milk production
inadequate dry matter intake (DMI) from pasture or
incorrect supplemental feeding.
Animal health problems, particularly parasite problems.
And finally one with a term you might not be familiar with … yet.
“Untoward acceleration” is a term used by Andre Voisin in his book, Grass Productivity, to describe what happens when paddocks are not rested long enough between grazings. Each grazing of the paddock provides less forage and the regrowth period gets shorter throughout the grazing season until most of the plants are overgrazed and there is little or no feed left.
THE BIG THREE:
#1 Health Benefits
Health Benefits of Grazing Dairy Heifers Cornell data showed early lactation health problems were reduced in first calf heifers which were rotationally grazed for 5 months prior to their freshening date, compared to a duplicate group which was raised in confinement prior to freshening. These results were consistent with previous research completed by the University of Minnesota from 2000 through 2002, which also compared raising pregnant dairy replacements in confinement vs. rotationally grazed. Their results showed that the animals raised in intensively grazed pastures had fewer post-partum problems than their counterparts
#2 Weight And Production Gains.
Weight and milk production gains with heifers raised on pasture compared to confinement have also been realized. In a study by Posner and Hedtke, 2012, (CIAS Research Brief #89), yearling heifers gained 1.97 and 1.86 pounds per day on pasture and in confinement, respectively. For ME Milk production, the first lactation heifers produced 25,328 and 23,415, pounds of milk respectively for those raised on pasture versus those raised in confinement. Thus, from reducing costs, increasing health and milk production, raising heifers on pasture makes sense.
Changing to Management Intensive Grazing is not rocket science. As long as your motivation is to do it well and not merely to dump current work that you don`t like doing, you will be fine. Letting the cows out does not mean you`ve let yourself out of overseeing animal care. It does mean paying attention to nutrition and management details. In the simplest terms there are only three steps.
Using sires that are inferior for economically important traits is no longer necessary or advisable. In herds using conventional semen over 90% of herd genetic improvement comes from sires. Which sires are used can mean a significant loss in a herd’s future earning power. But still, in this time of rapid genetic advancement, there are sires being used that are inferior.
The Bullvine was able to obtain the lists of sires with the most registered daughters for the Canadian Ayrshire, Holstein and Jersey breeds for 2013. We decided to dig deeper and analyze the top ten sires with the most registered daughters. Other breeds only made up 0.6% of all registrations, so those breeds were not studied. The Bullvine is quite certain that similar sire usage patterns exist in other countries as we have also studied sire usage in US Holsteins and the results were very similar. (Read more: Top Sires North American Holstein Breeders Used in 2013)
Top Ten’s in 2013
The first portion of our study looked at the bulls for LPI and for the components of LPI – Production, Durability and Health & Fertility. Every animal on the CDN database receives and can be looked up for a rating for their genetic merit for the three components of LPI. This is a very handy tool for breeders to assist them in their breeding decisions.
The top ten most used Ayrshires sires (Table 1) were moderately high but not the best there is. These top ten sires accounted for 44% of all registrations, however only four sires had a percentile rank over 90% for gLPI and five sires were below average, less than 50%RK, for at least one of Production or Health & Fertility. Six sires had more than 200 daughters registered. One sire, EBay, was a progeny test sire and he ranked #10 in usage. The sire on the list with the highest gLPI was Burdette coming in at #4 in usage. On average, the sires were moderate at 80%RK of gLPI and 81%RK for Durability. Less attention was given to Production, 66%RK and it is disappointing see that Health & Fertility, on average, only received a 59%RK. Breeders definitely placed their emphasis elsewhere when the top sire, Dreamer, only has 41%RK for Production and 47%RK for Health & Fertility
Table 1 Canadian Ayrshire Sires with Most Registered Daughters – 2013
Name
Milk
Fat
Prot
SCS
Conf
Rel
BPI
GILLETTE MOGUL CARREL
1056
107
64
2.67
15
0.66
100.0%
STANTONS MCCUTCHEN 1174 AGREE
2101
103
81
2.59
19
0.65
98.7%
VELTHUIS S G SNOW EVENING
2859
103
95
2.83
16
0.7
97.6%
VELTHUIS SG SNOW EVENT
2859
103
95
2.83
16
0.7
97.6%
LOOKOUT PESCE PONDE KREED
1826
94
84
2.86
14
0.65
97.1%
MAPEL WOOD SUDAN LICORICE
2326
108
97
2.7
12
0.67
96.3%
LOOKOUT PESCE EPIC HUE
1888
93
83
2.88
18
0.65
94.5%
STANTONS SNOW ELAISKA
2268
85
98
2.81
13
0.66
92.2%
STANTONS MCCUTCHEN PROFIT
2203
94
87
2.88
12
0.65
91.5%
OCONNORS LIVING THE DREAM
2228
88
87
2.79
16
0.64
91.0%
In Holsteins (Table 2) the top ten, most used, sires made up 22.5% of all registrations, eight sires had a gLPI above 90%RK and 233 sires had more than 200 registered daughters. However, four of the ten sires are extremely lowly rated for Health & Fertility. In fact, the second and third most used sires were only ranked 18%RK and 19%RK for Health & Fertility. Canadian Holstein breeders place their primary focus on type with the average being a 93%RK for Durability. Production lags at 76%RK and Health and Fertility just barely exceeds average (54%RK). Dempsey has the highest gLPI of all the sires and was the eighth most used sire. Fever and Jordan, in addition to Dempsey, are sires that have at least 70% for all of gLPI, Production, Durability and Health & Fertility. None of the sires in the top ten most used were bulls being progeny tested in 2013. That is different than in the USA were a few genomic sires are receiving considerable use. The recommendation to breeders is that they not use one genomic sire to an excessive degree.
Table 2 Canadian Holstein Sires with Most Registered daughters – 2013
Name
Milk
Fat
Prot
SCS
Conf
Rel
BPI
MAPEL WOOD LADD LEAH P
1509
81
67
2.92
12
0.65
86.4%
VENTURE MCCUTCHEN SATIN P
1029
72
47
2.72
15
0.61
86.3%
VENTURE EPIC SCARLET P
1189
69
46
2.75
12
0.65
85.5%
BRYHILL ONE SASSY P
1262
96
50
2.58
13
0.63
85.4%
BRYHILL SS SASHA P
2160
100
74
2.72
13
0.61
84.8%
In Jerseys (Table 3) 25% of all female registrations were for the ten sires with the most registered daughters. Six of the ten sires had over 90%RK for gLPI and four sires had over 200 registered daughters. Two of the top ten sires were on a progeny testing program, although those two were not the most highly rated of a genomic sires for gLPI. Overall, the ten sires had an 88%RK for gLPI however there is definitely a lack of attention to Health and Fertility when half the bulls have below average ratings for that component of LPI. Topeka, the 4th most used sire, had the highest gLPI and he was being progeny tested in 2013. With the wide ranges among the ten sires in the %RK rating for all the parts of LPI and six sires that fall below 50%RK in at least one area, it indicates that Canadian Jersey breeders do not use sires that cover all bases.
Table 3 Canadian Jersey Sires with Most Registered Daughters – 2013
Name
LPI
Sire
Dam Name
MAPEL WOOD SUPER GOOD LOOKING
3525
SUPERSIRE
OCONNORS PLANET LUCIA
BOMAZ ALTAOAK 6013
3490
ALTAOAK
BOMAZ OBSERVER 5406-ET
SULLY MAN-O-SHAN MARTHA-ET
3487
SHAN
SULLY PLANET MANITOBA-ET
GILLETTE SUPERSIRE DRIVE
3481
SUPERSIRE
GILLETTE M O M DRIVE
FARNEAR MASCALESE 1719
3454
MASCALESE
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHER-ET
SIEMERS MCCUTCH ROZ-ET
3441
MCCUTCHEN
CHERRY CREST MANOMAN ROZ
EDG LACI SHOTGLASS 766-ET
3437
SHOTGLASS
FARNEAR-TBR-BH LACI-ET
AIJA SUPERSIRE MAKEA
3435
SUPERSIRE
AIJA MAN O MAN NAOMI
RI-VAL-RE EHARDT NIK-ET
3434
EARNHARDT P
RI-VAL-RE OBSRVR NIKKI-ET
BOMAZ ALTAOAK 6023
3433
ALTAOAK
MS ROSYLANE OBSERVR5048-ET
EDG DAHLIA MOGUL 2257
3425
MOGUL
LADYS-MANOR S DAHLIA-ET
COOKIECUTTER AOAK HAWAII-ET
3422
ALTAOAK
COOKIECUTTER MOM HALO-ET
EDG 4858 MOGUL 2240-ET
3411
MOGUL
PINE-TREE 4233 OBSRV4858-ET
MS DELICIOUS CASHCALL
3405
CASHCOIN
MISS OCD ROBST DELICIOUS-ET
WISSELVIEW SUPER S CHEVELLE
3388
SUPERSIRE
LARCREST CHEVELLE-ET
AIJA SUPERSIRE NATALIA
3379
SUPERSIRE
AIJA MAN O MAN NAOMI
COMESTAR LAUSY SUPERSIRE
3377
SUPERSIRE
COMESTAR LAUTAMIRE PLANET
S-S-I MOONRY LEIGHA 9081-ET
3369
MOONRAY
S-S-I KRAMER LOY 7675-ET
RI-VAL-RE SYMP VIVIAN-ET
3369
SYMPATICO
SONRAY-ACRES SOC OBSERVR VI
EDG RUBY EARN 2259
3366
EARNHARDT P
SANDY-VALLEY ROBUST RUBY-ET
SIEMERS S-SIRE ROZANNE-ET
3364
SUPERSIRE
SIEMERS WINDBK ROZANNE-ET
DUHOVENT SUPERSIRE LOVE ME ET
3363
SUPERSIRE
GEN-I-BEQ EVOLVE LOVELY
MORMANN MOGUL TATUM 2307
3358
MOGUL
FARNEAR-REGAN M TEBBI-ET
GREENLANE SUPERSIRE SAIGE
3356
SUPERSIRE
MISTY SPRINGS OMAN SATIN
STE ODILE LIGHTSNOW PLAISANCE
3356
LIGHTSNOW
STE ODILE MANOMAN MOD PLATINE
SUNNYLODGE SUPERSIRE SCARLETT
3356
SUPERSIRE
MISTY SPRINGS OMAN SATIN
FARNEAR MASCALESE 1720
3355
MASCALESE
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHER-ET
EVELINA
3352
SUPERSIRE
NOVA SHOTTLE EVELYN-ET
MS DELICIOUS CASHDAY
3352
CASHCOIN
MISS OCD ROBST DELICIOUS-ET
DESLACS SUPERSIRE PETUNIA
3345
SUPERSIRE
FARNEAR-TBR WANNA PARTY-ET
MS KOOL COIN 2291
3335
CASHCOIN
MS C-HAVEN OMAN KOOL-ET
GREENLANE SUPERSIRE SUSANNA
3334
SUPERSIRE
MISTY SPRINGS OMAN SATIN
COOKIECUTTER LETIT HAVED-ET
3331
LET IT SNOW
COOKIECUTTER MOM HALO-ET
FARNEAR HEADLINER 1722
3328
HEADLINER
FARNEAR-TBR-BH MADDY-ET
MS KOOL CC 2279
3327
CASHCOIN
MS C-HAVEN OMAN KOOL-ET
MS KOOL COIN 2286
3325
CASHCOIN
MS C-HAVEN OMAN KOOL-ET
COOKIECUTTER LETIT HAIKU-ET
3323
LET IT SNOW
COOKIECUTTER MOM HALO-ET
EDG SHAKER DAY 2276
3323
DAY
MS MOVIESTAR SHAKER-ET
ROORDA MAY MCBABY 15866-ET
3318
MAYFIELD
ROORDA OB MCKENZIE 15267-ET
MS DELICIOUS CASHTREE
3317
CASHCOIN
MISS OCD ROBST DELICIOUS-ET
EDG LORETTE MASC 2230-ET
3317
MASCALESE
VELTHUIS SNOWMAN LORRETTE
LATUCH SUPER LABELLA-ET
3313
SUPERSIRE
LATUCH MAN O LEMMON
COOKIECUTTER PRED HAZARD-ET
3313
PREDESTINE
COOKIECUTTER MOM HALO-ET
CEDARWAL SUPERSIRE BALTI
3308
SUPERSIRE
CEDARWAL GERARD BALI
EDG LACY COIN 2293
3307
CASHCOIN
KELLERCREST MANOMAN LACY-ET
HEBERTVIEW SUPERSIRE DELIGHT
3304
SUPERSIRE
NAU CALIBER AMEWILL
FLINT-VILLE UNO YESTER-ET
3300
NUMERO UNO
COYNE-FARMS OBSERVER YES-ET
DESGRANGES MOGUL OBSESSION
3297
MOGUL
DESGRANGES MAN O MAN OBAMA ET
MS AMERICA LAITICIA-ET
3296
LATIMER
SEAGULL-BAY MISS AMERICA-ET
LARCREST COLLAGE-ET
3289
NUMERO UNO
LARCREST CALE-ET
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASE 2273
3285
SHOTGLASS
LARCREST CASE-ETS
DONNANDALE HEADLINER JAZZFLUTE
3284
HEADLINER
DONNANDALE MANOMAN JAKARTA
BOMAZ MOGUL 6010
3281
MOGUL
BOMAZ BOOKEM 5402-ET
LARCREST CICADA-ET
3278
NUMERO UNO
LARCREST CALE-ET
WILLSBRO MERIDIAN PAMMY-ET
3278
MERIDIAN
WILLSBRO PAMMY MAN-O-MAN
EDG CAITLYN DOORMAN 2274
3278
DOORMAN
MS CHASSITY SNOW CAITLYN-ET
BRYHILL SUPLEX MYSTIQUE-ET
3273
ALTASUPLEX
SULLY ROBUST 720-ET
EDG LORETTE MOGUL 2260
3269
MOGUL
VELTHUIS SNOWMAN LORRETTE
SIEMERS HLINER ROZ-IS-IT-ET
3267
HEADLINER
CHERRY CREST MANOMAN ROZ
MAPEL WOOD MASCALESE LUXURY
3266
MASCALESE
OCONNORS PLANET LUCIA
SULLY MAN-O-SHAN MAE-ET
3265
SHAN
SULLY PLANET MANITOBA-ET
EDG SATURN SHOT 2238-ET
3262
SHOTGLASS
SEAGULL-BAY SHAUNA SATURN
SIEMERS SSIRE ROZANNERAE-ET
3262
SUPERSIRE
SIEMERS WINDBK ROZANNE-ET
EDG CHRISTA LATIMER 2226-ET
3259
LATIMER
LANGS-TWIN-B CHRISTA-ET
AIJA SUPERSIRE MARLO
3257
SUPERSIRE
AIJA MAN O MAN NAOMI
MOREL IREN
3257
LEXOR
ELDORADO
LARCREST CIABATTA-ET
3251
NUMERO UNO
LARCREST CALE-ET
BUTLERVIEW LET IT SHINE-ET
3251
LET IT SNOW
VISION-GEN SHO A12024-ET
BOMAZ ALTAOAK 6014
3249
ALTAOAK
BOMAZ OBSERVER 5406-ET
WILLSBRO MOGUL S AMBER
3248
MOGUL
RIVERDANE SHOTTLE AMBER
GANDY OBSERVER PARADISE ET
3246
OBSERVER
GANDY COLETTE ET
EDG BYSHA CC 2258
3243
CASHCOIN
REGANCREST DGR BRYSHA-ET
AMMON FARMS STG MYALEXIS-ET
3243
SHOTGLASS
AMMON FARMS OSVR MYLILAC-TW
FARNEAR MASCALESE 1705
3243
MASCALESE
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHER-ET
MATT-DARI SUPERSI MAIZIE-ET
3240
SUPERSIRE
FUSTEAD AL MARSH-MELLO-ET
BLUMENFELD RAN BRIZA CRI-ET
3237
RANSOM
DA-SO-BURN OBS BANEAT-ET
DE-SU MOCHA 2702-ET
3232
MOCHA
DE-SU 1140-ET
ALL.NURE SUPERSIRE ALEXIA ET
3231
SUPERSIRE
ALTA ET
WILLSBOR MOGUL AMBER
3231
MOGUL
RIVERDANE SHOTTLE AMBER
BOGHILL MOGUL S FAITH ET
3230
MOGUL
BOGHILL SUPERSTITION FAITH ET
GENERVATIONS MASCALESE LOLITA
3229
MASCALESE
GENERVATIONS MOM LOLA
TJR ARITA MCCUT 2256
3229
MCCUTCHEN
MS ARIEL MOMAN ARITA-ET
WALKERBRAE SS BETHANY
3228
SUPERSIRE
FRIESO SHOTTLE APPLE BLOSSOM
EDG ETTY MOGUL 2248-ET
3226
MOGUL
WELCOME BOOKEM ETTY-ET
S-S-I MOONRY LEONIE 9082-ET
3223
MOONRAY
S-S-I KRAMER LOY 7675-ET
ROYAL HILL MCCUTCHEN SPARKY
3223
MCCUTCHEN
ROYAL HILL MANOMAN SPARKY
MS DELICIOUS SINGER 764-ET
3223
SHOTGLASS
MISS OCD ROBST DELICIOUS-ET
RICKLAND SUPERSIRE 4593-ET
3221
SUPERSIRE
HAMMER-CREEK SNO KASSIE-ET
ZIMMERVIEW MORGAN BRINA-ET
3221
MORGAN
ROCKYPATH-HO MN BARBARA-ET
ALL.NURE SUPERSIRE ASIA ET
3220
SUPERSIRE
ALTA ET
CO-OP SPS PRUDENCE 7080-ET
3218
SUPERSIRE
MS M-P DOLCE PRUDENCE-ET
NH SUPERSIRE REALTIME
3218
SUPERSIRE
KALB
RI-VAL-RE SUPERSIRE NADOLA
3217
SUPERSIRE
RI-VAL-RE DOLCE DESTINY-ET
MORMANN LAT TABINE 2297-ET
3214
LATIMER
FARNEAR-REGAN TALSA-ET
MS AMERICA BRENDA-ET
3213
BEN
SEAGULL-BAY MISS AMERICA-ET
FARNEAR CASHCOIN 1718
3212
CASHCOIN
FARNEAR ALICE OF ADEEN-ET
EDG LACY SHOT 2232-ET
3212
SHOTGLASS
KELLERCREST MANOMAN LACY-ET
PREMIERWEST SUPERSIRE CANCUN
3207
SUPERSIRE
LARCREST CHEVELLE-ET
BOMAZ SUPERSIRE 6005
3207
SUPERSIRE
BOMAZ IOTA 5423-ET
HIGHERRANSOM COIN STITCH-ET
3206
CASHCOIN
BRU-DALE MOM STARLY-ET
EDG ESTHER EARN 2245-ET
3206
EARNHARDT P
MILLER-FF BOOKEM ESTHER-ET
EDG LORETTE MASC 2225-ET
3205
MASCALESE
VELTHUIS SNOWMAN LORRETTE
HOS-COT RANSOM PEARL-ET
3204
RANSOM
WELCOME MAN-O-MAN PAYOUT-ET
CCC MOGUL SPECIAL
3203
MOGUL
CO-OP SPS PRUDENCE 7079-ET
3200
SUPERSIRE
MS M-P DOLCE PRUDENCE-ET
BUTLERVIEW TJR SNOW 13
3199
LET IT SNOW
ROCKING-P BOWSER LUNA-ET
SPRUCE-HAVEN MCCUTCHEN 14660
3198
MCCUTCHEN
SPRUCE-HAVEN SUPR S13158-ET
3198
EARNHARDT P
PINE-TREE 2149ROBST 4846-ET
ALEXERIN MASCALESE 1366
3198
MASCALESE
ALEXERIN OMAN 993
DES-Y-GEN HUNTER SAVANA
3197
HUNTER
DES-Y-GEN PLANET SILKY
WISSELVIEW SUPERSIRE COSMO
3197
SUPERSIRE
LARCREST CHEVELLE-ET
WISSELVIEW SUPERSIRE DELILAH
3197
SUPERSIRE
LICKBER-I RMH GOLD DAHLIA
BOMAZ SUPERSIRE 6008
3197
SUPERSIRE
BOMAZ OMAN 3512
FARNEAR NUMERO UNO 1704
3196
NUMERO UNO
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHER-ET
S-S-I OLYMIC EBONY 9079-ET
3191
OLYMPIC
S-S-I SHAMROCK ELI 7694-ET
EDG CASHBUST DOORMAN 2284
3191
DOORMAN
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHBUST-ET
GOLDEN-OAKS UNO CARLENE-ET
3191
NUMERO UNO
RUGG-DOC OBSV CARMINDSAY-ET
SAN-DAN SHAN LEONA 2306
3189
SHAN
RICHMOND-FD AL LORELEI-ET
EDG LACY SHOT 2246-ET
3189
SHOTGLASS
KELLERCREST MANOMAN LACY-ET
BRABANTDALE LET IT REIGN
3188
LET IT SNOW
SPEEK-NJ MAN OMAN ROCKET-ET
BRABANTDALE LET IT REPEAT
3188
LET IT SNOW
SPEEK-NJ MAN OMAN ROCKET-ET
SIEMERS MCUTCH REAL-GIRL-ET
3188
MCCUTCHEN
CLEAR-ECHO OBSERVER 2283-ET
EDG JALA MOGUL 2267
3188
MOGUL
BUTLERVIEW SR JEVEN JALA-ET
S-S-I OLYMP LATONYA 9073-ET
3188
OLYMPIC
TIGER-LILY SHAMROCK LENA-ET
ALNA SUPERSIRE BEATRICE
3187
SUPERSIRE
SIEMERS SNMAN BEJEWELED-ET
MAPEL WOOD MCCUTCHEN LOGAN
3186
MCCUTCHEN
OCONNORS PLANET LUCIA
SANDY-VALLEY SUPRSIRE BO-ET
3185
SUPERSIRE
SANDY-VALLEY BODACIOUS-ET
EDG ESTHER LEXOR 2285
3185
LEXOR
MILLER-FF BOOKEM ESTHER-ET
COMESTAR LAMADONA DOORMAN
3185
DOORMAN
COMESTAR LAUTAMAI MAN O MAN
WILLSBRO MOGUL PAMMY
3185
MOGUL
WILLSBRO NIAGRA PAMMY
GOLDEN-OAKS MAY MAJESTA-ET
3185
MAYFIELD
GOLDEN-OAKS ROBUST MABEL-ET
SUNNYLODGE SPOTTIE
3184
LET IT SNOW
MISTY SPRINGS MAN O MAN SATIN
FARNEAR MASCALESE 1707
3183
MASCALESE
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHER-ET
EDG STITCH COIN 2295
3182
CASHCOIN
GRAN-J RUSSELL STITCH-ET
CO-OP SPS SIBELLA 7122-ET
3180
SUPERSIRE
FUSTEAD SIBELLA CRI-ET
EDG LACY SHOT 2253
3179
SHOTGLASS
KELLERCREST MANOMAN LACY-ET
TJR ARITA MCCUT 2270
3179
MCCUTCHEN
MS ARIEL MOMAN ARITA-ET
MATCREST GALAXY CHARLEE-ET
3178
GALAXY
MATCREST IOTA COLORADO-ETS
HARTFORD ELECTN SARA 423-ET
3178
ELECTION
GNAT-HILL ROBUST ANDREA-ET
ALPHAGEN MCCUTCHEN MARINA
3174
MCCUTCHEN
GITOISE JAKE MARIZA
SNOWBIZ SYMPATICO SYLVANA
3174
SYMPATICO
GEN-I-BEQ SNOWMAN SPRING
SIEMERS HLINER ROZ-THE-1-ET
3174
HEADLINER
CHERRY CREST MANOMAN ROZ
EDG LORETTE MOGUL 2251
3173
MOGUL
VELTHUIS SNOWMAN LORRETTE
MORSAN UNO CRIMSON
3173
NUMERO UNO
LARCREST CINERGY-ET
MS SUPERSIRE B 3432-ET
3173
SUPERSIRE
MISTY SPRINGS SHOTTLE BREEZE
CO-OP BOXER TOPAZ-ET
3170
BOXER
MS PRIDE PLNT TASKET 788-ET
EDG GIN RANSOM 783
3169
RANSOM
SULLY HART GERARD 147-ET
SUNNYLODGE SUPERSIRE SOPHIA
3168
SUPERSIRE
MISTY SPRINGS OMAN SATIN
WELCOME SUPERSIRE LEOTA
3166
SUPERSIRE
WELCOME BAXTER LAILA-ET
OCONNORS MCCUTCHEN LUSCIOUS
3166
MCCUTCHEN
OCONNORS PLANET LUCIA
SIEMERS SSIRE ROZANNEMAE-ET
3165
SUPERSIRE
SIEMERS WINDBK ROZANNE-ET
MS SIZZLE CASHCOIN 772-ET
3165
CASHCOIN
VENTURE SHOTTBOLT SIZZLE P
EDG DAHLIA MOGUL 2264
3164
MOGUL
LADYS-MANOR S DAHLIA-ET
MATT-DARI SUPERSI MARNI-ET
3163
SUPERSIRE
FUSTEAD AL MARSH-MELLO-ET
S-S-I MSCLS MADELENA9089-ET
3161
MASCALESE
S-S-I COBRA MADIGAN 7614-ET
CEDARWAL NUMEROUNO CHROME
3161
NUMERO UNO
LARCREST CALLAWAY-ET
SNOWBIZ MASCALESE LILA
3160
MASCALESE
CALBRETT SNOWMAN LANDI
MORMANN UNO ARABIA-ET
3160
NUMERO UNO
VISION-GEN SH FRD A12304-ET
3160
EARNHARDT P
WEIGELINE OBSERVER 1869-ET
NO-FLA MAURICE SAR 35024-ET
3160
MAURICE
NO-FLA OBSERVER SANDY 30510
CO-OP SPS 6292 7118-ET
3157
SUPERSIRE
CO-OP CLARK YOYO 6292-ET
EDG ABYSS DOORMAN 2288
3156
DOORMAN
RMW SNOWMAN ABYSS-ET
DG FANATIC LORRY-ET
3156
VEN DAIRY LIDIA 4
INTENSE OBSERVER 1239-ET
3154
OBSERVER
COMYN-PBCD SPLENDID-ET
BOMAZ MOGUL 5979
3154
MOGUL
BOMAZ BOOKEM 5402-ET
CLAYNOOK DRESSY SYMPATICO
3153
SYMPATICO
OCD PLANET DIAMOND-ET
SULLY RANSOM MARLY-ET
3153
RANSOM
SULLY PLANET MANITOBA-ET
MS LATIMER MUSICAL-ET
3152
LATIMER
MISS TMK ROBUST MUGSY-ET
CEDARWAL SUPERSIRE SWEET
3152
SUPERSIRE
CEDARWAL SUGA MOMMA
EDG ABYSS UNO 779
3150
NUMERO UNO
RMW SNOWMAN ABYSS-ET
SANDY-VALLEY KRNCH TOPSY-ET
3148
KRUNCH
SANDY-VALLEY IOTA TOPAZ-ET
3148
PREDESTINE
COOKIECUTTER MOM HALO-ET
548077799-ET
3147
VEN DAIRY LIDIA 4
SUNNYLODGE SHARLENE
3147
LET IT SNOW
MISTY SPRINGS MAN O MAN SATIN
EDG GERARD LITHIUM 2252
3145
LITHIUM
SULLY HART GERARD 147-ET
WILLSBRO YORIK PAMMY
3144
YORICK
WILLSBRO PAMMY MAN-O-MAN
RI-VAL-RE SUPERSIRE DAY-ET
3144
SUPERSIRE
RI-VAL-RE SUPER NADINE-ET
BRYHILL SUPLEX MADALENA-ET
3143
ALTASUPLEX
SULLY ROBUST 720-ET
EDG ESTHER EARN 2247-ET
3143
EARNHARDT P
MILLER-FF BOOKEM ESTHER-ET
SANDY-VALLEY SWEETDREAMS-ET
3142
SUPERSIRE
SANDY-VALLEY DAY DREAM-ET
MORSAN SS ELLA
3141
SUPERSIRE
LOOKOUT PESCE SM ELLA
CLAYNOOK BRADLEE DOORMAN
3140
DOORMAN
MISTY SPRINGS M O M BACARDI
GREENVALLEY K&L MO DORIA
3139
MOGUL
REGAN-ALH PLANET DELORIA-ET
MARBRI MASCALISE BRISTLE
3138
MASCALESE
MARBRI BAXTER BREEZE
FARNEAR MASCALESE 1706
3137
MASCALESE
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHER-ET
WEBB-VUE PREDESTINE 6909-ET
3137
PREDESTINE
WEBB-VUE DOMAIN RHONDA-ET
MS SUPERSIRE B 3423-ET
3137
SUPERSIRE
MISTY SPRINGS SHOTTLE BREEZE
BO-IRISH-RN SS CHARTER
3137
SUPERSIRE
BO-IRISH-RN SUPER CHARM-ET
PREMIERWEST MOGUL CAMELLIA
3136
MOGUL
LARCREST CHEVELLE-ET
FARNEAR CASHCOIN 1717
3136
CASHCOIN
FARNEAR ALICE OF ADEEN-ET
T-SPRUCE SUPERSIRE 7472
3136
SUPERSIRE
LANGS-TWIN-B PEARL-ET
WELCOME-TEL MASSEY LIOLA-ET
3135
MASSEY
KELLERCREST SUPER LIESL-ET
SNOWBIZ SYMPATICO SAL
3135
SYMPATICO
GEN-I-BEQ SNOWMAN SUMMER
S-S-I PRED MADDIE 9088-ET
3133
PREDESTINE
S-S-I PEOTI MASH 7739-ET
COOKIECUTTER ALOAK HALEX-ET
3133
ALTAOAK
COOKIECUTTER MOM HALO-ET
EDG STITCH CC 2280
3133
CASHCOIN
GRAN-J RUSSELL STITCH-ET
EDG BRYSHA COIN 2262
3133
CASHCOIN
REGANCREST DGR BRYSHA-ET
MILLER-FF HEAD ELLIE-ET
3133
HEADLINER
MILLER-FF RAVISH ELINOR-ET
CEDARWAL LET IT EXPLODE
3132
LET IT SNOW
WABASH-WAY BOLTON EMERY-ET
RI-VAL-RE SYMP ESCAPADE-ET
3132
SYMPATICO
RI-VAL-RE SOTO ESCAPADE-ET
COOKIECUTTER PRE HANDFUL-ET
3132
PREDESTINE
COOKIECUTTER MOM HALO-ET
GO-FARM ECSTASSY ET
3131
FERNAND
GO-FARM ESTER ET
WSA COSMO-ET
3131
MOGUL
AJDH ASMARA
EDG TRAC SHOT 2261
3131
SHOTGLASS
TRANQUILLITY AC DREARYS TRACE
AMMON FARMS MASEY MYLASS-ET
3130
MASSEY
AMMON FARMS OBSVR MYLILY-TW
MORSAN HUNTER M ROBIN
3130
HUNTER
ROCKYMOUNTAIN METEOR ROBIN
FABEL MARIE CIEL MOGUL
3130
MOGUL
SYMA IOTA MARIE LUNE
EDG ADEEN MASCALESE 2148
3129
MASCALESE
FARNEAR READY FOR ADEEN-ET
WEBB-VUE SHOTGLASS 6913-ET
3129
SHOTGLASS
WEBB-VUE SHAMROCK KAYLA-ET
FARNEAR MASCALESE 1721
3129
MASCALESE
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHER-ET
MORSAN SUPERSIRE M ALICIA
3128
SUPERSIRE
MORSAN MANOMAN G ALICIA
MISS MCCUTCHEN JAMACIA-ET
3128
MCCUTCHEN
MACLAND ATWOOD JULIET
TIGER-LILY SHAMROCK LENA-ET
3128
SHAMROCK
TIGER-LILY DEANN LEANN
TRUSTMORE MOGUL LISA ET
3127
MOGUL
VELTHUIS PLANET LIZZY
KINGS-RANSOM SHAN DIXA-ET
3126
SHAN
KINGS-RANSOM IOTA DRAMA-ET
CONNY
3126
SHAMROCK
MON-COPABOKA
BOMAZ MOGUL 5983
3125
MOGUL
BOMAZ FREDDIE 5368
EDG STITCH COIN 2290
3124
CASHCOIN
GRAN-J RUSSELL STITCH-ET
MORMANN LAT TRANGA 2301
3120
LATIMER
FARNEAR-REGAN TALSA-ET
MS AMERICA BINETTE-ET
3118
BEN
SEAGULL-BAY MISS AMERICA-ET
EDG CASHBUST SNOW 2237-ET
3118
LET IT SNOW
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHBUST-ET
G M R DORCY ROZIE
3116
DORCY
CHERRY CREST MANOMAN REBECA
ALL.NURE NUMERO UNO PIA ET
3116
NUMERO UNO
ALL.NURE SUPER POLLY ET
GOLDEN-OAKS MAY MADNESS-ET
3115
MAYFIELD
GOLDEN-OAKS ROBUST MABEL-ET
EDG RUBY EARNHARDT 2242-ET
3114
EARNHARDT P
SANDY-VALLEY ROBUST RUBY-ET
RIVER-BRIDGE SAJAC RACH-ET
3113
SAJAC
CO-OP RB OBSR RACHEL-ET
EDG MIKI SNOW 2118-ET
3113
LET IT SNOW
AMMON-PEACHEY SUPER MIKI-ET
KINGS-RANSOM PRED DEBBIE-ET
3112
PREDESTINE
KINGS-RANSOM DORC DEXTRA-ET
LARCREST CINNABAR-ET
3112
NUMERO UNO
LARCREST CALE-ET
3112
EARNHARDT P
PINE-TREE 2149ROBST 4846-ET
MORMANN MOGUL TIMELY 2315
3110
MOGUL
FARNEAR-REGAN M TEBBI-ET
SAN-DAN SHAN LIZA 2298
3108
SHAN
RICHMOND-FD AL LORELEI-ET
MALIC PONDE ELISA
3107
LITHIUM
PONDE FREDDIE EMIE
BOMAZ MOGUL 5978
3107
MOGUL
BOMAZ BOOKEM 5402-ET
APRILDAY-CG SS LARAINA-ET
3107
SUPERSIRE
TIGER-LILY LAUGH PP-RED-ET
WILLSBRO MERIDIAN AMBER-ET
3107
MERIDIAN
RIVERDANE SHOTTLE AMBER
EDG HALLE MCCUT 2117-ET
3107
MCCUTCHEN
B&Z PLANET 7807 HALLE-ET
FARNEAR-TBR-BH BRONO 2172
3106
BRONO
B-ENTERPRISE SUPER GIGI-ET
ZAHBULLS OAK ETA
3105
ALTAOAK
BLUE-HORIZON PLAN EDITH-ET
SAN-DAN MOGUL SASSY 2312
3104
MOGUL
UFM-DUBS SHERUN-ET
MS AMERICA LAILA-ET
3103
LATIMER
SEAGULL-BAY MISS AMERICA-ET
BOMAZ ALTAOAK 6016
3103
ALTAOAK
BOMAZ OBSERVER 5406-ET
WESTENRADE CARRERA 1-ET
3102
MOGUL
WESTENRADE CARRERA
EDG BRYSCHA MOGUL 2263
3102
MOGUL
MS FARNEAR BRCDE BRYSCHA-ET
MARIE MCCUTCHEN CHANEL
3102
MCCUTCHEN
GILLETTE IOTA CORVETTE
ROSYLANE-LLC MAURICE5975-ET
3101
MAURICE
MS ROSYLANE OBSERVR5109-ET
ALL.NURE NUMERO UNO PAULA ET
3100
NUMERO UNO
ALL.NURE SUPER POLLY ET
BONACCUEIL EARNHARDT KATHE
3098
EARNHARDT P
BONACCUEIL SNOWMAN CASSIE
BOMAZ ALTAOAK 6017
3098
ALTAOAK
MS ROSYLANE OBSERVR5048-ET
MORSAN UNO CINERGY
3097
NUMERO UNO
LARCREST CINERGY-ET
AMMON-PEACHEY LR MISS PRISS
3097
LATIMER
AMMON-PEACHEY B MISCHIEF-ET
WILLSBRO UNO CLASSY
3095
NUMERO UNO
KOEPON SUPER CLASSY 70
WILLSBRO MOGUL N PAMMY
3095
MOGUL
WILLSBRO NIAGRA PAMMY
CO-OP SPS 6292 7124-ET
3093
SUPERSIRE
CO-OP CLARK YOYO 6292-ET
CO-OP UPD GALAXY 6570-ET
3092
GALAXY
CO-OP UPD DOMAIN 4510-ET
CO-OP UPD GALAXY 6565-ET
3090
GALAXY
CO-OP UPD DOMAIN 4510-ET
3090
FRANKINSTEIN
WEIGELINE OBSERVER 1869-ET
S-S-I MYSTIC KACI 9075-ET
3088
MYSTIC
S-S-I CONSTANTINE O 7628-ET
RI-VAL-RE SYMP AUBURN-ET
3087
SYMPATICO
SONRAY-ACRES SOC OBSERVR VI
WILLSBRO S MERIDIAN PAMMY-ET
3087
MERIDIAN
WILLSBRO PAMMY MAN-O-MAN
DINOMI LTMR SARA 9735-ET
3086
LATIMER
DINOMI PLANET SEXY
JEANLU UNO BEAUTY
3086
NUMERO UNO
FARNEAR BROCADES BEA-ET
LESPEREE ETERNITY GERRY
3084
ETERNITY
LESPEREE MANIFOLD GESTRIE
EDG BRYSHA COIN 2265
3082
CASHCOIN
REGANCREST DGR BRYSHA-ET
JK EDER COOSJE-ET
3082
JK EDER CINDERELLA
CO-OP LEXOR SAMARA 7120-ET
3081
LEXOR
WELCOME-TEL OBSER SAMARA-ET
MS SUPERSIRE B 3420-ET
3081
SUPERSIRE
MISTY SPRINGS SHOTTLE BREEZE
GOLDEN-OAKS-I MAYFIELD CARMEN
3080
MAYFIELD
RUGG-DOC OBSV CARMINDSAY-ET
SPRINGHILL-OH M WHISPER-ET
3079
MORGAN
SPRINGHILL-OH DORCY WANDA
CLAYNOOK DRAMA SYMPATICO
3078
SYMPATICO
OCD PLANET DIAMOND-ET
SNOWBIZ MCCUTCHEN DEE
3078
MCCUTCHEN
BROEKS DAISY-ET
SAN-DAN LEXOR CRUSH 2320-ET
3078
LEXOR
MS CHASSITY OBS CRYSTAL-ET
STE ODILE LIGHTSNOW PLEIADES
3077
LIGHTSNOW
STE ODILE MANOMAN MOD PLATINE
SPRUCE-HAVEN LEXOR 14682
3076
LEXOR
POTTERS-FIELD BOJA 9853-ET
BROEKS COTY-ET
3075
O-COSMOPOLITAN
BROEKS BETTY
MORSAN MAYFIELD M ROBIN
3075
MAYFIELD
ROCKYMOUNTAIN METEOR ROBIN
DES-Y-GEN LIGHTSNOW SANDY
3075
LIGHTSNOW
DES-Y-GEN WINDBROOK SLIKY
DUDOC EARNHARDT ACCOLADE
3072
EARNHARDT P
PARAMOUNT-MB OBSRV AKELA-ET
EDG STITCH CC 2278
3070
CASHCOIN
GRAN-J RUSSELL STITCH-ET
SAN-DAN LEX CANDICE 2318-ET
3069
LEXOR
MS CHASSITY OBS CRYSTAL-ET
ALPHAGEN MCCUTCHEN MARIZIE
3069
MCCUTCHEN
GITOISE JAKE MARIZA
JES-ET MOGUL PETUNIA
3069
MOGUL
MS C-HAVEN GERARD PANDA-ET
HOS-COT RANSOM PALE-ET
3068
RANSOM
WELCOME MAN-O-MAN PAYOUT-ET
BRYHILL SUPLEX MARLEE-ET
3068
ALTASUPLEX
SULLY ROBUST 720-ET
DPR EARNHARDT PARTY P
3067
EARNHARDT P
WINDSOR-MANOR ZSH PANDA-ET
CEDARWAL LET IT ELECTRIFY
3066
LET IT SNOW
WABASH-WAY BOLTON EMERY-ET
MS EMILY HARMONY-ET
3066
HEADLINER
TRAMILDA-N BAXTER EMILY-ET
GITOISE ETERNITY MAGUY
3065
ETERNITY
GITOISE JAKE MALY
CALBRETT MASCALESE LEAH
3065
MASCALESE
CALBRETT GOLDWYN LAYLA-ET
EDG BRYSHA EPIC 8090-ET
3064
EPIC
REGANCREST DGR BRYSHA-ET
FARNEAR-TBR-BH 2156-ET
3063
BRONO
B-ENTERPRISE SUPER GIGI-ET
ROSYLANE-LLC MAURICE5965-ET
3063
MAURICE
MS ROSYLANE OBSERVR5109-ET
VANHAVEN MASC R SANDIE
3063
MASCALESE
NAVS M SHARLA-ET
BRABANTDALE HDLINER ROCKLAND
3063
HEADLINER
SPEEK-NJ MAN OMAN ROCKET-ET
GLASSON NUMERO UNO G GLORA
3062
NUMERO UNO
GLASSON JD GOLDWYN GLORA ET
SAN-DAN SHEGULL 2314
3062
MOGUL
UFM-DUBS SHERUN-ET
CALBRETT MASCALESE LASS
3061
MASCALESE
CALBRETT GOLDWYN LAYLA-ET
QUIET-BROOK-D PRE HOTROD-ET
3058
PREDESTINE
COOKIECUTTER MM HALLMARK-ET
MATT-DARI MAURICE DARSANO
3058
MAURICE
MATT-DARI OBSERVER DOLLY-ET
GOLDEN-OAKS SPRS MARTINI-ET
3058
SUPERSIRE
SIEMERS EXPLD MARGARITA-ET
BOGHILL MOGUL S FAITH B ET
3057
MOGUL
BOGHILL SUPERSTITION FAITH ET
GILLETTE MASCALESE SNOOP
3055
MASCALESE
GILLETTE S PLANET 2ND SNOOZE
2371402530-ET
3055
MASSEY
HOOD M-O-M EVELYN
CO-OP SPS PRUDENCE 7081-ET
3051
SUPERSIRE
MS M-P DOLCE PRUDENCE-ET
COOKIECUTTER ELECT HOXIE-ET
3051
ELECTION
COOKIECUTTER MOM HULA-ET
JOSEY-LLC EARNHART SILLY-ET
3051
EARNHARDT P
DES-Y-GEN PLANET SILK
MILLER-FF MASC EVADOO-ET
3051
MASCALESE
NOVA SHOTTLE EVELYN-ET
CALBRETT LET IT SNOW EVE
3050
LET IT SNOW
EVER-GREEN-VIEW ETA-ET
DE-SU DAY 2688-ET
3050
DAY
DE-SU 1112-ET
COOKIECUTTER AOAK HASLET-ET
3050
ALTAOAK
COOKIECUTTER MOM HALO-ET
MORMANN LAT TAFFY 2295-ET
3050
LATIMER
FARNEAR-REGAN TALSA-ET
NH MASCALESE FANTASTICA
3050
MASCALESE
NH SUPER FRANCHISE
SUNTOR SS LASHES
3049
SUPERSIRE
SUNTOR MAN O MAN LEANNE
CO-OP UPD GALAXY 6298-ET
3049
GALAXY
CO-OP UPD RAMOS 3430
HAH SUDAN PATRON
3049
SUDAN
WELCOME BRONCO PATRON
COMESTAR LILACATE WORLDWIDE
3049
WORLDWIDE
COMESTAR LILACATHY SNOWMAN
RUH MERIDIAN ANIQUE
3047
MERIDIAN
AMIDA
JIMTOWN LEXOR NARTANA-ET
3045
LEXOR
JIMTOWN OBSERVER NIZAH-ET
VANHAVEN MASC R SHARLIZE
3045
MASCALESE
NAVS M SHARLA-ET
JOSEY-LLC EARNHART SPOCK-ET
3044
EARNHARDT P
DES-Y-GEN PLANET SILK
BOGHILL CM FAITH A ET
3043
CM
BOGHILL SUPERSTITION FAITH ET
BO-IRISH-RN MOG BIGWIG-ET
3043
MOGUL
REGANCREST GOLD BRETTA-ET
EDG ETTY MOGUL 2243-ET
3043
MOGUL
WELCOME BOOKEM ETTY-ET
CO-OP UPD GALAXY 6319-ET
3042
GALAXY
CO-OP UPD RAMOS 3430
DREBERT MERIDIAN AZIMUT
3041
MERIDIAN
DREBERT MAGNETISM AZOULE
AIJA SUPERSIRE MYA
3041
SUPERSIRE
AIJA MAN O MAN NAOMI
DEER-BROOK PEOTI 3711
3040
PEOTI
DEER-BROOK GERARD 3204-TW
3040
NUMERO UNO
3040
NUMERO UNO
SYLVANSIDE LEXOR LISA
3040
LEXOR
FLEURY GEN BAXTER LISA
MS EMILY HYPER BALLAD-ET
3039
HEADLINER
TRAMILDA-N BAXTER EMILY-ET
BUTZ-HILL DOT MASSY 2249-ET
3039
MASSEY
SPEEK-NJ SNOW DOTTIE RAE-ET
WILLSBRO FERNAND LILA Z-ET
3039
FERNAND
WILLSBRO SHOTTLE HOW LILA Z
SNOWBIZ MCCUTCHEN CHLOE
3038
MCCUTCHEN
MS CHASSITY SNOW CARRIE-ET
KHW MOGUL AKAKO-ET
3038
MOGUL
KHW GOLDWYN AIKO-ET
BOMAZ LITHIUM 6002
3038
LITHIUM
BOMAZ ROBUST 5481-ET
EDG LILLICO MASC 2229-ET
3037
MASCALESE
BOLDI SNOWMAN LILLICO
CCC COSMOPOLITAN EXTRA
3037
O-COSMOPOLITAN
BRYHILL SUPLEX MICA-ET
3037
ALTASUPLEX
SULLY ROBUST 720-ET
WILLSBRO MOGUL DIOR RAE
3036
MOGUL
WILLSBRO PS DIOR RAE
MORSAN SG ALICIA
3035
SUPERSIRE
MORSAN MANOMAN G ALICIA
ZIMMERVIEW PARDISE SULLY-ET
3034
PARADISE
ZIMMERVIEW SUPER SIMONE-ET
STE ODILE SUPERSIRE MODEL JAVA
3033
SUPERSIRE
STE ODILE MANIFOLD MODEL JADE
ROSYLANE-LLC RANSOM 5968
3032
RANSOM
ROSYLANE BOWSER 5146
TELSTAR HUNTER DANELION-ET
3031
HUNTER
DINTYS PAUL DIGNITY-ET
CROTEAU GALAXY MELBA
3030
GALAXY
REGANCREST-I MILLION MELANNY
S-S-I SHTGLS SIRENA 9000-ET
3029
SHOTGLASS
FUSTEAD DOMAIN SHOPPER-ET
BACON-HILL PREDSTNE LEAH-ET
3029
PREDESTINE
GOLDEN-OAKS LATTE-ET
WILLSBRO MOGUL SHO AMBER
3029
MOGUL
RIVERDANE SHOTTLE AMBER
GILLETTE CARAMINATOR TINA
3028
CARAMINATOR
GILLETTE M O M TAHITI
BUTLERVIEW LET IT SUN-ET
3028
LET IT SNOW
VISION-GEN SHO A12024-ET
CANCO MERIDIAN LOREL
3028
MERIDIAN
AMITIES SHOTTLE LOVER
BLONDIN MCCUTCHEN AMAZING
3028
MCCUTCHEN
RWM SNOW ANGEL-ET
GO-FARM KAMERY ET
3027
MERCHANDISE
GEGANIA LONAR K
BROEKS ENEKEM-ET
3027
BOOKEM
MS RYAN-CREST ENERGIZE-ET
KAKOUNA GILLESPY CASPY
3027
GILLESPY
KAKOUNA DUPLEX CASMY
HIGHERRANSOM OAK SILLY-ET
3026
ALTAOAK
BRU-DALE MOM STARLY-ET
DURESEAU OBLIK BREWMASTER
3026
BREWMASTER
DURESEAU OTELLO BOLTON
LATUCH PETRONE LIGHT-ET
3026
PETRONE
LATUCH OMAN LIBERTY
SNOWBIZ SUPERSIRE LYNDSEY
3026
SUPERSIRE
CALBRETT SNOWMAN LEXIE
UNITED-PRIDE MANDORA 6506
3026
MANDORA
UNITED-PRIDE FREDDIE 4614
DONNANDALE DAY LUVA
3023
DAY
DONNANDALE WINDBROOK LYN
GEN-I-BEQ MASCALESE ANNSO
3023
MASCALESE
KHW-I AIKA BAXTER
NH MASCALESE ELENA
3023
MASCALESE
NH SNOW ELIGHT
ERBCREST PHOENIX MARLENE
3023
PHOENIX
ERBCREST DUPLEX MARVELLOUS
SYLVANSIDE LEXOR LILA
3023
LEXOR
FLEURY GEN BAXTER LISA
WELCOME MASCALESE LAUREL-ET
3023
MASCALESE
WELCOME O-STYLE LONNIE-ET
SUNNYLODGE SINDY
3022
LET IT SNOW
MISTY SPRINGS MAN O MAN SATIN
CO-OP BOXER APPLE 7069-ET
3022
BOXER
RICHLAWN SUPER APRIL APPLE
BOMAZ LITHIUM 6027
3022
LITHIUM
BOMAZ BOOKEM 5402-ET
INTENSE OBSERVER 1238-ET
3021
OBSERVER
COMYN-PBCD SPLENDID-ET
FILIALE MOGUL SMARY
3021
MOGUL
LESPERRON SHOTTLE SPLENDA
SANDY-VALLEY S BOONDOCKS-ET
3021
SUPERSIRE
SANDY-VALLEY BODACIOUS-ET
UFM-DUBS SHEROHE-ET
3021
HEADLINER
UFM-DUBS SHEROW-ET
CO-OP UPD GALAXY 6415
3021
GALAXY
CO-OP TRIGG YANCIE 6309-ET
SAN-DAN LEXOR CASEY 2319-ET
3021
LEXOR
MS CHASSITY OBS CRYSTAL-ET
SNOWBIZ SYMPATICO SKY
3020
SYMPATICO
GEN-I-BEQ SNOWMAN SPRING
CO-OP UPD DAY 6430
3020
DAY
CO-OP UPD GWN 3502-ET
CO-OP DD GALAXY 40059-ET
3020
GALAXY
CO-OP TRIGG ABIGAIL 6402-ET
EDG ETTY MONARCH 2287
3019
MONARCH
WELCOME BOOKEM ETTY-ET
MS SIZZLE CASHCOIN 781-ET
3018
CASHCOIN
VENTURE SHOTTBOLT SIZZLE P
CO-OP PUZZL ROSETTE 7111-ET
3018
PUZZLE
CO-OP M-P ATWOOD ROSETTE-ET
WILLSBRO MERIDIAN PLEDGE-ET
3018
MERIDIAN
WILLSBRO EVOLVE PLEDGE
MS AMERICA LOTTERY-ET
3017
LATIMER
SEAGULL-BAY MISS AMERICA-ET
SPRUCE-HAVEN DESTINED *RC 1465
3017
DESTINED
SPRUCE-HAVEN ROB BS13135-ET
CO-OP 7119-ET
3017
MAURICE
CO-OP CALIBER MARA 6293-ET
CO-OP SPS RAPTUROUS 7082-ET
3016
SUPERSIRE
HARMONY-HO SIGNI RAPTUROUS
SANDY-VALLEY KRNC TOPEKA-ET
3016
KRUNCH
SANDY-VALLEY IOTA TOPAZ-ET
EDG RUBY GC REEBA 16
3015
GOLD CHIP
SANDY-VALLEY ROBUST RUBY-ET
FARNEAR CASHCOIN 1716
3015
CASHCOIN
FARNEAR ALICE OF ADEEN-ET
CREEK MCCUTCHEN HEIDI
3014
MCCUTCHEN
CREEK AL HILDA
LOTTI-ET
3014
JK EDER GOLDSTAR 2
LEOTHE SUPERSIRE LAURIE
3013
SUPERSIRE
LEOTHE BRETT LUCIDE
EDG CASHBUST¿GALAXY 2250
3012
GALAXY
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHBUST-ET
EDG JALA MOGUL 2266
3012
MOGUL
BUTLERVIEW SR JEVEN JALA-ET
GITOISE ETERNITY MAGGIE
3012
ETERNITY
GITOISE JAKE MALY
S-S-I MOONRAY LAURA 9072-ET
3011
MOONRAY
S-S-I KRAMER LOY 7675-ET
BLONDIN HEADLINER LAUZYA
3010
HEADLINER
LESPEREE METEOR LAUZI
WILLSBRO BREWMASTER LILA Z
3009
BREWMASTER
WILLSBRO PLANET LILA Z
DIANA
3009
MERIDIAN
DAGGI
GLASSON UNO G GLORA
3009
NUMERO UNO
GLASSON JD GOLDWYN GLORA ET
VEKIS ELSA QUEEN-ET
3008
MASSEY
ELTES
CEDARWAL SUPERSIRE EDGY
3008
SUPERSIRE
WABASH-WAY SHOTTLE ELLYN-ET
LOOKOUT PESCE NATASHA
3007
HEADLINER
GOLD-N-OAKS O NOVA2269-ET
WILLSBRO MERIDIAN PLEDGE 35-ET
3007
MERIDIAN
WILLSBRO EVOLVE PLEDGE
VICTORIA MASSEY KERRY
3007
MASSEY
VICTORIA SUPER KIRBY
HYDE-PARK MASSEY 4433
3007
MASSEY
HYDE-PARK ARMY 3584-TW
BONACCUEIL EARNHARDT PANAMA P
3006
EARNHARDT P
WINDSOR-MANOR ZSH PANDA-ET
AIMONETTA UNO LUCY ET
3005
NUMERO UNO
OWN GOLD LUCILLE
DE OOSTERHOF O HAPPY
3005
DADDY
DG EROSHINE FR
EDG CASHBUST DOOR 2289
3004
DOORMAN
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHBUST-ET
SAN-DAN MOGUL SHEMO 2302
3003
MOGUL
UFM-DUBS SHERUN-ET
WILLSBRO MERIDIAN ATLEE-ET
3002
MERIDIAN
HEAVENLY MOM ATLEE
MORMANN LAT TUSKY 2294-ET
3002
LATIMER
FARNEAR-REGAN TALSA-ET
CASTEL MOGUL TALQUEE ET
3001
MOGUL
VIDIA DEMELLO RAVISANTE
IDILLY P2M
3000
LAVAMAN
G DILLY P2M
EDG ETTY UNO 770
3000
NUMERO UNO
WELCOME BOOKEM ETTY-ET
CROTEAU DAKKER SALSA
2999
DAKKER
GEN-I-BEQ GERARD SAMMY
LEOTHE HEADLINER LAURA
2999
HEADLINER
LEOTHE BRETT LUCIDE
SULLY LITHIUM MARY-ET
2998
LITHIUM
SULLY PLANET MANITOBA-ET
JEANRI PHOENIX PONPON
2998
PHOENIX
JEANRI BOLY PETALE
WELCOME-TEL PREDSTN LIZA-ET
2998
PREDESTINE
KELLERCREST SUPER LIESL-ET
JS MISS MADEIRA-ET
2997
DADDY
J.S. MISS MERIBEL
WELCOME-TEL RANSOM LEETA-ET
2997
RANSOM
KELLERCREST SUPER LIESL-ET
POM IERE
2996
NUMERO UNO
EGALE POM
AMMON FARMS MASY MYLAYLA-ET
2996
MASSEY
AMMON FARMS OBSVR MYLILY-TW
WILLSBRO N UNO O DOLLY ET
2995
NUMERO UNO
WILLSBRO ONWARD DOLLY
TRUSTMORE MOGUL LILAC ET
2995
MOGUL
VELTHUIS PLANET LIZZY
EDG BABY UNO 2228-ET
2994
NUMERO UNO
OCONNORS SUPER BABY
MATCREST SHAN CHESSA-ET
2994
SHAN
MATCREST RADON CRIMSON-ET
CLAYNOOK DOWRY SYMPATICO
2993
SYMPATICO
OCD PLANET DIAMOND-ET
JEANLU MOGUL FIESTA
2993
MOGUL
SPEEK-NJ OBSERV FANDANGO-ET
SPRUCE-HAVEN PAR SX14654-ET
2991
PARKER
SPRUCE-HAVEN OBS SX12849-ET
QUIET-BROOK-D MERID FALLAX
2991
MERIDIAN
QUIET-BROOK-D BRONCO FALI
WILLSBRO A N UNO PAMMY
2990
NUMERO UNO
WILLSBRO BAXTER PAMMY ET
GITOISE ETERNITY MAGIE
2990
ETERNITY
GITOISE JAKE MALY
2990
PERRY
ALL.NURE MACALESE BELLINA
2990
MASCALESE
ALL.NURE SHOTTLE BLUEBELLE ET
A-L-H BETHANY
2989
LITHIUM
A-L-H PLANET BRIDGET
BOMAZ SUPERSIRE 5974
2989
SUPERSIRE
BOMAZ PARKER 5321-ET
SYLVANSIDE REGINA MOGUL
2987
MOGUL
SYLVANSIDE SHOTTLE REGINA
CO-OP LITHIUM 6287 7123-ET
2986
LITHIUM
CO-OP CLARK TASKET 6287-ET
2986
SUPERSIRE
WELCOME JEEVES PERLY-ET
RI-VAL-RE EHARDT CHIPS-P-ET
2986
EARNHARDT P
RI-VAL-RE OBSRVR SALSA-ET
WILLSBRO MERIDIAN E PLEDGE-ET
2985
MERIDIAN
WILLSBRO EVOLVE PLEDGE
HOOD LEXIA
2984
LEXOR
MARWIL LM REBECCA
CALBRETT MASCALESE LILLIANNE
2983
MASCALESE
CALBRETT GOLDWYN LAYLA-ET
RI-VAL-RE DOLO OAKLEY-ET
2983
DOLO-P
RI-VAL-RE SUPER NIKE-ET
CO-OP UPD GALAXY 6301-ET
2983
GALAXY
CO-OP UPD RAMOS 3430
SNOWBIZ GALAXY LUPIN
2981
GALAXY
SILVERRIDGE SNOW LIZZY
R-E-W LAYNE PINK CRI-ET
2981
LAYNE
WABASH-WAY EVES EASY PEA-ET
PELLERAT MOGUL SANDY
2981
MOGUL
PELLERAT BAXTER SARIE
WILLSBRO FERNAND HOW LILA Z-ET
2980
FERNAND
WILLSBRO SHOTTLE HOW LILA Z
MOREL IDOL
2980
LEXOR
ELDORADO
CO-OP GRAFEETI GABRIEL 7128
2980
GRAFEETI
JE-KO GABRIEL CRI-ET
CO-OP UPD PUZZLE 6484
2980
PUZZLE
COMYN-PBCD SUMMER CRI-ET
STE ODILE LIGHTSNOW PACIFICA
2980
LIGHTSNOW
STE ODILE MANOMAN MOD PLATINE
WILLSBRO MERIDIAN S AMBER-ET
2979
MERIDIAN
RIVERDANE SHOTTLE AMBER
EDG ABYSS DOORMAN 2281
2978
DOORMAN
RMW SNOWMAN ABYSS-ET
SANDY-VALLEY KRN TOPANGA-ET
2976
KRUNCH
SANDY-VALLEY IOTA TOPAZ-ET
WILLSBRO MERIDIAN SHO LILA Z-E
2975
MERIDIAN
WILLSBRO MOM SHO LILA Z
SIEMERS SHIMONE 19952
2974
SHIMONE
SIEMERS DORCY 16120
SIEMERS MASCALESE BOMBI-ET
2974
MASCALESE
GEN-I-BEQ SHOTTLE BOMBI
ST MAYFIELD MAKIO
2974
MAYFIELD
GOLDEN-OAKS ROBUST MABEL-ET
S-S-I PREDEST SINA 9091-ET
2974
PREDESTINE
HAPPYDANNY SNOW STORM-ET
ROXY
2974
MOGUL
BOUW MOM ROXY
K&K GAMES 8727
2973
MOGUL
BOMAZ LITHIUM 6031
2973
LITHIUM
BOMAZ BOOKEM 5402-ET
LEOTHE SUPERSIRE DAUPHINE
2973
SUPERSIRE
LEOTHE BAXTER DAPHNEE
DES-Y-GEN HUNTER SYLKIA
2972
HUNTER
DES-Y-GEN PLANET SILKY
MILLER-FF MASC EVIE-ET
2971
MASCALESE
NOVA SHOTTLE EVELYN-ET
CLAYNOOK DIOR SYMPATICO
2971
SYMPATICO
OCD PLANET DIAMOND-ET
HIGHERRANSOM PRED SALTY-ET
2970
PREDESTINE
BRU-DALE MOM STARLY-ET
RZH ADELAIDE
2969
MAYFIELD
KHW SUPER ADERYN-ET
BERGITTE HUNTER HELIA
2969
HUNTER
BERGITTE ASHLAR HAVARD
6217686931-ET
2968
MOGUL
FOTTO MAE
CALBRETT LET IT SNOW LIGHTLY
2968
LET IT SNOW
CALBRETT GOLDWYN LAYLA-ET
SPRUCE-HAVEN MASSEY 14691
2967
MASSEY
SPRUCE-HAVEN FRED A13182-ET
FABEL DELPHIE MERIDIAN
2967
MERIDIAN
SYTOMAX DORICE BAHAMAS
KINGS-RANSOM PREDES APPLE
2966
PREDESTINE
N-SPRINGHOPE NIAGRA ANNA-ET
KINGS-RANSOM CASHCN DELL-ET
2966
CASHCOIN
KINGS-RANSOM BAXTER DOLLY
KINGS-RANSOM KRUNCH EXPERT
2965
KRUNCH
KINGS-RANSOM MAN-O EPPIE-ET
KERNDTWAY ROBUST HEMI-ET
2965
ROBUST
KERNDTWAY POLD PLANET-ET
AARDEMA ANDERSON 1428
2965
ANDERSON
MS DOTTIE MASSEY 2254
2965
MASSEY
SPEEK-NJ SNOW DOTTIE RAE-ET
BONACCUEIL LET IT SNOW CAMILIA
2963
LET IT SNOW
GILLETTE IOTA CARMELA
FARNEAR-TBR-BH BEN 2227-ET
2963
BEN
B-ENTERPRISE SUPER GIGI-ET
WILLSBRO M YORIK G ROXY-ET
2963
YORICK
WILLSBRO GARRETT ROXY
BROWNTOWN LD MOGUL LIVELY
2963
MOGUL
FRUEH MAN O MAN LOOK AT HER
BROWNTOWN LD MOGUL LUCKY
2963
MOGUL
FRUEH MAN O MAN LOOK AT HER
SIEMERS MORGAN BLOOM
2962
MORGAN
SIEMERS EXPLODE BLOOM
CO-OP DD GALAXY 40058-ET
2962
GALAXY
CO-OP TRIGG ABIGAIL 6402-ET
CHARPENTIER DESTINED SPACE
2962
DESTINED
CHARPENTIER FBI SIERRA
WILLSBRO UNO GHOST
2961
NUMERO UNO
WILLSBRO GOLD GHOST ET
VICTORIA VITTEK DANELLE
2960
ALTAVITTEK
VICTORIA SUPER DANNI
ROYAL HILL PLANET SPARKME
2960
PLANET
ROYAL HILL MANOMAN SPARKME
CO-OP UPD GALAXY 6342-ET
2959
GALAXY
CO-OP UPD RAMOS 3430
MATT-DARI MAURICE DESTRY
2959
MAURICE
MATT-DARI OBSERVER DARIA-ET
CO-OP UPD MOONBOY 6623
2959
MOONBOY
CO-OP FRANK ROBIN 6330-ET
DES-Y-GEN HUNTER SUBLIME
2958
HUNTER
DES-Y-GEN PLANET SILKY
The take home message, when all breeds are considered, is that purebred Canadian breeders consider type (durability) to be the most important area. Beyond that, they pay moderate attention to production and either they do not consider Health & Fertility as being important or they have yet to start to eliminate using bulls lowly rated for Healthy & Fertility.
Comparing to the Best
Further analysis showed that breeders, for whatever reason, did not use the most highly genetically rated sires. The following tables are comparisons of the most used sires and the breed’s top ten most highly rated proven and genomic sires from mid-2012, the time when the inseminations would have been made to produce the females that were registered in 2013. Note that the ranges for the averages are given following each average.
Table 4 contains the comparison for Ayrshire sires. The sires used were far superior for type (CONF) but were inferior for Milk, Fat, Protein, Protein %, SCS and DF (daughter fertility) to the top LPI proven sires. Breeders that do not receive significant income from type are foregoing the opportunity for gain in major traits if they place a high requirement on a sire’s CONF index. Note that there was not a CDN listing for genomic Ayrshire sires in 2012.
Table 4 Comparison of Ayrshire Sires Used and Sires Available (2013)
Name
Sire
GTPI*
Milk
Fat
Protein
NM$
PTAT
Owner
State/Ctry
EDG DAHLIA MOGUL 2257
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2591
2394
90
68
885
3.93
Elite Dairy Genomics LLC
Chebanse , IL
SULLY MAN-O-SHAN MARTHA-ET
LADYS-MANOR MAN-O-SHAN-ET
2589
1974
88
73
873
3.94
Mike Sullivan
Kasson , MN
COOKIECUTTER AOAK HAWAII-ET
PINE-TREE ALTAOAK-ET
2574
1854
108
76
864
3.55
Denise M. Dickinson
Hudson Falls , NY
GIL-GAR PREDES MERLOT-ET
RICKLAND PREDESTINE 669-ET
2553
2355
82
77
930
2.89
Stelling Farms Inc.
Millville , MN
NO-FLA MCCUTCHEN 35646-ET
DE-SU BKM MCCUTCHEN 1174-ET
2549
1173
69
57
904
2.9
North Florida Holsteins
Bell , FL
LARCREST CICADA-ET
AMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO-ET
2543
1683
84
63
838
3.78
Jon E. Larson
Albert Lea , MN
COOKIECUTTER PRED HAZARD-ET
RICKLAND PREDESTINE 669-ET
2541
1534
108
63
909
3.16
Denise M. Dickinson
Hudson Falls , NY
WCD-ZBW SUPERSIRE LOVEY-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2536
2079
100
82
876
2.83
Kevin & Barbara Ziemba & Woodc
Lisbon , NY
WINROSS SUPERSIRE MINDY-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2527
2429
106
74
886
3.17
Steven S. Lantz
Leola , PA
MS LATIMER MUSICAL-ET
GENERVATIONS LATIMER
2517
1261
67
50
883
3.07
Trans-America Genetics
ST-HYACINTHE QUE , WI
LARCREST CIABATTA-ET
AMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO-ET
2516
1442
103
61
857
3.55
Jon E. Larson
Albert Lea , MN
MORMANN LAT TABINE 2297-ET
GENERVATIONS LATIMER
2515
1036
59
55
895
2.78
Jennifer Mormann
Farley , IA
JOOK MAURICE 9220-ET
MOUNTFIELD MSY MAURICE-ET
2511
1442
99
55
918
2.74
Lester C. Jones & Sons Inc.
Massey , MD
RICHMOND-FD GALPAL-ET
DE-SU FREDDIE GALAXY-ET
2507
1703
66
61
915
2.96
Chas A Jr & John L Richmond
North Collins , NY
EDG 4858 MOGUL 2240-ET
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2507
1569
76
58
900
3.12
Elite Dairy Genomics LLC
Chebanse , IL
MS AMERICA LAITICIA-ET
GENERVATIONS LATIMER
2507
1914
96
69
907
2.74
Trans-America Genetics
St-Hyacinthe QC , WI
EDG RUBY EARN 2259
DA-SO-BURN MOM EARNHARDT P
2506
2012
96
72
884
2.98
Elite Dairy Genomics LLC
Chebanse , IL
WINROSS SUPERSIRE MARLA-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2495
1621
85
65
895
2.88
Steven S. Lantz
Leola , PA
FARNEAR HEADLINER 1722
SEAGULL-BAY HEADLINER-ET
2493
1891
83
54
844
3.18
T R & M Simon B & T Rauen &
Farley , IA
HARTLINE SS LOU-RAE-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2491
1152
81
55
867
3.09
Hartline Valley Farms Inc.
Marietta , OH
NO-FLA MCCUTCHEN 35703-ET
DE-SU BKM MCCUTCHEN 1174-ET
2488
1723
85
59
808
3.4
North Florida Holsteins
Bell , FL
SIEMERS MCCUTCH ROZ-ET
DE-SU BKM MCCUTCHEN 1174-ET
2488
2267
81
73
795
3.32
Siemers Holstein Farms Inc.
Newton , WI
FARNEAR MASCALESE 1719
ZANI BOLTON MASCALESE-ET
2484
1358
83
58
833
3.23
Rick & Tom Simon B & T Rauen &
Farley , IA
RI-VAL-RE SYMP VIVIAN-ET
DYMENTHOLM S SYMPATICO
2477
1978
88
64
886
2.74
Aaron Jorgensen
Webberville , MI
HIGHERRANSOM COIN STITCH-ET
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHCOIN-ET
2472
1217
74
57
854
2.95
Jeffrey King & Fly-Higher Hols
Valley Falls , NY
SEAGULL-BAY DAY LIGHT-ET
MINNIGAN-HILLS DAY-ET
2469
1411
51
54
831
3
Seagull Bay Dairy Inc.
American Falls , ID
WINDY-KNOLL-VIEW PRINCESS
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2469
2163
59
68
875
2.48
James R. & Nina P. Burdette
Mercersburg , PA
LADIES-FIRST SS BLESSING-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2466
2644
108
79
938
2.25
Barbara Mountain & Ladies Firs
Rocky Ridge , MD
SULLY OAK MANDA-ET
PINE-TREE ALTAOAK-ET
2465
1889
77
66
817
3.26
Kyle Pundsack
Freeport , MN
WILLSBRO MERIDIAN PAMMY-ET
SULLY HART MERIDIAN-ET
2463
1613
51
54
730
3.93
Wills Bros
Wadebridge Cornwall ,
HARTLINE SS LIDA RAR-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2456
1857
72
63
818
3.14
Hartline Valley Farms Inc.
Marietta , OH
CO-OP SPS PRUDENCE 7079-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2455
2652
97
79
868
2.67
Genesis Cooperative Herd
Shawano , WI
MORMANN MOGUL 1100-ET
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2450
1768
67
58
845
2.88
Agri-Science Opportunity LLC
Durham , NC
ZIMMERVIEW PARDISE SULLY-ET
REGANCREST PARADISE-ET
2449
1557
66
41
853
2.89
Dean E. & Brent E. Zimmer
Marietta , OH
NO-FLA NUMERO UNO 35742-ET
AMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO-ET
2449
1527
92
50
800
3.27
North Florida Holsteins
Bell , FL
LATUCH SUPER LABELLA-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2444
1824
104
76
788
3.01
Roger & David Latuch
Somerset , PA
STONEHURST SUPER CHRISTY-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2442
1309
89
50
807
3.16
Stonehurst Farm Dairy Sales
Strasburg , PA
INTENSE DAY SPRINKLE1274-ET
MINNIGAN-HILLS DAY-ET
2441
1726
62
54
829
3.02
Gregory W. Crouse
Sparta , NC
LARS-ACRES MOG TRIANGLE-ET
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2439
1100
72
38
851
2.89
Larson Acres Inc.
Evansville , WI
FARNEAR NUMERO UNO 1704
AMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO-ET
2437
1462
99
59
868
2.8
Rick & Tom Simon B & T Rauen &
Farley , IA
PINE-TREE DASHE OAK 5770-ET
PINE-TREE ALTAOAK-ET
2435
935
65
49
715
3.61
Matthew J. Steiner
Marshallville , OH
WILLSBRO UNO CLASSY
AMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO-ET
2432
1222
55
49
804
2.91
Wills Bros
Wadebridge Cornwall ,
LARCREST COLLAGE-ET
AMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO-ET
2428
779
109
49
835
3.17
Jon E. Larson
Albert Lea , MN
LEADERWIN LEXOR MANDA
GENERVATIONS LEXOR
2426
1190
65
54
719
3.91
Steven S. Emanuel J.& James S.
Leola , PA
MS KOENEN NUMRO UNO 6034-ET
AMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO-ET
2425
1506
88
52
823
3.22
A Dykshorn D Kaufmann & G Koe
Ireton , IA
JOLICAP MORGAN DESIRE-ET
S-S-I BOOKEM MORGAN-ET
2423
1449
62
50
848
2.84
Ferme Jolicap Inc
Cap St Ignace PQ , CA
SIEMERS S-SIRE ROZANNE-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2423
2244
107
78
808
2.62
Siemers Holstein Farms Inc.
Newton , WI
EDG BYSHA CC 2258
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHCOIN-ET
2422
1874
69
53
824
3.02
Elite Dairy Genomics LLC
Chebanse , IL
S-S-I MOONRY LEIGHA 9081-ET
DE-SU RB MOONRAY 11038-ET
2421
1742
90
71
806
2.84
Select Sires Inc.
Plain City , OH
COOKIECUTTER ALOAK HALEX-ET
PINE-TREE ALTAOAK-ET
2419
1845
98
73
772
2.75
Denise M. Dickinson
Hudson Falls , NY
EDG CHRISTA LATIMER 2226-ET
GENERVATIONS LATIMER
2417
1742
73
64
760
3.17
Jeffrey Jet Butler
Springfield , IL
WILLSBOR MOGUL AMBER
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2414
1457
83
52
746
3.44
Wills Bros
Wadebridge Cornwall ,
WOODCREST MERIDIAN LURK-ET
SULLY HART MERIDIAN-ET
2413
1455
55
53
682
3.96
Woodcrest Dairy LLC
Lisbon , NY
FLINT-VILLE UNO YESTER-ET
AMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO-ET
2413
1554
97
59
726
3.82
Lynford & Kevin Burkholder
Lebanon , PA
MAPLEHURST NUMBER ONE 2941
MISTY SPRINGS NUMBER ONE
2412
1625
104
61
803
3
Maplehurst Farm LLC
Cuyler , NY
MAPLEHURST EVEREST 2953
STANTONS EVEREST
2412
1643
98
57
821
3.02
Maplehurst Farm LLC
Cuyler , NY
HARTLINE SS LINA-RAE-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2411
1578
66
63
743
3.12
Hartline Valley Farms Inc.
Marietta , OH
MS CO-VISTA SUPRSIRE LEE-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2410
2019
85
59
759
3.35
Russell M George
Arcade , NY
NO-FLA MAURICE RAE 35753-ET
MOUNTFIELD MSY MAURICE-ET
2408
1498
86
50
855
2.21
North Florida Holsteins
Bell , FL
WEBB-VUE PREDESTINE 6909-ET
RICKLAND PREDESTINE 669-ET
2406
1519
73
49
819
2.77
Robert A. Webb
Plymouth , WI
COOKIECUTTER PRE HANDFUL-ET
RICKLAND PREDESTINE 669-ET
2405
1771
82
64
785
2.94
Denise M. Dickinson
Hudson Falls , NY
FARNEAR MASCALESE 1720
ZANI BOLTON MASCALESE-ET
2403
1775
98
67
736
3.33
Rick & Tom Simon B & T Rauen &
Farley , IA
BO-IRISH-RN SS CHARTER
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2401
1913
70
60
756
3.04
Gary Housner & Ronald Suhr
Elroy , WI
NORDIC-RIDGE SUPERS LEGACY
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2401
2276
109
69
749
3.21
Mitch Amundson
De Forest , WI
NO-FLA MAURICE SAR 35024-ET
MOUNTFIELD MSY MAURICE-ET
2399
1458
61
50
853
2.2
North Florida Holsteins
Bell , FL
S-S-I MYSTIC KACI 9075-ET
S-S-I SHAMROCK MYSTIC-ET
2399
994
68
52
854
2.22
Select Sires Inc.
Plain City , OH
GLEN-D-HAVEN SUP BUMPKIN-ET
BLUE-HORIZON ALTASUPLEX
2399
1595
58
53
719
3.6
Paul & Jackie Glende
Altura , MN
HARTFORD ELECTN SARA 423-ET
EILDON-TWEED SUP ELECTION
2399
1102
54
41
806
2.99
Robert J. Eustice
Byron , MN
HARTLINE SS LELIA-RAE-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2398
1587
78
55
887
2.26
Hartline Valley Farms Inc.
Marietta , OH
BUTLERVIEW LET IT SHINE-ET
VELTHUIS LET IT SNOW
2394
1338
52
47
719
3.59
Jeffrey Butler
Chebanse , IL
MORMANN LAT TAFFY 2295-ET
GENERVATIONS LATIMER
2394
1455
66
61
763
2.98
Jennifer Mormann
Farley , IA
CO-OP SPS PRUDENCE 7080-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2394
2518
95
79
790
2.69
Genesis Cooperative Herd
Shawano , WI
WELCOME SUPERSIRE LEOTA
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2392
2284
82
69
760
3.16
Welcome Stock Farm LLC
Schuylerville , NY
MATCREST GALAXY CHARLEE-ET
DE-SU FREDDIE GALAXY-ET
2392
1766
85
63
758
2.9
Matthew R. Johnson
Baldwin , WI
ESKDALE MOGUL EXCEL EMMA-ET
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2390
1051
78
46
747
3.16
Eskdale Center Dairy
Eskdale , UT
KINGS-RANSOM PRED DEBBIE-ET
RICKLAND PREDESTINE 669-ET
2387
1383
91
52
814
2.56
Kings-Ransom Farm LLC
Schuylerville , NY
NO-FLA GALAXY ZOEY 35590-ET
DE-SU FREDDIE GALAXY-ET
2386
1653
97
58
798
2.51
North Florida Holsteins
Bell , FL
LATUCH PETRONE LIGHT-ET
WELCOME SUPER PETRONE-ET
2382
1579
58
57
787
2.5
Roger & David Latuch
Somerset , PA
R-E-W ELLYMAE-ET
O-COSMOPOLITAN-ET
2381
2246
76
72
688
3.47
Marc J. Wolf
Lebanon , CT
ST GENOMICPRO MUFFY
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2381
1910
73
55
802
2.41
Sexing Technologies
Navasota , TX
ZIMMERVIEW MORGAN BRINA-ET
S-S-I BOOKEM MORGAN-ET
2380
1228
97
54
804
2.67
Dean E. & Brent E. Zimmer
Marietta , OH
MISS HJ NUMEROUNO RICKI-ET
AMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO-ET
2380
1091
61
47
761
2.87
Ken Horn & Curtis Johansson
Loyal , WI
NO-FLA LITHIUM REE 35570-ET
S-S-I DOMAIN LITHIUM-ET
2379
1682
40
45
793
2.81
North Florida Holsteins
Bell , FL
NO-FLA GALAXY LORA 35639-ET
DE-SU FREDDIE GALAXY-ET
2379
1279
93
52
764
2.72
North Florida Holsteins
Bell , FL
MS GALAXY MURIEL-ET
DE-SU FREDDIE GALAXY-ET
2376
1147
64
47
793
2.73
Trans-America Genetics
St-Hyacinthe QC , WI
AMMON-PEACHEY LR MISS PRISS
GENERVATIONS LATIMER
2375
1550
56
53
678
3.69
M & J Ammon & G S Peachey
Lewistown , PA
LADIES-FIRST SS BEVERLY-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2372
1220
88
51
837
2.51
Barbara Mountain & Ladies Firs
Rocky Ridge , MD
WINDY-KNOLL-VIEW PANCO-TW
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2372
1897
99
59
802
2.61
James R. & Nina P. Burdette
Mercersburg , PA
SPRUCE-HAVEN MASSEY 14691
CO-OP BOSSIDE MASSEY-ET
2372
1792
78
60
797
2.47
Doug Young & James Nocek
Union Springs , NY
LARCREST CINNABAR-ET
AMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO-ET
2371
810
87
49
710
3.39
Jon E. Larson
Albert Lea , MN
EDG ETTY MOGUL 2248-ET
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2370
1165
95
54
782
3.06
Elite Dairy Genomics LLC
Chebanse , IL
BOGHILL MOGUL S FAITH ET
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2370
1088
66
39
819
2.66
Holstein UK
Herts WD3 3BB ,
BRYHILL SUPLEX MYSTIQUE-ET
BLUE-HORIZON ALTASUPLEX
2368
1578
68
59
786
2.85
Bryhill Farm Inc
Ormstown PQ , IA
JA-KNOLL MOGUL DAME-ET
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2368
797
80
41
747
2.98
Ja-Knoll Dairy
Oronoco , MN
GUESE-PRTNS UNO RELISH-ET
AMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO-ET
2367
1032
63
48
766
2.48
Crossroads Dairy LLC
Postville , IA
SANDY-VALLEY KRNCH TOPSY-ET
HAMMER-CREEK FRED KRUNCH-ET
2367
2051
69
54
670
3.81
Dave Pat Frank Jr. & Greg B
Stevens Point , WI
LARS-ACRES MOGUL 14639
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2367
1461
52
40
713
3.52
Michael A. Larson
Evansville , WI
SULLY CASUAL MCKAYLA-ET
LARCREST CASUAL-ET
2367
1788
71
62
763
2.79
Kyle Pundsack
Freeport , MN
DINOMI LTMR SARA 9735-ET
GENERVATIONS LATIMER
2365
2046
74
59
790
2.8
Dino & Mike Migliazzo
Atwater , CA
WA-DEL-DM MCCUTCHEN CARA-ET
DE-SU BKM MCCUTCHEN 1174-ET
2365
1768
67
57
603
3.88
Darwin Gene Horst
Chambersburg , PA
ST GENOMICPRO OMYGOSH-ET
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2365
1235
73
43
748
3.24
Sexing Technologies
Navasota , TX
QUIET-BROOK-D PRE HOTROD-ET
RICKLAND PREDESTINE 669-ET
2365
1501
58
61
684
3.46
John & Denise Dickinson
Hudson Falls , NY
TJR ARITA MCCUT 2256
DE-SU BKM MCCUTCHEN 1174-ET
2363
842
72
45
577
4.55
Adolf Langhout & Tim Rauen
Farley , IA
MAPLEHURST EVEREST 2960
STANTONS EVEREST
2362
611
74
33
845
2.12
Maplehurst Farm LLC
Cuyler , NY
548077799-ET
2362
1929
88
64
775
2.42
Eurogenes
Fair Play , MD
KERNDTWAY LITHIUM HEMI
S-S-I DOMAIN LITHIUM-ET
2361
1850
71
57
763
2.54
Regancrest Farms
Waukon , IA
EDG BABY UNO 2228-ET
AMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO-ET
2361
1387
57
45
707
3.35
Elite Dairy Genomics LLC
Chebanse , IL
RONELEE GALXY DESIREABLE-ET
DE-SU FREDDIE GALAXY-ET
2361
1878
74
57
751
2.75
Sherman Polinder
Lynden , WA
WA-DEL-DM MCCUTCHEN CORA-ET
DE-SU BKM MCCUTCHEN 1174-ET
2360
1932
51
54
633
3.79
Darwin Gene Horst
Chambersburg , PA
EDG LACI SHOTGLASS 766-ET
BUTZ-BUTLER SHOTGLASS-ET
2359
2387
76
62
754
2.72
Elite Dairy Genomics LLC
Chebanse , IL
CO-OP SPS 6292 7118-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2359
1781
60
51
710
3.31
Genesis Cooperative Herd
Shawano , WI
SAN-DAN LEX CANDICE 2318-ET
GENERVATIONS LEXOR
2358
1600
76
58
765
2.89
Daniel & Sandra Mormann
New Vienna , IA
N-SPRINGHOPE SSIRE 2071-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2357
1512
68
61
871
1.82
J Kevin & Barbara Nedrow
Clifton Springs , NY
HOS-COT RANSOM PEARL-ET
DE-SU RANSOM-ET
2357
1115
72
58
708
3.03
Samuel C Cottrell
Hoosick , NY
T-SPRUCE SUPERSIRE 7472
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2356
2228
99
72
766
2.65
Arnold B. Gruenes
Richmond , MN
SEAGULL-BAY MAJIC DAY-ET
MINNIGAN-HILLS DAY-ET
2355
1220
51
47
736
3.01
Seagull Bay Dairy Inc.
American Falls , ID
PENN-ENGLAND GINGER 9730-ET
SOUTHERN-HILLS BAYARD-ET
2355
1664
68
61
731
3.05
Penn England LLC
Williamsburg , PA
AR-JOY SUPERSIRE FRITZY-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2355
1334
79
48
787
2.47
Duane & Marilyn Hershey
Cochranville , PA
ARMSON MOGUL EVELYN
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2354
1182
69
56
837
1.93
Armson Farms LLC
Pavilion , NY
S-S-I PRED MADDIE 9088-ET
RICKLAND PREDESTINE 669-ET
2353
880
83
49
856
1.93
Select Sires Inc.
Plain City , OH
BACON-HILL PREDSTNE LEAH-ET
RICKLAND PREDESTINE 669-ET
2352
1153
72
56
714
3.07
Bacon-Hill Holsteins LLC
Schuylerville , NY
SIEMERS SSIRE ROZANNERAE-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2350
1711
117
65
720
2.77
Siemers Holstein Farms Inc.
Newton , WI
MS EMILY HYPER BALLAD-ET
SEAGULL-BAY HEADLINER-ET
2350
1726
85
59
640
3.56
Trans-America Genetics
St-Hyacinthe QC , CA
MAPLEHURST SUPERSIRE 2957
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2348
1581
103
60
831
2.11
Maplehurst Farm LLC
Cuyler , NY
WEBB-VUE SHOTGLASS 6913-ET
BUTZ-BUTLER SHOTGLASS-ET
2348
1603
66
39
802
2.66
Robert A. Webb
Plymouth , WI
CURR-VALE SUPER DUCHESS-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2348
1812
59
59
715
3.11
Jessica Mae Currie
Tully , NY
RI-VAL-RE DOLO OAKLEY-ET
RI-VAL-RE OBSRVR DOLO-P-ET
2347
1352
61
48
772
2.65
Aaron Jorgensen
Webberville , MI
NO-FLA ANDERSON 35259-ET
VISION-GEN SHF ANDERSON-ET
2346
818
60
38
820
2.09
North Florida Holsteins
Bell , FL
SIEMERS SSIRE ROZANNEMAE-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2346
1530
97
51
765
2.72
Siemers Holstein Farms Inc.
Newton , WI
KENMORE CLOUDLESS DAY-ET
MINNIGAN-HILLS DAY-ET
2346
1593
72
55
771
2.46
Kenneth H. Larson
Downing , WI
LOT-O-ROK SHAM TASHIA
LADYS-MANOR PL SHAMROCK-ET
2345
1601
67
53
744
3.03
Chamberlain Dairy Inc.
Moses Lake , WA
SANDY-VALLEY HUNTR JULIE-ET
COOKIECUTTER MOM HUNTER-ET
2344
2506
104
73
674
3.29
Dave Pat Frank Jr. & Greg B
Stevens Point , WI
HIGHERRANSOM PRED SALTY-ET
RICKLAND PREDESTINE 669-ET
2343
897
75
51
780
2.36
Jeffrey King & Fly-Higher Hols
Valley Falls , NY
GOLDEN-OAKS UNO CARLENE-ET
AMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO-ET
2341
559
76
38
752
3.03
Golden Oaks Farms
Wauconda , IL
HIGHERRANSOM PRED SASSY-ET
RICKLAND PREDESTINE 669-ET
2339
504
65
39
685
3.2
Jeffrey King & Fly-Higher Hols
Valley Falls , NY
TTM BRONO 30970-ET
REGANCREST-KF OBSV BRONO-ET
2338
964
67
47
827
2.05
Thomas T. Mercuro
Rocky Ridge , MD
RI-VAL-RE EHARDT NIK-ET
DA-SO-BURN MOM EARNHARDT P
2338
1818
89
84
686
2.75
Aaron Jorgensen
Webberville , MI
SPRUCE-HAVEN LEXOR 14682
GENERVATIONS LEXOR
2338
1241
100
66
752
2.61
Doug Young & James Nocek
Union Springs , NY
WOODCREST PREDEST LENTIL-ET
RICKLAND PREDESTINE 669-ET
2337
585
85
42
768
2.85
Woodcrest Dairy LLC
Lisbon , NY
PINE-TREE 4187 TAPE 5753-ET
PINE-TREE BRIANNE TAPE-ET
2337
674
72
33
779
2.79
Matthew J. Steiner
Marshallville , OH
RICKLAND SUPERSIRE 4593-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2337
1908
70
57
749
2.65
Greg Rickert
Eldorado , WI
SEAGULL-BAY EHDT MAJIC-ET
DA-SO-BURN MOM EARNHARDT P
2336
1759
78
70
757
2.27
Seagull Bay Dairy Inc.
American Falls , ID
SPRUCE-HAVEN DESTINED *RC 146
CURR-VALE DESTINED-ET
2336
899
59
40
739
2.91
Doug Young & James Nocek
Union Springs , NY
LARS-ACRES PETRONE 14710
WELCOME SUPER PETRONE-ET
2335
1666
49
41
801
2.33
Michael A. Larson
Evansville , WI
APPEALING GALAXY HOOCHIE
DE-SU FREDDIE GALAXY-ET
2335
2082
59
56
758
2.85
S. Scott & April D. Cooper
Delta , PA
KINGS-RANSOM SHAN DIXA-ET
LADYS-MANOR MAN-O-SHAN-ET
2335
1562
88
62
693
3.06
Kings-Ransom Farm LLC
Schuylerville , NY
C-HAVEN MOGUL 1395-ET
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2333
1230
64
50
699
3.03
T. Priest & T T. Mercuro
Greencastle , PA
NO-FLA SUPERSIRE 35696-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2333
1619
76
59
822
1.63
North Florida Holsteins
Bell , FL
CO-OP UPD GALAXY 6319-ET
DE-SU FREDDIE GALAXY-ET
2332
734
59
40
875
1.61
Genesis Cooperative Herd
Shawano , WI
VEKIS ELSA QUEEN-ET
CO-OP BOSSIDE MASSEY-ET
2330
1114
96
51
790
2.2
Eurogenes
Fair Play , MD
RI-VAL-RE SUPERSIRE NADOLA
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2330
1733
71
64
751
2.34
Aaron Jorgensen
Webberville , MI
S-S-I ARIWAMI OLEGANT DUSTY
UFM-DUBS OLEGANT-ET
2329
750
67
31
800
1.96
Brand Dairy Farm
Waterloo , IN
INTENSE LITHIUM 1275-ET
S-S-I DOMAIN LITHIUM-ET
2328
1676
50
53
768
2.34
Gregory W. Crouse
Sparta , NC
MS KOENEN NUMRO UNO 6022-ET
AMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO-ET
2328
1393
81
42
721
3.31
A Dykshorn D Kaufmann & G Koe
Ireton , IA
BO-IRISH-RN MOG BIGWIG-ET
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2328
1261
83
51
680
3.35
Gary Housner & Ronald Suhr
Elroy , WI
JE-KO MAN GUESS CRI-ET
SULLY MANDORA CRI-ET
2328
815
61
43
717
2.78
Genesis Cooperative Herd
Shawano , WI
SIEMERS HLINER ROZ-IS-IT-ET
SEAGULL-BAY HEADLINER-ET
2327
2071
90
68
631
3.39
Siemers Holstein Farms Inc.
Newton , WI
BRYHILL SUPLEX MADALENA-ET
BLUE-HORIZON ALTASUPLEX
2326
1666
49
57
720
2.76
Bryhill Farm Inc
Ormstown PQ , IA
S-S-I PREDEST SINA 9091-ET
RICKLAND PREDESTINE 669-ET
2326
1892
87
54
747
2.72
Select Sires Inc.
Plain City , OH
AURORA SHOTGLASS 13899-ET
BUTZ-BUTLER SHOTGLASS-ET
2326
2385
62
67
735
2.7
Aurora Ridge Dairy LLC
Aurora , NY
KINGS-RANSOM PREDES APPLE
RICKLAND PREDESTINE 669-ET
2326
810
64
31
741
2.97
Kings-Ransom Farm LLC
Schuylerville , NY
CO-OP GRAFEETI GABRIEL 7128
LADYS-MANOR RD GRAFEETI-ET
2325
1532
70
44
782
2.35
Genesis Cooperative Herd
Shawano , WI
BROEKS ENEKEM-ET
DE-SU 521 BOOKEM-ET
2325
1590
55
53
692
3.17
Broekhuis Vee & H.
Overijssel 7665 TV ,
SANDY-VALLEY SUPRSIRE BO-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2325
2022
82
62
722
3.19
Dave Pat Frank Jr. & Greg B
Stevens Point , WI
MATT-DARI SUPERSI MAIZIE-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2325
2115
82
57
750
2.98
Matthiae Dairy Farm Inc.
Marathon , WI
NO-FLA CASUAL KYLA 35589
LARCREST CASUAL-ET
2324
1384
59
60
845
1.48
North Florida Holsteins
Bell , FL
MS SIZZLE CASHCOIN 772-ET
FARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHCOIN-ET
2324
1314
81
47
733
2.86
Elite Dairy Genomics LLC
Chebanse , IL
GIBBS MCC FINITY
DE-SU BKM MCCUTCHEN 1174-ET
2324
1268
54
50
623
3.35
Joseph J. Gibbs
Epworth , IA
EILDON-TWEED SS BELLA-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2322
1884
94
72
701
3.09
David R. Wood
Amsterdam , NY
NO-FLA SUPERSIRE 35747-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2322
1433
68
61
748
1.9
North Florida Holsteins
Bell , FL
CO-OP LITHIUM 6287 7123-ET
S-S-I DOMAIN LITHIUM-ET
2322
1336
53
44
787
2.19
Genesis Cooperative Herd
Shawano , WI
NO-FLA SUPERSIRE 35759-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2321
1837
84
58
783
2.27
North Florida Holsteins
Bell , FL
SPRUCE-HAVEN MCCUTCHEN 14660
DE-SU BKM MCCUTCHEN 1174-ET
2321
1053
67
49
647
3.26
Doug Young & James Nocek
Union Springs , NY
RABUR MOGUL PICANTE-ET
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2320
1094
79
37
730
3.14
R. Paul Buhr Jr.
Viroqua , WI
FARNEAR-TBR-BH BRONO 2172
REGANCREST-KF OBSV BRONO-ET
2320
2193
65
72
667
3.05
Rick & Tom Simon
Farley , IA
T-SPRUCE DADDY 7468
RONELEE SSI O DADDY-ET
2318
1675
36
50
641
3.54
Arnold B. Gruenes
Richmond , MN
HAR-DALE-ACRES-JP PAPER-ET
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2318
1971
77
70
755
2.04
Fred & Matt Harder
Athens , WI
HILLS-END SS CURLEY SUE-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2318
1376
95
50
754
2.74
Steven Conners
Lake , MI
BLUMENFELD RAN BRIZA CRI-ET
DE-SU RANSOM-ET
2318
497
83
42
768
2.27
Genesis Cooperative Herd
Shawano , WI
EILDON-TWEED L CHASER-ET
S-S-I DOMAIN LITHIUM-ET
2317
1562
64
50
791
2.42
David R. Wood
Amsterdam , NY
EDG HALLE MCCUT 2117-ET
DE-SU BKM MCCUTCHEN 1174-ET
2317
1350
55
48
699
3
Elite Dairy Genomics LLC
Chebanse , IL
AMMON FARMS STG MYALEXIS-ET
BUTZ-BUTLER SHOTGLASS-ET
2316
2156
83
58
715
3.11
Michael & Jill Ammon
Lewistown , PA
COASTAL-VIEW MD DYLA 430-ET
SULLY MANDORA CRI-ET
2316
1707
47
44
791
2.29
Jo L Averill Farm
Tillamook , OR
EDG ETTY MOGUL 2243-ET
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2316
961
75
47
719
3.13
Elite Dairy Genomics LLC
Chebanse , IL
WELCOME PARKER-P WHIT-ET
HICKORYMEA PARKER P-ET
2316
858
68
51
732
2.37
Welcome Stock Farm LLC
Schuylerville , NY
JOOK MAURICE 9224-ET
MOUNTFIELD MSY MAURICE-ET
2316
1309
65
45
717
2.68
Lester C. Jones & Sons Inc.
Massey , MD
CO-OP SPS SIBELLA 7122-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2316
953
90
48
756
2.6
Genesis Cooperative Herd
Shawano , WI
BINDERWAY O DELICIOUS-ET
RONELEE SSI O DADDY-ET
2315
1622
64
51
596
3.87
Virgil Good
Stevens , PA
N-SPRINGHOPE SUPERSIRE 2076
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2315
1673
94
61
755
2.33
J Kevin & Barbara Nedrow
Clifton Springs , NY
DF LITHIUM BELLE A 1194-ET
S-S-I DOMAIN LITHIUM-ET
2315
1434
58
47
721
2.79
Daisy Farms LLC
Paris , TX
EDG ARMADA MERIDIAN 2107
SULLY HART MERIDIAN-ET
2314
1357
68
55
617
3.5
Elite Dairy Genomics LLC
Chebanse , IL
CO-VISTA ART DEZ-ET
MR AUBREY OBSERVER ART-ET
2314
1874
44
60
595
3.71
Russell M George
Arcade , NY
WILLSBRO MOGUL N PAMMY
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2314
1444
70
47
661
3.35
Wills Bros
Wadebridge Cornwall ,
HARTLINE SS LEXIE-RAE-ET
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2313
1003
62
38
677
3.08
Hartline Valley Farms Inc.
Marietta , OH
CO-OP UPD GALAXY 6570-ET
DE-SU FREDDIE GALAXY-ET
2313
1256
44
44
683
2.7
Genesis Cooperative Herd
Shawano , WI
WINDY-KNOLL-VIEW PANSIE-TW
SEAGULL-BAY SUPERSIRE-ET
2312
1702
85
48
676
3.5
James R. & Nina P. Burdette
Mercersburg , PA
GIL-GAR PREDES MARACA-ET
RICKLAND PREDESTINE 669-ET
2312
1540
87
54
797
2.24
Stelling Farms Inc.
Millville , MN
WSA COSMO-ET
MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL
2309
1113
63
44
758
2.3
A L H Genetics BV
Damwoude ,
RI-VAL-RE SYMP AUBURN-ET
DYMENTHOLM S SYMPATICO
2309
1333
71
36
795
2.46
Aaron Jorgensen
Webberville , MI
ST GENOMICPRO BRINGO-ET
SULLY HART MERIDIAN-ET
2308
2017
61
65
651
3.2
Sexing Technologies
Navasota , TX
The comparison for Holstein sires of used and available (Table 5) shows some interesting facts. Breeders, here again, want their sires to be high type and high fat % and are prepared to give up Milk and Protein to get that higher type and fat %. The genomic sires available far exceed both the most used and top proven for Milk, Fat and Protein yields.
Table 5 Comparison of Holstein Sires Used and Sires Available (2013)
Name
Milk
Fat
Prot
NM$
PTAT
Rel
BPI
DE-SU OBSERVER
1602
61
52
792
2.7
0.99
99.8%
BADGER-BLUFF FANNY FREDDIE
1236
54
43
779
1.57
0.99
98.7%
DE-SU GULF
1489
73
40
549
2.8
0.92
92.9%
MORNINGVIEW LEVI
876
68
54
693
1.4
0.95
91.3%
COYNE-FARMS SHOTLE YANCE
1815
75
54
516
1.9
0.93
89.6%
DE-SU HISTORY
1524
84
58
567
2.41
0.93
89.2%
LONG-LANGS OMAN OMAN
1262
81
73
588
2.17
0.99
88.3%
END-ROAD O-MAN BRONCO-ET
1770
47
62
512
2.08
0.99
88.1%
O-BEE MANFRED JUSTICE
781
63
46
643
-0.07
0.99
87.4%
VA-EARLY-DAWN SUDAN CRI
1268
82
53
538
1.79
0.92
86.8%
In the Jersey sires (Table 5) used compared to proven available, the major difference is in SCS. The most used sires are quite inferior in SCS to the top ten proven sires available. Again as in Holsteins, the Jersey genomic sires stand out for their superiority for Milk, Fat and Protein yields. In the Jersey sires the ranges around the averages are larger than in Ayrshire or Holstein.
Table 6 Comparison of Jersey Sires Used and Sires Available (2013)
Name
Milk
Fat
Prot
NM$
PTAT
Rel
BPI
MR LOOKOUT P ENFORCER
1731
74
67
708
2.75
0.73
100.0%
MR LOOKOUT PESCE ALTA5G
1020
53
46
6.12
3.96
0.72
98.4%
DE-SU JEROD 1223
1610
89
51
847
2.71
0.74
97.5%
COYNE-FARMS JABIR
1441
95
55
885
2.66
0.72
96.7%
RMW ANCHOR
1474
98
47
716
3.04
0.72
94.8%
MR LOOKOUT P EMBARGO
1485
94
56
644
3.38
0.72
93.8%
DE-SU DISTINCTION 11130
1754
97
64
834
3
0.72
93.8%
WELCOME ARMITAGE PESKY
1024
92
63
744
2.3
0.72
93.6%
SULLY MCCORD 269
1413
90
53
780
3.17
0.71
92.9%
Factors Needing Consideration
When selecting sires to use in the future, breeders everywhere need to consider the following facts:
Global demand for cheese is increasing and so a sire’s genetic index for protein yield is important.
Total merit indexes (TPI, NM$, LPI, etc.) should to be based on genetic needs five to ten years in the future.
The genetic merit of our dairy cattle for fertility must be improved.
Sires with even one significant limiting factor should be avoided.
The Bullvine Bottom Line
The perfect bull does not and likely never will exist. Every breeder will have their own genetic goals for their herd. The time has come for breeders to start planning five to ten years out and to avoid sires that will leave more culls at younger ages, extra expense per cow and added labour per cow. For most breeders that means not using sires that are not in the top 25% (>74%RK) for all of gLPI, Production, Durability and Health & Fertility.
Since the unfortunate events of 9/11, over 2.8 million Americans have served in uniform. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a whopping 200,000, or about 1 in 11, are currently unemployed. The men and women who work risked their lives to protect the freedom of so many American’s enjoy on foreign soil cannot find the means to make a living when they return home. About forty-five percent of the military comes from rural communities, compared with one-sixth of the total population, according to the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. The Farmer Veteran Coalition is hoping to change that trend, by introducing America’s heroes to agriculture and a new opportunity to help America.
“The military is not for the faint of heart, and farming isn’t either,” said Michael O’Gorman, an organic farmer who founded the nonprofit Farmer-Veteran Coalition, which supports sustainable-agriculture training. “There are eight times as many farmers over age 65 as under. There is a tremendous need for young farmers, and a big wave of young people inspired to go into the service who are coming home.”
The Farmer Veteran Coalition works with veterans in the food and farming community in all 50 states, to provide farming education, and veteran assistance to those in need. Farmer Veterans produce a wide range of food and fiber products, all of which are an integral part of America’s food system.
“Basically we have two simultaneous missions,” comments O’Gorman. “One mission is to help the young men and women that are coming out of military service and the other mission is to help involve more farmers in an industry that is in need of younger people now more than ever.”
More than just dedication and commitment to their country can connect a farmer to a veteran. Both occupations bring with them ethics to work hard and do things right; the fearlessness to sweat and the grit to never give up. O’Gorman says one of the misconceptions is that farming is seen as a way for veterans to heal as if it were an easy, no-stress line of work.
“The real healing for our vets when it comes to farming is that it’s difficult, challenging and gives a true sense of purpose,” O’Gorman explains. “These men and women went into the military with the highest calling and sense of purpose that they could find and after their time in fatigues is through, agriculture fills that void for them to do something for the greater good and our entire country.”
Mark & Denise Beyers
One of the farmers that have found great support through the Farmer Veteran Coalition is Mark Beyers. In 2005, while deployed in Iraq, Mark’s team hit an IED, which has left him with extensive injuries. After Mark’s recovery, along with his wife Denise, who served stateside as a Unit Diary Clerk for 8 years, Mark decided to start producing maple syrup on their 15-acre property in Upstate New York. Soon the demand for their product far outweighed the couple’s capacity to produce. Mark and Denise have continued to grow their business with the assistance from the Farmer Veteran Fellowship Fund.
Jeremiah Butler
Also benefiting from the Farmer Veteran Coalition is Jeremiah Butler. Jeremiah served five years in the Marine Corps before enlisting in the Army to pursue a career in the Special Forces. As a Green Beret, Jeremiah deployed to Afghanistan where he sustained physical wounds. After Jeremiah’s service, he decided to pursue a career in agriculture. “I believe in the American small farm, and think it has a crucial part to play in the local economy and the community. I consider myself a patriot of this country and believe this is the best way I can continue to support and help her grow.” Jeremiah currently raises organic vegetables and berries in raised beds on his family’s property. As a Bob Woodruff Farming Fellow, through the Farmer Veteran Fellowship Fund Jeremiah was able to purchase a large greenhouse, which has enhanced his growing capabilities.
The Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC) recently announced the national launch of the Homegrown By Heroes initiative. This product-labeling program will allow farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and the like from all 50 states and U.S. territories who have served or are still serving in any branch of the U.S. military the ability to use the logo on their agricultural products. Consumers and businesses purchasing agricultural products will begin to see this logo at the point-of-purchase and on business signage, enabling them to select products that support farmer veterans.
The Bullvine Bottom Line
Former President Eisenhower once said “Our adequate food supply played as important a role in winning the war as did our supply of ammunition. Thanks to the American farmer.” However, even after their military service, there are still many battles these veteran’s face. With one of the highest un-employment rates in the nation, these veterans need support. That is why its great to see programs like the Farmer Veteran Coalition helping these heroes find opportunities in agriculture, an industry we all know is very rewarding and needs an influx of young producers.
Attention Deficit Disorder (also known as ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are terms used to describe patterns of behavior that appear most often in school-aged children. Children with these disorders are inattentive, overly impulsive and, in the case of ADHD, hyperactive. They have difficulty sitting still or attending to one thing for a long period, and may seem overactive. When I talk to many breeders about their breeding strategies, I see many of these same characteristics. They have difficulty attending to one thing for a long period, are overactive in thinking about just what sires to use and often end up making impulsive decisions.
There is No Quick Fix
As a young child, I had many teachers wanting to tag me with those three magic letters, ADD, to explain my behavior. You see I was not engaged with my schoolwork. I would get bored and decided to be loud and disruptive. It was not until I found a teacher who recognized this behavior in me, and knew that they needed to engage me more that I began to realize my full potential. The same is true for your breeding program. Instead of looking for a quick fix or making an impulsive decision, in order to gain maximum results you need to have a clear plan, with achievable goals.
Over the years, there have certainly been some major trends in the dairy cattle breeding world. First, it was breeding for production, then for component/protein yield, followed by longevity. More recently, the trend has moved more towards health and fertility. Moreover, while all these traits are important factors in any breeding strategy, you need to understand that you cannot achieve your breeding goals overnight, and even with the introduction new technologies such as of genomics and IVF, it still takes years to achieve the results of your breeding decisions.
The Opportunity Cost of Your Breeding Strategy
Often, what sire to use comes down to, “What sire I have in the tank?”, or “Who is hot just now?” or “What sire could I buy the cheapest?” The problem is all of these factors end up costing you much more money than you could ever realize. You see what sire you have in the tank or who is cheapest may look like economical decisions, but that is just looking at it from the cash out of hand today and does not consider the long-term opportunity cost. The impulsive decision you make today will affect your herd for generations to come. That is why there is no such thing as semen that is too expensive. (Read more: Semen Prices Are Never Too High).
The time and effort it takes to develop a sound breeding strategy may be the most effective use of time you will ever make in your herd. You see you can never take back a breeding decision. So every day that you are operating without a solid breeding strategy that compliments your management style, you are costing yourself money. (Read more: Let’s Talk Mating Strategies and gAa® – Genetic Animal Analysis – Dairy Cattle Breeding Made Simple)
A World of Constant Change
Just like how video games took children’s focus challenges to completely new levels, genomics has caused breeders heads to spin. It does seem like monthly there are new sires to use. Yes, official lists are only available 3 times a year, but the second an A.I. unit has a new hot sire, they are quick to let the world know. Either through official channels or through the unofficial network that is the semen salesmen. The challenge is that you can barely get the semen in the tank before there is a new hot sire that everyone tells you that you should be using instead of the one you just purchased. Sure, this is great for driving up semen sales, but what is it doing to your breeding strategy, and your pocket book? (Read more: Are There Too Many Semen Salesmen Coming in the Lane? )
The Bullvine Bottom Line
Instead of worrying about always following the latest fad, or using the hottest new sire, you need to have a sound breeding strategy that you can stick with over a prolonged period. That does not mean that you cannot adjust the strategy as you go along. You need to remember that, even with new technology, realizing the results of breeding decisions takes years. Stop daydreaming about what the future may hold and start focusing on what you can do today.
When it comes to dairy farmers, there are certainly huge differences of opinion about what size of dairy operation is best. Those that operate smaller operations tout the higher than average production that they feel offsets the increased costs per animal for milk production. On the other hand, larger operations flaunt that lower cost of production results in the greatest profitability. Therefore, the Bullvine asks, “Which of these two claims is correct?” To answer this, the Bullvine looked at dairy operations in the USA to see what changes are occurring and just what size operations are the most profitable.
Dairy farming in the United States is undergoing dramatic changes, driven by both supply and demand factors. Consumption is shifting from fluid milk, produced for local markets, toward manufactured products, such as cheese, and dairy-based ingredients produced for national and global markets. Innovations in breeding, management and feeding systems have led to large increases in the amount of milk that a cow produces. The location of milk production is shifting toward Western States such as California, Idaho and New Mexico. Finally, production is shifting to much larger farms. The number of dairy farms with fewer than 200 cows is shrinking fast. Very large operations, with 1,000 to 30,000 cows on one site, account for a rapidly growing share of milk production. The trend towards large dairy farms that first emerged in the Western States is now appearing more frequently in traditional dairy states as well. (Read more: Where have all the dairy farmers gone? In Depth Analysis of the 2013 U.S. and Canadian National Dairy Herd Statistics)
Revenue
Based on 2013 data from USDA, the revenue $/cwt of sold went from a high of $24.88 for producers with fewer than 50 cows to $21.14 for producers milking over 1,000 cows, with an overall average of $22.29. That is a 15% range. Producers who milked fewer than 50 cows had the greatest percentage of their income (9.4%) come from cattle sales while producers who milked 200-499 cows had the smallest percentage of their revenue come from cattle sales (6.5%), with the average dairy operations seeing 7.1% of their revenue come from cattle sales.
Name
Milk
Fat
Prot
SCS
Conf
Rel
BPI
CRACKHOLM FEVER
620
56
20
2.63
15
0.93
100.0%
GEN-I-BEQ BRAWLER
910
62
46
2.85
10
0.94
99.8%
GEN-I-BEQ TOPSIDE
1197
72
45
2.75
12
0.92
91.1%
GEN-I-BEQ ALTABUZZER
1417
82
46
2.82
6
0.89
90.2%
DOMICOLE CHELIOS
845
78
41
2.78
14
0.93
89.2%
COMESTAR LAUTREC
1168
72
47
3.06
9
0.9
88.9%
BUTOISE BAHAMAS
1725
52
73
3.18
6
0.9
88.7%
HYLLTOP PRESLEY RED
866
78
56
3.02
6
0.89
88.4%
DELABERGE DEMOCRACY
443
69
47
2.65
9
0.85
86.9%
GILLETTE WINDBROOK
937
62
40
3.06
15
0.85
86.0%
Operating Costs
When it comes to expenses on any dairy operation, there is no question that the cost of feed takes up the largest portion, with feed costs accounting for 58% of all the expenses. The highest percent is among those who milk over 1,000 cows where feed costs are 66% of operating expenses, and the lowest is among those who milk 50 cows or less where feed costs account for 41.9% of the expenses. At $21.31/cwt of milk sold the cost of feed for producers who milk 50 cows or less is 60% higher than those that milk 1,000 or more cows. Also of interest to note is that producers who milk under 200 cows typically produce their own feed, while those who milk over 1,000 cows only get about 24% of their feed from harvesting their own feed, and they purchase the rest. The average dairy operation in the US grows about 60% of their feed and purchase about 40%.
Name
Milk
Fat
Prot
SCS
Conf
Rel
BPI
SUNTOR JOYRIDE
2162
87
92
2.72
17
0.66
83.0%
GENERVATIONS LEXOR
1635
90
84
2.89
12
0.72
82.1%
COMESTAR LAUTRUST
1896
90
80
2.75
12
0.67
81.9%
LEOTHE DAUPHIN
1805
88
72
2.74
11
0.66
81.5%
JEANNIESTAR D MILKMASTER
1955
94
88
2.99
11
0.67
79.9%
GENERVATIONS LIQUID GOLD
1546
102
82
2.87
14
0.65
79.9%
BOLDI V S G ANTON
1910
90
72
2.8
17
0.64
79.4%
GENERVATIONS LIMBO
1755
103
75
2.85
10
0.67
79.0%
GENERVATIONS BIG KAHUNA
2167
80
76
2.82
14
0.65
78.8%
GENERVATIONS L1423
2374
76
87
2.91
15
0.65
78.7%
* expressed in $/cwt
The greatest differential between large and small operations comes in relation to overhead. Those herds that are over 1,000 cows have an overhead expense per cwt sold of $4.44, which is 21.9% of their expenses. While herds that are under 100 cows have an expense of $16.58 or 41% of operating expenses. The average herd has an overhead expense of $8.20 or 29.9% of expenses. This difference $12.14/cwt sold is 373% higher for smaller operations and ultimately is the difference in the profitability between the two types of operations.
Name
Milk
Fat
Prot
SCS
Conf
Rel
BPI
WEST PORT ARRON DOON MITEY P
-101
49
16
2.58
4
0.94
80.9%
MEMENTO BENEDICT P
1023
-11
10
2.75
9
0.92
78.4%
VENTURE TRANSFORMER P
928
53
44
2.73
7
0.7
73.7%
LA PRESENTATION BEAR P
567
21
19
2.94
4
0.9
72.6%
WEST PORT ARRON DOON MALTBY P
1363
33
42
2.57
0
0.9
72.4%
OCONNORS BERKLEY
1661
52
51
2.63
8
0.69
71.7%
ERBCREST SATCHEL P
1137
21
40
2.72
11
0.7
70.5%
LA PRESENTATION BROYARD P
1190
51
45
2.67
7
0.69
69.8%
VENTURE MAN O POLLED P
769
37
58
3.06
10
0.69
69.6%
HICKORYMEA-I OKA P
-87
46
16
2.65
9
0.9
69.1%
* expressed in $/cwt
Profitability
While most producers could tell you that milking less than 50 cows will not pay the bills, it is interesting to see that, unless you are milking over 500 cows, the return on your investment in dairy farming is less than t what you would make having your money sit in bank account (1.39% versus 3%). In fact, when you factor in overhead expenses, dairy farming in the USA does not become profitable unless you are milking over 1,000 cows. In 2013, the average dairy farmer had a net loss of 5.03% and even those milking over 1,000 cows only made a slight profit of 0.83%.
Name
Milk
Fat
Prot
SCS
Conf
Rel
BPI
STANTONS FREDDIE CAMEO
1784
108
71
2.81
7
0.71
95.4%
STANTONS MANOMAN EZRA
1607
103
81
2.9
12
0.73
94.5%
MAPEL WOOD M O M LUCY
2174
106
90
2.95
12
0.72
94.5%
VELTHUIS SG MOM ALESIA
1897
91
71
2.84
16
0.72
93.8%
DELABERGE OMAN DOILEE
1604
70
88
2.92
10
0.73
93.4%
STANTONS OBSERVER EXTREME
2731
91
91
2.67
14
0.68
92.2%
BENNER MANOMAN JANESSE
1467
113
78
3
11
0.72
91.8%
OCONNORS PLANET LUCIA
2452
101
99
2.92
15
0.72
91.4%
STANTONS OBSERVER EXPOSE
2200
79
84
2.83
11
0.7
91.2%
COMESTAR LAUTAMAI MAN O MAN
2156
85
93
2.88
12
0.71
90.5%
* expressed in $/cwt
This trend has been consistent since 2010. Namely, producers who milk over 1,000 cows are the only ones who have turned a profit on average over the past 4 years. However, 2013 has certainly been the toughest with the average operating profitability over the past 4 years being 4.96% in 2010, 5.86% in 2011, 3.81 in 2012, and 3.17 in 2013.
The Bullvine Bottom Line
U.S. dairy production is consolidating into fewer but larger farms. This report uses data from several USDA surveys to detail the consolidation and to analyze the financial drivers of consolidation. Specifically, larger farms realize lower production costs. Although small dairy farms achieve higher revenue per hundredweight of milk sold, the cost advantages available because of larger size allows large farms to be, on average, the most profitable segment. In fact, most small farms were unable to earn enough to replace their capital.
I am sure there are individual case examples from each size of operation demographic that could demonstrate herds that vary significantly from the National average. Nevertheless, there has been a strong, consistent pattern over recent years, which shows that herds that milk over 1,000 cows are significantly more profitable than their smaller counterparts are.
Have you ever driven by an exceptional dairy operation and tried to figure out what it is that is making it so successful? You’re not alone. Dairy breeders everywhere study the stories of great entrepreneurs like (Read more: NORTH FLORIDA HOLSTEINS. Aggressive, Progressive and Profitable!! and Quality Holsteins – Well-Deserved Congratulations) looking for the vital ingredient that led to their special success. Lloyd and Daphne Holterman at Rosy-Lane Holsteins would tell you it isn’t a matter of one person or one ingredient. They would say that success comes from a functioning partnership of people, teamwork and strategic planning.
Four partners at Rosy-Lane Holsteins: Jordan Matthews, Tim Strobel, Lloyd Holterman, Daphne Holterman
The Milky Way to Rosy-Lane
Lloyd Holterman looks back to growing up on a 50-cow registered Holstein farm. “My parents Lloyd A. and Rosemarie Holterman focused on high production. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1980 in Dairy Science and was a member of the Dairy Cattle Judging Team there.” explains Lloyd. “I married Daphne in 1981 and we partnered with my parents for 6 years, went on our own for 2 years, then returned to the home farm to take over and purchase the herd in 1989.” He brings the story to the present day. “We currently have 920 total cows and 870 youngstock. We grow 1,600 acres of forage and do some custom harvesting. Genetic sales account for 1-5% of gross revenue, depending on the year.” That simple summing up barely skims the surface of this well-run dairy operation that hosts classes, seminars and visitors from within the dairy industry and from the broader consuming public. The Holterman’s are dedicated dairy Agvocates as well as very successful dairy farmers. All tasks at Rosy-Lane are thoughtfully considered and thoroughly implemented.
Holterman Family (L to R; Daphne Lauren Lloyd Taylor)
At Rosy-Lane They Minimize AND Maximize to Avoid Tall, Pretty and Infertile
Lloyd states the first step in Rosy Lane Holstein’s operating strategy. “Profit comes first as farming is a business.” Far from the negative connotations such a goal sometimes earns, Lloyd points out that efficiency is key. “While it’s great to sell one animal for big dollars, the genetic program should be an investment in growing future earnings and genetic selection must maximize: feed efficiency (through high producing healthy cows); Labor efficiency (through high producing healthy cows) and Capital efficiency (through high producing healthy cows).
The link between efficient dairy management and health productive cows is one that Rosy Lane gives the highest priority.
At the opposite management extreme, at least from the size viewpoint, is the goal that genetic selection must also minimize key parameters: Herd health cost per cwt.; death loss across ALL ages; calves born DOA and days open.”
With this clear vision of desired outcomes, Lloyd outlines how the strategy is carried out at Rosy Lane. “The best tool to do this (minimize and maximize) is NM$ or CM$ (Cheese Merit). Living in Wisconsin, our income is highly dependent on component pricing (Class III).” He briefly considers an alternative. “TPI also has it strengths but if you aren’t careful, you can end up with Tall, Pretty and Infertile.”
Three Decades of Distinguished Rosy-Lane Dairying
Such a clearly stated perspective on dairying has been achieved over many years reports Lloyd. “Daphne and I started farming with zero dollars and two college degrees. In 33 years, we have built a sound business that we are now transitioning to two young men that both started working with us before they were 16 years old. It’s interesting to note that neither of them grew up on dairy farms. One of the key points in our farm mission statement is to: Maintain an economically-viable business unit with future potential. We are well on our way to accomplishing this.” While they put extreme emphasis on the daily details they are always building for the future.
There Must Always be Time to Grow, Connect and Learn
At Rosy-Lane they feel there is always something to learn from mentors who, both near and far, have been many and well-valued. Lloyd points out the ones that he found to be the most influential. “Pete Blodgett called it as he saw it and was one of the first to realize cows were too tall-narrow-thin-lame. Another is George Shook, University of Wisconsin-Madison genetics professor, whose Dairy Cattle Breeding – Genetics 460 class still sticks with me every day. His class was a good background to understand genomics.” Lloyd appreciates other successful dairymen. “Don Bennink, North Florida Holsteins, was an early proponent and visionary on health traits, as well as breeding cows for a profit.” Sometimes the mentors are of a very practical nature. “Gustav Wilke, Osnabruck OHG in Germany, pointed out that Ramos would be a good compliment to our program that emphasized Oman. He also brought the European perspective.” Other consultants earn praise as well. “Susie Martin, ABS Global Sire Analyst, always brings balanced recommendations to our program and points out bulls we might otherwise overlook.” Others have influenced the very strategy Rosy-Lane has developed. “Denny Funk, University of Wisconsin-Madison Dairy Science Dept., started us on NM$ and productive life.” Of course, the valued advice from family is well-appreciated by Lloyd and Daphne, says Lloyd. “My brothers Bob Holterman, Gary Holterman, my father Lloyd A. (Sr.) and father-in-law Ray W. Johnson (Angus breeder) also have influenced our outlook and have given us the opportunity to meet and interact with leaders and visionaries of the cattle industry.” These mentors are a who’s who of dairy advice and wisdom and yet Rosy Lane is not a typical farm by any means!
Strong Agvocates, Rosy-Lane Holsteins is frequently hosts tours from local schools to producers from around the world.
When you first learn that Rosy Lane does not classify their herd, it seems counter-intuitive to what many traditional dairy breeders would consider necessary. Lloyd, as expected, has a well-reasoned explanation of their choice. “We participated in Holstein’s classification program for many years but it became increasingly clear that the program’s return on investment was negative. Cows that are tall, narrow and refined are generally scored higher than shorter, wider, heavier cows. Worse yet, the “shorter” cows are penalized on dairy form and udder depth because they are short and carry some condition. We had a majority of these “shorter” cows, and we found they far outlived their higher-scoring herd-mates while having less foot problems and better fertility. The classification program definitely punished Oman (we had about 550 of his daughters in our herd at any one time).” Returning to the businesslike approach that is the backbone of their success, Lloyd gives supporting examples. “Our farm runs on economics, and Oman was a bull that helped make our business profitable: 3 on calving ease, more live calves and fewer problems at 1st calving. Number 1 NM$ for several years. High DPR. Great foot health and Low SCC.” Rosy Lane made the logical, for them, choice. “It became obvious to us that scoring our “shorter” cows was as a waste of money. Looking back, that decision to stop classifying should have been made much sooner because a business should only consider long-term profit and viability, not how high individual cow scores are. Functional cows with good health, good feet and legs, balanced udders and high milk production make money.” Always able to clearly explain the decisions that have built Rosy Lane, Lloyd is well-prepared in explaining what is needed for successful cattle breeding. “To maximize profits in the future, modern cows will need to:
Produce more MARKETABLE milk (less cows dumped)
Breed back in 1 or 2 services
Resist mastitis
Hold components at peak production
Produce more live calves and
Calve younger to reduce rearing costs
In 2013, we marketed 1.69 lbs. milk for each 1 lb. dry matter TMR fed. This can’t be achieved if there are problems at calving such as mastitis, DA’s, ketosis, and rampant lameness. From Jan. 1, 2014 to May 8, 2014 (128 days) we had 75 days when no cow was treated or dumped so 100% of the milk harvested was marketed. While this may be common on small herds, we milk 800-830 through our double-12 parlor 3X a day, achieving 94 to 100 lbs. milk average per cow per day.” With no apologies, Lloyd sums up their success, “We feel our genetic program is a central part of achieving these numbers.”
Breed Cows for Profitability
There are always clear goals for the future. “Daughters of Dean, Monarch, Supersire and Cabriolet will be flushed soon from the home herd. They were selected because they are high NM$ with the balance of traits we are looking for: Fat, Protein, DPR, SCC, CE and moderate stature with good strength.” He is enthusiastic about impending successes. “With our daughter Lauren, we purchased a Mogul x Freddie over 900 NM$ from Don Bennink and transferred 15 JoSupers recently. She is a very balanced heifer. We didn’t use Mogul ourselves and she had good CE and DPR.” (Rosy-Lane recently had the #2 high seller, Rosylane-Llc Oak 7276 the #23 gTPI female in the breed,who sold for $176,000 at the Day at the Derby Sale)
Over and Under: “Use ALL the Tools. Set your Benchmarks.”
ROSYLANE GENERAL BREEDING STRATEGY
We sort by Net Merit FIRST
Then Discriminate Against Bulls Over
Discriminate Against Bulls Under
+2.0 Stature
850 NM$
8.0 Calving Ease
50# P
2.8 SCC
60# F
+1 DPR
+5 PL
Lloyd continues. “Then we try to find unrelated bulls for our female population. This is the general strategy and exceptions to the above are made. ABS helps us from time to time with their computer inbreeding program.” He outlines bulls that Rosy Lane has used. “Manfred, Oman, Ramos, Shottle, Freddie, and Jeeves have been most successful for us. And now Bookem & Gonzo on 2-year olds. By increasing accuracy, we are able to select flush animals and recipients. We are now able to correctively mate for health traits, along with production traits, and correct any shortcomings on individuals more aggressively, such as those with low DPR or high calving ease.”
“We Use Genomics For Impact”
Genomics has greatly increased selection accuracy and given the industry the chance to find both health trait genes and, on the other side, avoid detrimental haplotypes. We can also find badly-needed outcross bulls more quickly. The timing coincides with consumers who are demanding less drugs/hormones be used, so we now have better tools to produce the kind of cattle that have lower “health care” costs. In our herd, genomics gives us more options to reduce inbreeding and select for superior health traits earlier.”
Lloyd reports on sire usage. “Genomic sire usage: Supersire, Cabriolet, Rodgers, JoSuper, Dean and Halogen. Why? They meet our sire criteria and can be used across the herd. We didn’t use Robust; we use his sons and grandsons. Planets are not holding up for us in the long run so we are trying to reduce his influence to some degree. Proven sire usage: Freddie. Why? Our best young cows are Freddies. They calve easily, have great F&L, low SCC and high components. Overall, they are very trouble-free. “
At Rosy-Lane, they are also well aware of the success being achieved by other dairy breeders and are careful observers of what they term influencers from afar. Lloyd reports that they closely watch the programs through genomic lists for the following herds/prefixes:
De Su
Cookie Cutter
Welcome Stock Farm
Spruce Haven
Coyne
Bush Bros.
Hendel
“Imagine The Perfect Rosy-Lane Cow!”
Far from being afraid of the future, Lloyd welcomes the challenges. “The trend toward larger operations will continue, driven by higher tax rates. Our capitalistic system is increasingly becoming a ‘winner take all’ (not necessarily a bad thing). Genetics will become more important because in the end it is the most cost effective long-term solution to reduce costs.”
Never one to wait for the future, Lloyd already has imagined the perfect cow. “Imagine a cow that calves easily like an Oman, has a disposition like a Shottle, breeds back like a Ramos, milks like a Planet and has the immune system of a Duster. In our herd, feed efficiency would improve quickly from 1.69 to 1.78 and we would make tremendous genetic progress with the ability to PICK our culls. This concept has been nearly lost on the Holstein genetic ‘community’. And then people wonder why commercial dairymen crossbreed or switch to Jerseys. If we don’t get with it now, Jerseys’ market share will soon be 50% and North American Holsteins (yes, Canadian Holsteins too!) will have to compete on cost only and may go the way of the Guernsey. Is this where we want to go?”
“Follow your Passion. Don’t Follow the Herd.”
Regardless of the area of dairying that is giving you challenges, you can learn a lot about solving problems from Rosy-Lane Holsteins. Despite the ‘rosy’ farm prefix this operation never chooses to wear rose-colored glasses. Of course, the day may come when everyone unites with a common vision for a sustainable and profitable dairy industry. “When that happens” you might suggest, “perhaps even Rosy-Lane will follow the herd. Wrong!” Lloyd Holterman points out, “That sheep-like mentality only works if it meets your profitability goals. Dairying is a business.”
The Bullvine Bottom Line
Lloyd Holterman gives heartfelt advice to young dairy hopefuls. “Do what you have a passion to do, if you haven’t found it yet – keep looking!” Trying to imitate someone else’s passion is a sure way to be unsuccessful. However, he cautions those who have encountered hurdles “Don’t blame others if you fail.” Whiners and complainers are rarely at the forefront of innovation and success. It’s your life. Your future. Seek out the positive. Rosy-Lane Holsteins has excelled at dealing with negative circumstances and people. “Listen to the naysayers and do just the opposite!”
Awareness is one of the best tools dairy managers can make use of. A daily barn or pasture walk with boots that don`t hesitate to poke into manure piles behind the cattle, can be a valuable signal of what`s happening with herd health and nutrition. No special equipment is required to make a speedy determination of the color, consistency and content of the manure being passed by a group of dairy cows.
The Three C’s: Consistency, Color and Content
If the cows share the same diet, their manure should share similar characteristics. In a 200-cow dairy, a walk-through that checks the manure of 15 to 20 cows should be able to provide enough observations to draw conclusions. The expectation is that less than five per cent will stand out as significantly different from the general herd. It is important to determine what is causing the difference.
Check Consistency First!
Feed drives production. Knowing the digestion status of the working cows is an important tool for making management decisions. What you see in the manure output, should be porridge-like and produce the dome-shaped 1 or 2 inch thick ‘plop’ that is the sign of healthy digestion. Feed type, the nutrient and fibre content, water quality and intake and passage rate all have an impact on the final product. Restricted water or protein produces firmer feces. Dehydration results in firm balls of manure. Seeing loose feces or diarrhea may indicate excessive protein intake or high levels of rumen degradable protein. Manure may be loose during periods of stress. Other cases of loose manure are far more serious and their actual causes seem to be harder to pinpoint. For example, sub-clinical acidosis (SARA) causes loose manure consistency to vary amongst herd members as well as other multiple changes over time for each suffering cow.
Color Paints a Management Checkpoint
Fecal color is influenced by feed type, bile concentration, and the passage rate of feedstuffs and digesta. Recognizing what is `normal` for the current type of diet being fed, sets up the opportunity to identify variations that could indicate a need for action. Typically, manure is dark green when cattle graze fresh forage and darkens to a brown-olive if animals receive a hay ration. When cows consume a typical TMR, feces are usually a yellow-olive color. This color results from the combination of grain and forage and will vary by the amount of grain and processing of that grain. If an animal experiences diarrhea, feces may change to a gray color. Animals undergoing medical treatment may excrete abnormal colored feces as a result of drugs that are administered. Dark or bloody manure may indicate hemorrhaging in the gastrointestinal tract from watery dysentery, mycotoxins, or coccidiosis. Light-green or yellowish manure combined with watery diarrhea can result from bacterial infections such as salmonella. Of course, any rapid change in colors signals that something is not right and immediate corrective action needs to be taken.
Content is Last but Not Least!
The third “c” to inspect is content. The contents of manure can provide dairy managers with information about how the dairy diet is working. Manure that is produced from cows fed a well-balanced nutritious ration (with adequate effective fibre) is very uniform. It contains digested feed particles with the majority of processed forage fibre no greater than 1/2 inch, and with little escaped grain.
Long forage particles or undigested grains are a sign that rumination has been challenged and the cause needs to be determined. It could be a problem with the animal or with the processing of the grain itself. Obviously these large particles in the manure mean that the nutrition in them has not been made available to the animals or to rumen microbes.
Mucus is another indicator to use as an alert. The presence of excessive amounts of mucus indicates chronic inflammation of or injury to gut tissue. Mucin casts also may be observed. These indicate damage to the large intestine, possibly caused by extensive hindgut fermentation and low pH. The mucin is produced by cells lining the intestine in an attempt to heal the affected area. As well manure that appears foamy or bubbly may indicate lactic acidosis or excessive hindgut fermentation resulting in gas production.
A Poop Picture Helps with Informed Decision Making
Manure scores 1 and 5 are not desirable and may reflect a health problem besides dietary limitations. Score 4 droppings may reflect a need to rebalance the ration. As cows progress through their lactation, manure score may also shift as outlined below.
Fresh cows (score 2 to 2 ½)
Early lactation cows (2 ½ to 3)
Late lactation cows (3 to 3 ½)
Far off dry cows (3 to 4)
Close up dry cows (2 ½ to 3 ½)
Increasing the amount of degradable, soluble, or total protein; deceasing the amount or physical form of the fiber; increasing starch level, decreasing grain particle size (such as fine grinding or steam flaking), and consuming excess minerals (especially potassium and sodium) can cause manure scores to decline (for example from 3 to 2).
The color of manure is influenced by feed, amount of bile, and passage rate. Cows on pasture are dark green while hay based rations are more brown. High grain-based diets are more gray-like. Slower rates of passage causes the color to darken and become more ball-shaped with a shine on the surface due to mucus coating. Score 1 may be more pale due to more water and less bile content. Hemorrhage in the small intestine causes black and tar-like manure while bleeding in the rectum results in red to brown discoloration or streaks of red.
Physical Analysis
When it comes right down to manure evaluation, you have to get right down to it. After the 3 C’s inspection using eyes, boots and cow sense information, it’s time to look deeper. Collect at least five manure samples that appear to be representative of the group of animals. Mix the collected samples and place a pint-sized sample on a .05-.08- inch mesh sieve or in a strainer. Using a hose, wash a gentle, steady stream of water over the sieve, passing across the sample continuously until the water running from the bottom of the sieve is clear. Then gently use running water to roll or float the particles to one corner of the sieve and remove all material from the sieve.
Place the washed sample on a flat dark surface and examine it for the following:
Long fiber particles — It is inevitable that some long forage particles will appear, but if most are greater than 0.5 inch there may be cause for concern. Poor digestion of forages may be due to the makeup of the fiber component of the diet (low quality forages) or to the ability of the animal to digest the forage being fed (poorly balanced rations).
Grain particles — The small intestine is capable of digesting starch, allowing the cow to utilize this nutrient. However, the amount of starch digested is limited by the rate of digesta passage through the small intestine.
The Bullvine Bottom Line
It cannot be overemphasized how important it is to effectively manage herd health and nutrition. Every tool that informs that decision making process is valuable and manure evaluation is a valuable link in that chain of understanding. Don`t overlook the simplicity of a boots through the barn examination of your herd’s manure production. It’s not science but it gives the start to analyzing how your dairy diet is being consumed, digested and left behind.
As I listen to breeder-to-breeder discussions and read the information that is produced and shared, I am asking myself “Have we lost our breeder minds?” Most of the details or information shared is about what non-breeders think. Organizations, media and governments have different agendas and goals than breeders have. The Bullvine feels strongly that breeders need to make their voices heard in defining the genetic systems and services that are absolutely necessary for future success.
The Gravy is Gone
Where once breeders could sell animals for good prices, the premiums are gone and there are minimal, if any, margins for selling average breeding stock (Read more: Who Killed The Market For Good Dairy Cattle? and An Insider’s Guide to What Sells at the Big Dairy Cattle Auctions 2013). Where once breeding a top proven sire would mean a nice royalty check, that farm development or retirement money is no longer there. And, furthermore, buyers who once bought replacement animals from breeders have moved to using sexed semen and cross breeding and they now have their own reproductively efficient replacements.
Adjusting to Reality takes A C T I O N
Breeders are seeing a much different industry today than even just five years ago but they have not adjusted their business plans accordingly. Getting to the future in this era requires something other than following the past. Sexed semen, sexed embryos and cows with a hundred plus daughters are here. Genomic information has moved the focus to young animals (Read more: Genomics – Opportunity is Knocking, Genomics at Work – August 2013 and The End of the Daughter Proven Sire Era). Breeding decisions must be extended to include many more profit determining traits. And that only gets us to 2014. What will the industry look like in 2020 and beyond? In today’s terms that is only three to four generations of females away.
The Future – Bright & Sunny or a Tornado?
The Bullvine hears both scenarios. Some breeders have accepted that genomics is a very useful tool for their niche and plans. They see light at the end of the tunnel for themselves. Other breeders are asking questions – “Why have purebreds? Why test? Why record? Why participate? Why more traits? …Why, Why, Why?” For them they are in a tornado. Some of those breeders have already cashed in and moved on in their careers. For those that remain in the breeding industry where are they being given support, representation or help?
We can learn from the Past
Breed societies were formed about a century ago to provide service to breeders in authentication and representation. Breeders set aside their individual ideas or priorities for the collective good. They elected peers to represent them on boards that set policies, established recording systems and set the breed direction necessary to get us to where we are today. That took work. We need that kind of work today. It isn’t just holding down a seat at a board table. It means representation. It means vision. It means proactive leadership.
Does the collective good concept still hold today? Cooperative A.I. organizations, formed 75 years ago by breeders, are in some cases being run as primarily as large corporations. Is the breeder voice being voiced? Being lost? Being heard?
Time for Breeders to Speak Up
So what has happened to our minds and our voices? Have they gone into hibernation or gone silent? Are we only huddling with likeminded breeders? Are we stuck in deep muddy ruts? Do we give good input to our elected officials?
Breeder organizations need to be looking to the future. Meetings seem to be the same old crowd talking about what’s wrong with the future. Breed promotion is, often, tied to the past not the future. It’s all about tradition in a time when we are in revolution. Meetings are boring and ignored by innovative breeders. Discerning breeders take the time, when they have it, to provide input to boards, researchers and politicians. They often catch up or link up during a break time in their busy days.
If breeders do not work collectively and take action to position breeds then the move to bigger corporations setting the rules will win the day. This has happened in poultry and swine.
You can be Heard 24-7
Not everyone has time for meetings. Holding office is time consuming. Dairy breeding is 24-7. There are ways to communicate 24-7. Several ways in fact. Social media is ready to carry your message whenever you are ready to give it. Some breeders may say that they prefer hard copy or face-to-face communications. But today that is passé.
The Bullvine Bottom Line
It is time for breeders to spend time, energy and resources to develop positions and make their wishes known. That will not happen by complaining to each other. It is time to stop leaving the action to others. Our future is in our own hands and key pads. The time for sitting back and watching is long past. Are you speaking up for the future of breeds and tomorrow’s breeders?
Making breeding decisions is complicated and time consuming. Traits such as fertility, calving ability, and inbreeding make mating decisions challenging. Having said that, there are great tools available to analyze animals and assist in making breeding decisions. However, the challenge with these tools is that they are based on analysis of the visual observation of an animal, and do not take into account the rising challenges and opportunities of today’s genomic and advanced genetic evaluation era. To help leverage the greatly improved evaluation data that is available, we at the Bullvine have developed gPs – Genetic Profile System, to help modern dairy breeders simplify breeding decisions.
gPs looks at six key areas: Production; Components; Durability; Fertility; Calving Ability and Inbreeding. These areas directly represent the key areas that all breeders need to consider when making their mating decisions.
For a bull, gPs letters show the qualities he adds to a mating listed in order of improvement priority, from left to right. For example the letters CPADIF shows that the bull’s greatest gPs qualities are his ability to improve C-Components, P-Production, A-Calving Ability, D-Durability, I-Inbreeding and F-Fertility. gPs assigns a percentage to each bull in comparison to the best one available.
For a cow, gPs shows the qualities that she needs, in order of improvement priority, from left to right. The letters PACDIF for example, show that a particular cow’s gPs prioritized needs are P-Production, A – Calving Ability, Components, D-Durability, I-Inbreeding, F – Fertility.
Determining and then matching a cows gPs letters to those of a bull will accelerate the rate of genetic gain in the herd, while making mating decisions much faster and simpler. For example if you have a cow that needs improvement in C-Components, D-Durability and A-Calving Ability, consider using bulls with gPs letters that start with CDA, CAD, DAC, DCA, ACD or ADC. This is a fast and effective way to correctively mate, using all genetically rated traits that directly influence the profitability of the dairy operation.
Let’s take a look at a couple of sires and see how this applies. The current highest genomic Net Merit $ sire in the world is Supershot. Supershot’s gPs letters break down as follows: P-Production 86.4%, C-Components 86.1%, D-Durability 79.5%, F-Fertility 49.2%, A – Calving Ability 76.5%, I-Inbreeding 42.1% resulting in a gPs value of PCDAFI. This is achieved by ordering his letters from that of his greatest strengths, P-Production, C- Components, and D – Durability, to those areas that he is likely to have the least improvement, A – Calving Ability, F – Fertility and I – Inbreeding. This does not mean that he will not be able to improve these areas. It simply highlights that these are the areas that he will have the least improvement impact upon. In fact sires with a value of 80% or higher for a specific letter will provide significant improvement in that area, 60-79% will provide moderate improvement, 40-59% will provide little to no improvement for that area , and below 40% could actually decrease the performance of the resulting progeny relative to other possible mattings. Robust, the popular sire of sons and the #1 proven TPI sire in the world,has a gPs code of DCAPIF. That means he sires daughters that are durable, with high components and strong calving ability. The area that you need to protect Robuston is his fertility. It is not surprising that Massey also has a gPs code of DCAPIF, as they tend to sire similar patterns in their progeny.
Notable Proven Sires gPs codes
Birth year
LPI
Milk
Fat
Fat %
Protein
Protein%
CONF
Mammary
Feet/Legs
Strength
HerdLife
SCS
Daus Fertility
2012*
3378
1885
94
0.22
81
0.17
14
13
11
8
111
2.71
103
2011
3293
2048
97
0.1
80
0.17
12
11
8
6
110
2.69
103
2010
3196
1871
91
0.14
76
0.14
11
11
9
5
109
2.77
102
2009
3058
2033
95
0.18
74
0.08
8
8
6
2
108
2.76
100
Notable Genomic Sires gPs codes
Birth Year
LPI
Milk
Fat
Fat%
Protein
Protein%
Conf
Mammary
Feet/Legs
Strength
HerdLife
SCS
Daus Fertility
2013*
3516
2218
108
0.24
99
0.18
14
13
10
8
113
2.66
104
2012
3448
1995
103
0.28
89
0.15
13
13
11
7
112
2.7
103
2011
3316
2359
98
0.1
84
0.08
12
12
9
6
109
2.77
101
The following is a listing of the top genomic and proven sires in each of the key areas.
P – Production
Key Traits: Milk lbs, Fat lbs. & Protein lbs
Name
Score
Sire Name
Owner(s)
JACOBS GOLDWYN BRITANY
96
BRAEDALE GOLDWYN
FERME JACOBS INC, CAP SANTE, PQ, (418) 285-2674
WILLOWHOLME GOLDWYN JESSICA
96
BRAEDALE GOLDWYN
FERME BLONDIN, ST. PLACIDE, PQ, (450) 258-2904
PIERSTEIN GOLDWYN SUNSHINE
95
BRAEDALE GOLDWYN
PIERRE BOULET, MONTMAGNY, PQ, (418) 248-6150
MORSAN GOLDWYN LILAC
95
BRAEDALE GOLDWYN
DONNANVIEW FARMS LTD, STIRLING, ON, (613) 395-3697
IDEE GOLDWYN LULU
94
BRAEDALE GOLDWYN
DAVID R. DYMENT, DUNDAS, ON, (905) 308-1008
MS GOLDWYN ALANA-ET
94
BRAEDALE GOLDWYN
PIERRE BOULET, MONTMAGNY, PQ, (418) 248-6150
ROSIERS BRAE GOLDWYN
94
BRAEDALE GOLDWYN
CRASDALE FARMS, HUNTER RIVER, PE, (902) 963-3515
BIRKENTREE CARISMA RAEANN
93
DUPASQUIER CARISMA
BIRKENTREE HOLSTEINS, HUNTER RIVER, PE, (902) 963-2021
CHRIPHI GOLDWYN SUSIE Q
93
BRAEDALE GOLDWYN
CHRISTIE FARMS LTD, LYNNFIELD, NB, (506) 466-4305
CITYVIEW SHOTTLE ACE
93
PICSTON SHOTTLE-ET
FERME YVON SICARD, ST. JUSTIN, PQ, (819) 227-2067
DUBEAU GOLDWYN SVASTIKA
93
BRAEDALE GOLDWYN
FERME YVON SICARD, ST. JUSTIN, PQ, (819) 227-2067
LOLISEE TALENT MERRILL C
93
LADINO PARK TALENT-IMP-ET
FERME LOLISEE, CHATHAM, PQ, (450) 562-2554
VALLARDIERE APPLAUSE TARA
93
LINDENRIGHT APPLAUSE
FERME AGRIVENTE, ST. ALBAN, PQ, (418) 268-3922
WEEKSDALE GOLDWYN HOLIDAY
93
BRAEDALE GOLDWYN
ELMER WEEKS, BREADALBANE, PE, (902) 886-2152
ALTONA LEA SEPTEMBER BUBBLES
93
PURSUIT SEPTEMBER STORM
FRANK BARKEY & FAMILY, BLACKSTOCK, ON, (905) 655-3561
In analyzing the top genomic and proven sires for gPs some key trends present themselves.
The negative correlation between production and fertility makes it hard to find a sire that has both P and F in his first three letters.
There is a positive correlation between low inbreeding numbers and durability and calving ability.
Most of the top TPI sires are high durability and production but low fertility and inbreeding.
The Bullvine Bottom Line
Making complex breeding decisions is something that many breeders struggle with. Through the introduction of gPs the Bullvine hopes to help make breeding decisions much easier while still providing optimum genetic gain.
Please note for clarification and breeder confusion reasons we have changed the name from gAa, to gPs.
Not sure what all this hype about genomics is all about?
Want to learn what it is and what it means to your breeding program?
Breeders are continually searching for Mr. Right when it comes to which sire or sires to use in their herd. It is part of both the excitement and challenge of being a breeder. Breeders pour over the sire listings, available on-line, and in the printed materials from bull owners, marketers or breed associations. However, according to female registrations, breeders do not closely follow the list toppers. The Bullvine decided to look at what happened in 2013 on both sires used and sires available.
Most Used Sires – 2013
The progress for a population is set by which sires are the most used. In this case, we are referring to the sires with the most registered daughters.
Table 1 Sires with Most Registrations- United States (April 2013)
Table 2 Sires with Most Registrations- Canada (2013)
The data for Table 1 comes from April 2013 Holstein USA ‘High Registry Activity by Bull’ and for Table 2 comes from the 2013 registration activity report from Holstein Canada. The TPI and LPI proofs used were their April 2014 indexes as CDN changed the Canadian base system in 2013 and thereby the number listed will more accurately reflect what readers see now.
Points of interest from this table include:
Genomic Sires – four of the US sires have genomic evaluations only while for Canada all ten most used sires were proven sires
Sire usage in USA and Canada does not follow the sire ratings for total merit indexes: gTPI, NM$ or gLPI.
Average Indexes for Most Used Sires
There is a significant range in the average proofs for the most used sires and for most traits the average proofs of the sires were not outstanding.
Table 3 – Average Proofs in December 2102 for Most Used US Sires
Table 4 – Average Proofs in December 2102 for Most Used Canadian Sires
The overall observation from Tables 3 & 4 is that both US and Canadian purebred breeders place significant emphasis on type when choosing the sires for their herds and as we have observed previously. (Read more: Top Sires North American Breeders Are Using) Breeders have not considered fertility (DPR or DF) as being important when choosing their sires. Canadian breeders place significant emphasis on component percentages, fat +0.31% and protein +0.06%.
Once breeders select a sire they appear to stick with the bull even if better sires come along.
How Big a Sacrifice?
The question that comes to mind is what were the average proofs for the top bulls in mid-2012. Those were the bulls that would have been available for use that would have resulted in daughters being born in 2013. The question that breeders need to ask themselves is how much did they give up in genetic advancement and thereby on-farm profit by not sticking to popular instead of the top sires. In this example, top sires were considered to be the top ten proven and top ten genomic sires for TPI or LPI.
Table 5 Trait Averages for Top Ten TPI A.I. Sires Available in 2012
Table 6 Trait Averages for Top Ten LPI A.I. Sires Available in 2012
For North American purebred Holstein breeders was it worth giving up considerable milk, fat, protein, longevity, fertility and udder health to use bulls that are high for type? Even if it is acknowledged that genomic bulls are considered to be somewhat over-rated, giving up 50+ pounds of fat, another 50+ pounds of protein, 1.5 to 2.5 months of herd life, cows open a month or two longer and higher somatic cell counts does not seem worth limiting bulls to only those that have high type proofs..
The Bullvine Bottom Line
Both daughter proven and genomically evaluated sires are available that will increase the genetic level of herds and give greater on-farm profit. By limiting sires used to the higher type ones, North American purebred Holstein breeders deny themselves the opportunity to move ahead at a faster rate. Having a breeding plan (Read more: What’s the plan?) and continually buying semen from the best sires, the ones that will produce the milking females that breeders want to milk, are practices that must be followed. Following tradition and using the ‘safe’ bulls will mean breeders are leaving money on the table.
Not sure what all this hype about genomics is all about?
Want to learn what it is and what it means to your breeding program?
The expression “until the cows come home” can mean one of two things. Either the cows are expected to come home for milking and will be there or else it can mean waiting a very, very long time. Getting aligned with the routine of these creatures of habit is a daily activity on dairy farms and when it moves along smoothly it`s great but too often the opposite is true and it becomes a daily frustration. When cows refuse to move easily from one location to another or one activity to another, it costs time and money. Both bovine and human stress levels can skyrocket with a corresponding rise in injuries.
It`s Time to Get A Handle on Handling
When day to day interaction between cows and handlers results in injuries to either party there are lost workdays and decreased milk production. It’s easy to point the finger of blame at human handlers. However, for this interaction to work successfully both sides have to be calm. Handlers need to calm plus reassuring. As a result, cows will be calm plus comfortable.
Is Your Cattle Comfort Checklist as Ticked Off as Your Cows?
Cows behave unnaturally and stand or lie down uneasily.
Patches of rubbed-off hair and injuries to hocks and knees indicate that, when rising or lying down, cows are repeatedly rubbing on stall partitions or neck rails.
When cows are moving, they have an unsteady gait. If they are walking slowly, or timidly, with rear feet spread wide, this is a sign of poor traction and that something is negatively affecting their confidence in their footing.
Mastitis, sore feet and swollen hocks are also signs that handling needs attention.
If more than 20 percent of the cows defecate in the parlor, the cause needs to be determined.
All concrete should be grooved to make it less slippery.
Check stray voltage
Confirm that milkers are calm and reassuring as they handle and milk cows.
Maintain routine contact with animals to retain familiarity
Quick Changes … Get Cow Comfort Corrected
Cow Kindness not Over-Rated!
Temple Grandin, remarkable advocate of animal caretaking, Karen Lancaster, from England, and other experts who consult and provide cow handling seminars are agreed on one basic premise. “When the cows are happy, we know they eat more, when they eat more they make more milk.” Results report that cow comfort can mean the difference of several thousand pounds of rolling herd average milk production between two herds of similar genetics and rations. Simply upgrading a cow’s surroundings to light, clean and airy can radically move the following five performance parameters in the right direction.
Production
Performance
Efficiency
Safety
Animal Welfare
Quality of life
It shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that light, clean and airy can improve the same five criteria for the human dairy staff as well: production; performance; efficiency; safety; personal welfare and quality of work-life.
Put Yourself in the Cow’s Position
When we are consulting in business or trying to improve our personal working conditions, we often advise peers and clients to walk a mile in each other’s shoes. It isn’t bad advice when considering the best ways to handle our bovine workforce. Imagine yourself in the milking set up, the stall or the alleyways and pastures in between. Consider the logistics of size and ask yourself if this would be an area you would want to walk, sleep or work hard in? Cold, dark and damp are probably NOT the three top features you would be seeking out.
If you are eager to remind me that some cows are just “difficult,” perhaps it’s time to consider the same label can be applied to complaining cow handlers. I continue to be amazed that people who wouldn’t think of yelling at each other, or pushing or shoving, find that style an easy one to adopt when moving calves, heifers or cows.
One Video is Worth a 1000 Words
You can find a lot of enlightening advice from online videos on cattle handling.
No man or animal likes surprises or walking (or being pushed) into dangerous situations and it is important to give consideration to the actual sightlines of the animals. When calves and cows learn to trust that you have their interests at heart, they will be ready and responsive to your commands.
Cattle are creatures of habit and they have long memories. It’s a good idea to “start the way you want to end.” From first contact as calves … to final turnout to greener pastures… your interaction with herd and individuals should be calm, consistent and kind.
Talk Softly and DON’T Carry a Big Stick!
Dr. Joep Driessen, Director/Owner of CowSignals Training Company, says research shows that women get 10 percent more milk out of cows.” He suggests that farmers modulate their barn voices to more soothing tones. “Women are more gentle and cows like the soft voice of the women more.” All cow handling consultants insist that shouting at cows won’t help, because loud human voices stress cows even more than being physically slapped.
Curt Pate, well known for low stress cattle handling, has a list of tips which include the following:
Make sure the cattle can see you.
Don’t make sharp, loud noises.
Don’t rush the animals.
Use cattle prods and other equipment as little as possible.
“Farmers who don’t follow these guidelines and rush their animals harass them with noise or prod them unnecessarily risk raising their stress, increasing sickness and lowering production,” says Pate.
When trying to move cows, the handler needs be aware of his/her timing, angle, speed and direction of approach.
Obviously, the handler has to plan ahead where he/she wants to move the cows so that clear signals for the direction can be given.
If the handler can’t see a cow’s eye, the cow can’t see the handler and so the cow won’t be able to respond to the handler’s signals.
Part of the timing during cattle handling is to give cows time to react to the handler’s signals and to release the pressure once cows are starting to do what you asked of them.
Who Needs the Training First? Cows? Handlers?
Many times a situation on the dairy farm has become so repetitive that the only interaction certain individuals have with the cows is negative. It is necessary to see yourself as part of a team that involves the cows. Good behavior should be rewarded and repeated.
An interesting finding of one survey was that herds that had previous stockmanship training tended to have about 1,760 pounds higher rolling herd average than herds that did not – even after accounting for the herd size.
Studies have shown that if cows are stressed, adrenalin will diminish the oxytocin response and their milk let down will be impaired. As a result, cows will not milk out and producers will lose milk. In addition, stressed cows are more likely to defecate or urinate as well as kick in the parlor – none of which are particularly pleasant for the people working in the parlor and will likely affect their attitude towards work, as well.
Regularly revisit animal handling protocols to determine if updates are needed.
DIY or Experts … Who do You Turn to?
Training is traditionally done by herd owners or managers who have learned cattle handling predominantly from family members or by trial-and-error. However, today, in particular producers of larger farms (>200 milking cows), managers seek out low-stress handling training seminars to learn more about best cattle handling practices. There is an abundance of resources to take your herd handling to the next level. Online articles and videos are available from world renowned experts such as Temple Grandin and Dr. Joep Driessen. Several well-respected animal handlers are available for onsite farm demonstrations or seminars for groups. Of course, you can send out a call for help and your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn connections may be ready to give you help.
Bullvine Bottom Line
There are many good reasons to improve, modify and make over your cattle handling techniques. With daily opportunities for improvement, it’s safe to say that, although the practice may not make perfect, it can forge a willing and productive partnership between cows and farm staff.
The dairy genetics marketplace is becoming a “big” deal. The introduction of genomics has changed the game for many Artificial Insemination companies. While it was first thought that this would provide opportunities for the smaller A.I. companies, in the end it may be what puts them out of business.
Hearing rumors from semen salesmen is nothing new. Almost as old as Artificial Insemination itself, semen salesmen have been a great source for the latest industry news and gossip. Unfortunately, the “hottest” news lately has been the rumors about who is going bankrupt or what big A.I. company is purchasing what small A.I. company. While there is no question that often the rumors have a way of getting blown out of proportion, more often than not there is some level of truth at the heart of the story. That seems to be the case with the rumors about smaller A.I. companies.
Cash is King
While many thought that breeder’s ability to test their own sires would allow for more not fewer A.I. companies, the results have proven to be the exact opposite. As was pointed out over two years ago, that is happening because the key issues in the A.I. world are distribution, cost of production and the cost of sire acquisition. (Read more: Why the Ability for Breeders to Test Their Own Bulls Will NOT Change the World). These three areas have been the most significant challenges for many smaller A.I. companies. Most have had to invest large amounts of capital, while trying to compete with the larger A.I. companies in each of these areas. As a result, three of the five hottest small A.I. companies now find their futures under a cloud. Some are having cash flow challenges and others have become acquisition targets of the large A.I. companies.
As a small A.I. company, the challenges are real. You need to be able to have a large enough distribution network that you can compete but, at the same time, you must keep your overhead low enough that you can stay afloat. This is really what has separated those smaller A.I. companies that are still viable from the ones that are having trouble. Two examples of this viability are St. Jacobs ABC and Dairybullsonline.com. Both companies have taken very different approaches. St. Jacobs ABC has leveraged a mutually beneficial relationship with Genus/ABS Global, where they leverage the distribution power of Genus/ABS to get their semen exposed to the world. This partnership is also beneficial for Genus/ABS Global as they then get an extremely strong brand in the high type market segment that is an area they typically do not focus as heavily on. Dairybullsonline.com has taken a different route. Not having a large A.I. company to partner with, they too have focused on keeping overhead as low as possible and on choosing a niche to focus on. While St. Jacobs has focused heavily on bulls from top show families, Dairybullsonline.com currently has the strongest polled sire line-up in the world. (Read more: Stud Wars: Episode II – April 2014).
Both strategies are pretty impressive for companies with only three employees each. Therein lies the key factor. Both of these companies have intentionally stayed small while leveraging technology (www.dairybullsonline.com) and relationships (St. Jacobs ABC did so in order to get greater distribution). When we look at the smaller A.I. companies that are at the heart of the rumors these days, this is one of the key differentiators. The ones that are finding their futures in jeopardy are the ones that have significant overhead invested in sales staff and marketing. The cost of having sales staff on the road is not cheap and, if this is your distribution model, it can be very challenging to maintain cash flow. (Read more: Are There Too Many Semen Salesmen Coming In The Lane?) These are two key areas where tools like social media and the Internet can help keep operating costs down. (Read more: Dairy Cattle Marketing).
Are we headed to a Oligopoly?
As the ability for large A.I. companies to differentiate themselves from each other becomes increasingly difficult, we are noticing that more and more they are looking at new ways to do so. For some of these companies, this may come from the acquisition of smaller niche market A.I. companies. As the large A.I. companies start to see these smaller competitors struggling, it opens up an opportunity for them. They can come in and cost effectively acquire the smaller company’s unique product offering and, in some cases, the sales force as well. In so doing, they are able to fill a gap of their own. Larger A.I. companies are finding it harder to differentiate their genetic products and need to ensure that they can offer the greatest value to their customers. (Read more: What the Experts Won’t Tell You about the Future of the A.I. Industry and A Wake-up Call to All A.I. Companies)
This is not the first time we have seen this large-swallowing-small scenario in the agriculture industry. The plant seed industry provides a telling example. Where once there were many medium sized competitors now there are only a few very large ones. Interestingly it was technology, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) that changed the plant seed industry, in the same way that Genomics has changed the dairy breeding industry.
The Bullvine Bottom Line
I am sure that observing the coming changes will set off alarms for some breeders as to what the future holds. Less competition typically means higher prices and less selection. However, in this case these decisions are smart ones as far as the large A.I. companies are concerned. As noted they have very limited ways to differentiate themselves and they need to use their large distribution networks and cash flow/reserves in order maintain their position in the marketplace. (Read more: Why Good Business for A.I. Companies Can Mean Bad Business for Dairy Breeders) Genomics has changed the game, not just from a technology standpoint but also from an A.I. company operations standpoint. Get ready. Over the next 2-3 years, we will more than likely say goodbye to at least half of the smaller A.I. companies that are in the world today.
This past Mother’s Day, while I heard many ladies talking about the relaxing day they were having and their gifts of spa days for rest and relaxation, I noticed a slight variation of this coming from the dairy farmers’ wives that I know. They were working. I guess that won’t come as a surprise to anyone. After all, being a dairy farm wife is a 365 days a year, no rest responsibility.
Photo from Modern Farm Wife – Click to read her great blog about being a dairy farmers wife
Now let’s get our facts straight. First by no stretch of the imagination can we assume that all dairy farmers are men only. In fact, we have had the opportunity to profile several female dairy farmers. Julia James is one. (Read more: Julia James: “Cow by Cow. Doing it Now.” and Michele Payn-Knoper – Standing Up and Speaking Out for Agriculture!!) As well there are numerous dairy farms that are 50/50 operations. (Read more: Dairy Carrie – Diary of a City Kid Gone Country) We have also had the opportunity to interview dairy farm wives who came to dairy farming not from their childhood, but rather through marriage. These woman traded stilettos for rubber boots to marry a rough and ruggedly handsome dairy farmer.
Photo by From Heels to Boots – Click to see her great blog
Having established that, when the dairy farm is a family operation, the modern wife’s role is far greater than just caring for the children, as the old romanticized version would have you believe. The modern dairy farm wife’s role ranges from raising calves, bailing hay to making long-term financial decisions. Right beside their husbands, their day starts before the sun rises and does not end until after it sets. There are cows to be milked, calves to be fed and pens that need cleaning. There are few weekends off or sick days. Being a dairy farmer’s wife is as big a commitment for her as it is for him. Not to mention that she also multitasks because there are kids to be fed, chauffeuring to sports and lessons to handle and a healthy dose of community involvement to stir in. (Read more: Dairy Farm Moms are Unstoppable) The logistics of a dairy wife’s routine would make the heads of most socialites spin.
While many may assume that all decisions on the dairy farm are made by one person, usually the male farmer, in reality spouses and children often work together to set priorities. Much of what they decide is talked about at the kitchen table which is less formal but just as effective as the boardroom table in city settings.
Like any effective business, running a dairy farm requires diverse skills, cooperation, and commitment. Now the typical duties must still involve the obvious ones about crops, machinery, feed, and pastures, which have traditionally been male domain. However, today the wife too goes beyond the traditional role of household budgeting, childcare, and decisions about leisure activities. On the modern dairy operation, women also make decisions starting with the care of calves to retiring a favorite cow from the milking string and everything in between. Crucial decisions about capital investments, dairy herd development and long-term financial decisions get input and consideration from both halves of the team. There’s definitely a division of labor, but it’s the person who does the work that makes the decisions. Dairy farming is hands on and decisions are required 24/7. That’s why many significant decisions that involve long-term judgments are discussed around the dinner table. The rhyme says, “The farmer takes a wife!” but the underlying message is “Dairy farming takes the whole family.”
The Bullvine Bottom Line
Dairy farming is more than a job. It is a lifestyle. It is the way of life that takes the involvement from the whole family. While everyone has a different role and responsibilities on the dairy, they all have the same-shared goals. Many people choose to dairy farm in part because they enjoy being on the land, working with the cattle and they value the dairy farm as a good place to raise children. The dairy wife is a key factor in this family scenario. Wives working on dairy farms see themselves as dairy farmers. No glass ceiling here. Just dedication, commitment and teamwork. “Mother’s Day” for them includes their dairy girls and their offspring and, around the table or around the dairy farm, they don’t mind a day to bask (however briefly) in the glow of being recognized for their valued contribution.
This Mother’s Day while we are all sending loads of love to our mothers, wives, daughters and other amazing women in our lives, we here at the Bullvine thought we would take a look at some of the most amazing females in the Holstein breed that are also having the biggest impact in the past ten years.
AITKENBRAE STARBUCK ADA EX-94 2E DOM
There are few cow families that can rival the accomplishments of the Adas when it comes to show ring success and transmitting elite type. For generations, this family has dominated the North American show circuit and, as we near the big dance on the colored shavings, there is no doubt that the next generation of Adas will be there vying for All-American titles. Ada herself was a tremendous show cow having been named Unanimous All-American Senior Three-Year-Old in 1989, but it is her brood cow status, specifically through the impact of her two Donnandale Skychief daughters, which makes her a true legend in Holstein history.
AITKENBRAE STARBUCK ADA EX-94 2E DOM
Shoremar S Alicia is the eldest of the famous Skychief daughters of Starbuck Ada. Alicia, nominated All-American five times in milking form, was the Supreme Champion of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in 2000. With more than a dozen excellent daughters from a variety of mating sires, it is obvious that Alicia is the Ada family’s next generation brood cow. That generation is already highlighted by her Startmore Rudolph daughter, Cityview R Alicia Excellent-92-CAN 23* or her Durham daughters BKB Abby Excellent-95 3E DOM and BKB Amanda Excellent-92 GMD DOM.
The Excellent-94 2E DOM Ms Kingstead Chief Adeen is a full sister to Alicia and has produced such names as Atwood, Atlee, Ariel and Autumn. Adeen is one of the most influential and one of the only cows in the breed with offspring over +2500 on genomics and All-American progeny. It was a flush to Maughlin Storm early in Adeen’s career that might just have been the most influential mating. It produced the Excellent-91 DOM Storm Allison, Very Good-88 DOM Storm Adeline, and Very Good-88 DOM Storm Amberlee dam of the great Durham Atlee. Since the time that she made an appearance at the International Holstein Show in 2005 Atlee has attracted worldwide interest, and Atlee’s numerous sons dominate the international type lists: Atwood, Amazing, Avalanche, Arden and Atlantic in the USA; Atticus, Attic and Aftershock in Canada, Delete in Spain and Heavenly Dreams in Italy.
Notable Progeny/Descendants:
MAPLE-DOWNS-I G W ATWOOD EX-90
HOCAN000008956379
Goldwyn x MD-Delight Durham Atlee EX-92 GMD DOM
#1 Proven Type Sire in the World (+4.66 PTAT)
Heavenly Golden Dreams
HOGBRM000000642262
Goldwyn x MD-Delight Durham Atlee EX-92 GMD DOM
One of the hottest type sires in Italy (+3.78 PTAT)
Ms Atlees Sht Aftershock
HOUSAM000065249839
+3.12 PTAT
Shoremar S Alicia EX-97 3E
HOCANF000006434408
Skychief x Ada
2X All-American (Aged Cow 2003 & 5-Year-Old 2000) 3X All-Canadian (2-Year-Old, 4-Year-Old & 5-Year-Old) All World & People’s Choice Winner 2000 Member All-American Produce of Dam 2000 Grand & Supreme Champion RWF 2000
MS Kingstead Chief Adeen EX-94 2E DOM HOUSAF000017302711 Skychief x Ada 2X Member All-American Produce 2X All-American Nominee ( Jr. 3-year-old & 4-Year-Old) Dam of 1 All-American-Amlaird Lee Alice Grand Dam of 2 All-American Grand Daughters-Ms Durham Atlee (Dam of Ariel, Aubry, Albany, Atwood, Aftershock) & KY Blue BW Debbie Great Grand Dam of 2X All-American Ms Atlees Roy Autumn Dam of 24 EX offspring
MD-Delight Durham Atlee EX-92 GMD DOM
HOUSAF000131704103
Durham x Storm x MS Kingstead Chief Adeen EX-94 2E DOM
All-American Sr. 3-Year-Old 2005
Dam of Atwood, Amazing, Avalanche, Adren and Atlantic in the USA; Atticus, Attic and Aftershock in Canada, Delete in Spain and Heavenly Dreams in Italy.
Amlaird Lee Alice EX-94 2E
HOCANF7293258
Lee x MS Kingstead Chief Adeen EX-94 2E DOM
All-American Jr 2-Yr-Old 2003 1st Jr 2-Yr-Old World Dairy Expo 2003
BVK Atwood Arianna VG-89-2YR
HOUSAF140792830
Atwood x MS Kingstead Chief Adeen EX-94 2E DOM
ALL-CANADIAN & ALL-AMERICAN JR.2-YR 2012
MS ATLEES GOLDWYN ARIEL EX-92
HOUSAF63164327
Goldwyn x MD-Delight Durham Atlee EX-92 GMD DOM
Res. All-American Jr. 2-Yr-Old 2009
Full sister to ATWOOD and sold as a package for $1.5M
MS ATLEES ROY AUTUMN EX-90
HOUSAF000063164290
oy x MD-Delight Durham Atlee EX-92 GMD DOM
2x All-American and Junior Champ, International Holstein Show 2007
DE-SU BW MARSHALL GEORGIA EX-90 GMD DOM
The daughters and granddaughters of De-Su BWM Marshall Georgia currently account for an incredible 25 of the 300 daughter proven bulls over 2000 TPI. Georgia is by far the most influential cow family impacting the current active-sire lineup. Of the 25, 12 of them are over +2.00 PTAT. That is an incredible achievement that certainly makes Georgia one of the most influential brood cows of the modern era.
DE-SU BW MARSHALL GEORGIA EX-90 GMD DOM
The most notable of her sons is De-Su Oman Goli, who still ranks well on the Dutch proven sire list. Among Georgia’s most influential daughters are two full sisters to Goli, De-Su Oman 5121 VG-86 and De-Su Oman 6125 GP-82, as well as Shottle daughter De-Su 6822 VG-85 (Dam of Gillespy). A third full sister to Goli, Oman 6121, has become the face of De-Su, through her Planet son Observer and her Bolton grandson De-Su Gulf. Observer was the much heralded genomic sire that delivered on his high genomic rankings to debut #1 on the TPI rankings last April and now ranks in the top 10 sires that are 99% reliable.
Notable Progeny/Descendants:
De-Su Finley General-ET TR TY
HOUSAM000061681242
AltaFinley x Georgia
TPI +1714 PTAT +2.37 UDC +2.78 FLC +1.24
De-Su Gulf-ET
HOUSAM000064700367
Bolton x Shottle x De-Su Oman 6121-ET TL VG-86 GMD DOM
TPI +2165 PTAT +2.81 UDC +3.35 FLC+1.79
De-Su Watson
HOUSAM000064700377
Boliver x Shottle x De-Su Oman 6121-ET TL VG-86 GMD DOM
TPI +2085 PTAT +2.14 UDC +1.72 FLC +1.37
De-Su 7049-ET VG-88
HOUSAF000062720607
Shottle x De-Su Oman 6121-ET TL VG-86
Dam of proven sons De-Su 538 Hooray (+2148 TPI), De-Su History (TPI +2110) and De-Su 541 Bartlett (+2069 TPI)
De-Su 6997-ET EX-90
HOUSAF000061682318
Dam of De-Su 9843 (+2192 TPI) and De-Su Large 2075 (+2181 TPI)
De-Su 7012-ET EX-92 DOM
HOUSAF000062720570
Shottle x De-Su Oman 6125-ET GP-82
Dam of proven sons De-Su 527 Spur (+2110 TPI) and De-Su 530 Caviar (+2040 TPI) and genomic son De-Su Graze 11125 (+2307)
GILLETTE BLITZ 2ND WIND has set the bar so high as a mother of Class Extra sons that she is in a class all by herself. As the dam of no less than five Class Extra sons, she has done what has never been done before. Her Class Extra sons are Gillette Windbrook, Gillette Windhammer, Gillette Stanleycup, Gillette Wildthing, and Gillette Willrock. These five sires were in the top 30 in the North American LPI list in 2011.
2nd Wind is also able to achieve success on the female side with 49 daughters over +2000 GLPI. This six-time number one LPI cow has been able to pass the torch to her daughter Gillette Bolton 2nd Sleep and her granddaughter Gillette S Planet 2nd Snooze.
GILLETTE BOLTON 2ND SLEEP VG-89-4YR-CAN 5*
HOCANF8932144 Bolton x GILLETTE BLITZ 2ND WIND VG-88-3YR-CAN 43*
Sleep was #1 in August 2010 and her daughter Gillette S Planet 2nd Snooze(VG-86-2yr) was #2 GLPI in December 2011.
GILLETTE ZENITH 2ND STAR EX-90-CAN 3*
HOCANF7816472 Zenith x GILLETTE BLITZ 2ND WIND VG-88-3YR-CAN 43*
2nd Wind’s highest classifying daughter and has 3 VG daughters herself.
GILLETTE GVI SUPERSIRE DRIVE
HOCANF11692154
Supersire x Man-O-Man x BWM Leader x GILLETTE BLITZ 2ND WIND VG-88-3YR-CAN 43*
gLPI +3339 Conf +10 Next generation of contract bull mothers from the 2nd Wind family.
Farnear Atwood Milli
HOUSAF 70639229
Atwood x Shottle x GILLETTE BLITZ 2ND WIND VG-88-3YR-CAN 43*
gTPI +2058 / NM $ 396 / PTAT +4.28
HICKORYMEA BWOOD OSSIE P EX-91
When it comes to Polled, two herds have supplied the key bloodlines that have impacted polled breeding world-wide today. Both herds are from Pennsylvania. They are Burket-Falls and Hickorymea. Hickorymea owners Eddie Johnson and his sons Keel and Chip bred a polled Chairman son, named Hickorymea Lassiter, who became the foundation sire for Polled in their herd. A granddaughter of Lassiter by Elton scored VG-89 and became the dam of Hickorymea Bwood Ossie P EX-91. Sired by Bellwood Ossie P’s greatest impact came through her two sons Hickorymea Ottawa-P (by Hickorymea Tripod) and Hickorymea Oswald-P (by Coyne-Farms Prelude Bosco), two bulls that were the highest ranking polled sires available 8 years ago. This family is still providing some of the most exciting polled sires in the world today.
HICKORYMEA BWOOD OSSIE P EX-91
A Man-O-Man out of a Shottle from an EX Bosco (Full sister to Oswald P), now owned by Regancrest, Hickorymea MOM Opine-P VG-87 is one of the most popular non-Lawn Boy pedigrees in the world. Another exciting member of this family is Hickorymea Man Outfit-P at Lirr Farms in Wisconsin. Outfit-P is the dam of the sire Lirr Mogul Outfit-P (2335 gTPI) as well as the high homozygous sire Lirr Option-PP (1946 gTPI). Outfit-P is from a VG-86 Goldwyn and a then a VG-88 Paradox to the EX Bosco daughter of Ossie. A maternal sister to Outfit is Hickorymea Signif Ohio-PP, sired by Burket-Falls Significant-P, she is one of the highest homozygous females in the world.
Notable Progeny/Descendants:
Hickorymea Oswald-P-ET PO
HOUSAM000129008769
Was once a top 10 TPI proven sire. An amazing accomplishment for a polled bull.
Lirr Outline P-ET PO TY
HOUSAM000072026183
Mogul x Man-O-Man x Goldwyn x Hickorymea Bosco Oval P-ET EX-90
#7 gTPI Polled Sire in the world (+2249 gTPI)
Pine-Tree Overtime P
HOUSAM000071178789
Numero Uno x Signif-P x Goldwyn x Paradox x Hickorymea Bosco Oval P-ET EX-90
#13 polled gTPI sire in the world (+2186)
Pine-Tree Ohio Style P
HOUSA000071178738
O-Man x Signif-P x Goldwyn x Paradox x Hickorymea Bosco Oval P-ET EX-90
#14 polled gTPI sire in the world (+2184)
Lirr Outcome P
Mogul x Man-O-Man x Goldwyn x Paradox x Hickorymea Bosco Oval P-ET EX-90
#18 gTPI polled sire in the world (+2166)
Hickorymea Bosco Oval P-ET EX-90
HOUSAF000129993610
Grand dam of popular bull mother Hickorymea MOM Opine-P VG-87 and great grand dam of Hickorymea Man Outfit-P.
Hickorymea Manoman Opine-P VG-87
Man-O-Man x Shottle x Hickorymea Bosco Oval P-ET EX-90
Dam of high polled genomic sons Eastwood (by Epic +2307 gTPI), Linker (by Lithium +2287 gTPI) and Ocean PP (by Parker +2269 gTPI).
Dam of high polled genomic daughters Prismagen Epic Oregon (by Epic +2406 gTPI), Regancrest Opines 7479 (by AltaOak +2375 gTPI) and Regancrest Opines 7475 (by AltaOak +2345 gTPI).
Hickorymea Man Outfit-P VG-86
HOUSAF000141062053
Man-O-Man x Goldwyn x Paradox Hickorymea Bosco Oval P-ET EX-90
Dam of the sire Lirr Mogul Outfit-P (2335 gTPI) as well as the high homozygous sire Lirr Option-PP (1946 gTPI).
Hickorymea Signif Ohio-P VG-85
HOUSAF000140759222
Signif-P x Goldwyn x Paradox x Hickorymea Bosco Oval P-ET EX-90
Dam of the #13 gTPI Polled Sire in the World, Overtime P, and the #14 gTPI Ohio Style P.
Hickorymea Goldwyn Ought-P VG-86
HOUSAF000137995680
Goldwyn x Paradox-RED x Hickorymea Bosco Oval P-ET EX-90
Dam of high gTPI Sires Hickorymea Parker P (by Garrett +2034 gTPI) and Hickorymea Overturn P (by Man-O-Man +2013 gTPI) and daughters Hickorymea Man Outfit-P (by Man-O-Man +1981 gTPI), Hickorymea Signif Ohio-P VG-85 (by Significant +1909 gTPI) and Hickorymea Dolman Otter-P VG-85 (by Dolman +1687 gTPI).
KAMPS-HOLLOW ALTITUDE-ET RC CV TL EX-95 2E DOM
With high type and high index daughters and granddaughters showing up on top genomic lists, show results and sale catalogs, Altitude has certainly become one of the most influential cows of the modern era. Probably best known for her daughter KHW Regiment Apple Red – EX-96 3E DOM the “Million Dollar Cow.” Apple Red has also been able to prove herself as a brood cow. Her shining moment in the spotlight had to be at World Dairy Expo 2013 where she set new benchmarks at the top of the ladder of show ring success. While the crowd roared their approval of the final placings assigned by Judge Michael Heath, the record books took note that for the first time one special cow not only earned Reserve Grand Champion but also was flanked on each side by the Grand Champion, her clone, and, on the other side by her daughter, the Honorable Mention Grand Champion. (Read more: KHW Regiment Apple-Red – Beauty, performance, and even more record accomplishments).
KAMPS-HOLLOW ALTITUDE-ET RC CV TL EX-95 2E DOM
Also, impressive was Apple-Red’s brother, Advent-Red who was Premier Sire of the Red and White Show. Advent is the highly acclaimed Kite son of Altitude. Without hesitation, Advent is one of the all-time greatest showring sires of the red breed whose daughters have accumulated various accolades at national and international shows worldwide. Advent has taken home numerous premier sire banners at the most prestigious shows nationwide including the Royal Winter Fair National Red and White Show and the Grand International Red and White Show at World Dairy Expo. His stats speak to the magnitude of his impact with more than 400 Excellent daughters in the United States and Canada alone and 105 All-American Nominated daughters in just the past five years. Forty-one of the 105 received the prestigious title of All-American or Reserve All-American according to the Red and White Dairy Cattle Association. Other
Notable Progeny/Descendants:
JOTAN
HONLDM000393714184
Jordan Red x Altitude TPI +1856 PTAT +2.06 UDC +2.31 FLC +2.86
MR APPLES MCGUCCI-ET RC TY
HOUSAM000072353438
McCutchen x KHW Regiment Apple-Red EX-96 3E DOM
TPI +2277 PTAT +4.06 UDC +3.24 FLC +3.81
MR APPLES ARMANI-ET RC TY
HOUSAM000068571374 Goldwyn x KHW Regiment Apple-Red EX-96 3E DOM
TPI +2147 PTAT +3.37 UDC +3.07 FLC +3.18
MR APPLES AVATAR-ET RC TY
HOUSAM000068571318 Shottle x KHW Regiment Apple-Red EX-96 3E DOM
TPI +1956 PTAT +2.62 UDC +2.20 FLC +2.38
KHW REGIMENT APPLE 3-RED-ETN EX-95-2E-USA DOM 1*
HOUSAF000135511521 Durham x Altitude
Grand Champion World Dairy Expo 2013 RES. ALL-AMERICAN 4-YR 2013 ALL-AMERICAN R&W 4-YR 2013 INT.CHAMP MADISON R&W 2011 1ST JR.2-YR MADISON R&W 2011
KHW REGIMENT ARIEL-RED VG-89-4YR-CAN 1*
HOUSAF000135511512
Regiment X Altitude 3RD 4-YR ROYAL R&W 2008
KHW GOLDWYN AIKO-ET *RC EX-91 92-MS DOM
HOUSAF000137658044
Goldwyn x Altitude
15 Sons in AI.
MS CANDY APPLE-RED EX-94-2E-USA
HOUSAF139005833
Talent x KHW Regiment Apple-Red EX-96 3E DOM
HM Grand Champion World Dairy Expo Red & White Show 2013
MS APPLES ANNESA RC CV VG-85
HOUSAF000069822323
Goldwyn x KHW Regiment Apple-Red EX-96 3E DOM
TPI +2151 PTAT +3.49 UDC +3.77 FLC +3.22
MS APPLES ANGEL-ET *RC EX-92
HOUSAF000069561886
REGANCREST S CHASSITY EX-92 GMD DOM
Like many truly great cows Chassity puts it all together. Jeff Butler, a member of the Chassity Syndicate, describes her in winning terms,” She’s a big cow standing 63 inches, with a wide rump, hard top, a wide chest, and walks up hill. And of course she has a beautiful udder. “This comes naturally when you consider that Chassity is a sixth generation Excellent from the renowned Barbie family. (Read more: REGANCREST S CHASSITY – 2012 Golden Dam Finalist)
REGANCREST S CHASSITY EX-92 GMD DOM
Chassity’s list of offspring reads like a healthy bank statement. From Goldwyn, she produced Gold Chip and Goldwyn Cash. Cash went on to make Cashmoney, Cashcoin, Colt 45, Cash-O, and Casher! With these offspring, Chassity is definitely in the money and, while she`s unforgettable for her exceptional 1.5 million dollar selling price at Intrigue in August 2009, her financial story didn`t stop there. In the Destination Vegas Sale, in December of the same year, her daughter MS Chassity Goldwyn Cash was the world’s top-selling individual, being purchased for $205,000. At the World Classic Sale in Madison a Planet daughter, MS Courtlane UR-S Candy VG85, sold to Regancrest. Earlier in the summer a Domain granddaughter of Chassity, sold for a high price through the Skyline Holstein Sale in Germany. She sold to Koepon. Chassity’s name continues to be a guaranteed bank machine at sales worldwide.
Chassity has 154 progeny, from 37 different sires, setting new records and earning breed leading numbers of their own, especially for type. According to her current owners “the largest demand these days is driven by the progeny of Chassity’s Goldwyn daughter Cash and Chassity`s Snowman Daughters.” Courtlane UR Chassity, the 8th generation EX was Chassity’s first EX daughter! She is the dam of Chester (by AltaIoata +2236 gTPI) and Cameron (by Jeeves +2214 gTPI). MS Chassity PLN Chaching VG86 2yrs is Chassity’s Planet daughter and the dam of MR Chaching Centric (by Numero Uno +2362 gTPI). Her daughter MS Chassity Goldwyn Cash VG87 2yr gLPI +2816 has a record of 2-04 (305D) 15,491kg milk, 4.1F and 3.2P. She has two Observer sons – Cashcoin +2358 gTPI and Cashmoney +2299 gTPI.
MR Chassity Cadillac
HOUSAM000070476916
Bookem x REGANCREST S CHASSITY EX-92 GMD DOM gTPI +2218
PTAT+3.36 UDC +2.98 FLC +2.19
MR Chassity Moman Clarta
HOUSAM000141008235
Man-O-Man x REGANCREST S CHASSITY EX-92 GMD DOM
gTPI +2218 PTAT +2.81 UDC +2.11 FLC +2.22
MR Chassity Gold Chip
HOUSAM000140145553
Goldwyn x REGANCREST S CHASSITY EX-92 GMD DOM
Very popular genomic sire now with an official daughter evaluation (gTPI +1996 PTAT +3.70 UDC +3.31 FLC +3.16)
MR Chassity Colt 45-ET RC PC
HOUSAM000070476906
Colt P x REGANCREST S CHASSITY EX-92 GMD DOM
Red factor and polled spurred Colt 45’s rise to one of the most popular sires in the world gTPI +2020 PTAT +2.99 UDC +2.88 FLC +2.80
MS Chassitys Caroline VG-86
HOUSAF000070477005
Robust x REGANCREST S CHASSITY EX-92 GMD DOM
gTPI +2243 PTAT +2.54 UDC +2.05 FLC +2.30
MS Chassity Goldwyn Cash VG-87 2yr
HOUSAF000140175910
Goldwyn x REGANCREST S CHASSITY EX-92 GMD DOM
Top selling individual of 2009 for $205,000 Dam of Cashcoin and Cashmoney.
MS CHASSITY SNCHZ CARLY VG-89-4YR-CAN
HOUSAF140538603
Sanchez x REGANCREST S CHASSITY EX-92 GMD DOM
Res. Intermediate Champion Atlantic Spring Showcase 2013
MS CHASSITY DOMAIN CHAYA VG-88-2YR-CAN
HOUSAF141086211 Domain x REGANCREST S CHASSITY EX-92 GMD DOM
1ST 2-YR CALGARY SPRING 2013
MS Chassity Obs Claire VG-87
HOUSAF000141008075 Observer x REGANCREST S CHASSITY EX-92 GMD DOM
Dam of 30 progeny over 2000 gTPI. Including the high new release genomic full brothers by McCutchen, Capital Gain (+2517) gTPI and High Octane (+2512). (Read more: The 16 Sires from the April 2014 Genetic Evaluations That Stand Out)
WESSWOOD-HC RUDY MISSY EX-92 3E GMD DOM
For more than 10 years Rudy Missy has been producing elite genetics and leading the pack in reliability and health traits. Today, with names like Shauna, Supersire, Chart Topper, Mogul, Oak and Sid. It is hard to deny the impact of America’s favorite Rudolph daughter. Backed by an Excellent-90 GMD DOM Elton and three more “Very Good” generations, Wesswood-HC Rudy Missy quickly became a worldwide star. The family traits shine through in high production, superb protein pounds and simply being cattle that your average farmer likes. Good strength, wide rear udders, mobile feet and legs.
WESSWOOD-HC RUDY MISSY EX-92 3E GMD DOM
Thirty-nine direct daughters of Rudy Missy have scored Very Good or Excellent over the years, and her brood cow status has become undeniable. All seven females from the flush to O-Man scored Very Good and can be credited with developing the bloodlines for Shauna, Supersire, Chart Topper, Mogul and AltaOak. Pine-Tree Missy Martha VG-86-2YR DOM is probably the most notable daughter of this flush and is the dam of Shottle Martha Sheen Very Good-86 DOM. Ammon-Peachey Shauna Very Good-87 DOM is undoubtedly the best daughter to date from Martha Sheen, especially when you consider the large number of bulls she has put into A.I. Sired by Planet, Shauna exudes dairyness and strength similar to her Shottle dam. Shauna ranked #4 gTPI female in the August 2009 release and was quickly contracted for sons by Robust, which resulted in the high genomic sons Supersire and Headliner. Shauna’s Freddie sons, Sargent and Shaw, as well as Snowman sons, Diamond and Platinum, also rank high. (Read more: AMMON-PEACHEY SHAUNA – 2012 Golden Dam Finalist and Charting the Right Course at Seagull Bay Dairy)
Mountfield SSI Dcy Mogul debuted at No. 2 on Holstein Association USA’s Top 100 TPI Genomic Young Bulls list in December 2011. Mogul and full brother Mixer are the Dorcy grandsons of Pine-Tree Missy Miranda, Very Good-86 DOM, the full sister to Martha, and daughter of Missy. Miranda is also the dam of the former No. 1 GTPI daughter in the United States, De-Su 199 Chart Topper who was sired by De-Su Watson.
Notable Progeny/Descendants:
Seagull-Bay Supersire
HOUSAM000069981349
Robust x Planet x Shottle x Pine-Tree Missy Martha-ET VG-86 x Wesswood-HC Rudy Missy-ET EX-92
Extremely popular genomic sire of sons TPI +2420 PTAT +2.40 UDC +1.71 FLC +1.28
Mountfield SSI Dcy Mogul HO84M0003006972816 Dorcy x Marsh x Pine-Tree Missy Miranda-ET VG-86 DOM x Wesswood-HC Rudy Missy-ET EX92 Extremely popular sire of sons (TPI +2394 PTAT +2.81 UDC +2.99 FLC +2.78)
Pine-Tree Altaoak
HOUSAM000069169951 Niagra x Leif x Shottle x O Man x Wesswood-HC Rudy Missy-ET EX-92
Popular genomic sire (TPI +2333 PTAT +2.56 UDC +2.30 FLC +1.45)
Ammon-Peachey Shauna VG-87
HOUSAF000066228178
Planet x Shottle x Pine-Tree Missy Martha-ET VG-86 x Wesswood-HC Rudy Missy-ET EX-92
One of the most contracted and popular bull mothers in the world Dam of 30 progeny over 2200 gTPI
Seagull-Bay Shauna Saturn VG-85
HOUSAF000069981537
Man-O-Man x Ammon-Peachey Shauna VG-87
Dam of 28 progeny over 2200 gTPI
Seagull-Bay Miss America VG-85
HOUSAF000070640281
Robust x Ammon-Peachey Shauna VG-87
Dam of 23 progeny over 2400 gTPI, including sons MR America Pageant (by Cashmoney +2563 gTPI), MR America Daft Punk (by Day +2501 gTPI) and MR America Classic (by Cashcoin +2465 gTPI). As well as daughters MS America Dixie (by Day +2565 gTPI), Compass-Trt America Okay (by AltaOak +2529 gTPI) and Compass-Trt Amrica Jabra (by Jabir +2492 gTPI).
Carters-Corner Shot Melody Excellent-90
DOM HOUSAM000063033664
Shottle x O Man x Wesswood-HC Rudy Missy-ET EX-92
Dam of Brookview-E Moviestar Very Good-86 who is the dam of the popular Mogul son MR Moviestar Mardi Gras (+2470 gTPI).
De-Su 199 Chart Topper VG-85
HOUSAF000069490353
Watson x O Man x Wesswood-HC Rudy Missy-ET EX-92
1st Choice Numero Uno sold for $79,000 at World Classic Sale 2011
Dam of high genomic sons De-Su 11236 Balisto (by Bookem +2446 gTPI) and De-Su Mg Davinci 11288 (by Mogul +2442 gTPI).
Pine-Tree 2149Robst 4846-ET VG-85
HOUSAM000069804610
Robust x Zenith x Shottle x Pine-Tree Missy Martha-ET VG-86
Dam of 30 progeny over +2400 gTPI. Including high genomic sons View-Home Monterey (by McCutchen +2578 gTPI), View-Home Day Missouri (by Day +2522 gTPI) and View-Home Ernhdt Tenn aka Powerball-P (by Earnhardt P +2476 gTPI).
PINE-TREE FINLEY MINNIE EXCELLENT-91
CAN HOUSAF000061733050
AltaFinley x Wesswood-HC Rudy Missy-ET EX-92
Dam of the top type bull sire by MR Sam, Pine-Tree Sid (+14 Conformation)
The Bullvine Bottom Line
From Polled, Red & White, Type and Genomics, these 7 cows and their descendants are having the biggest impact on the Holstein breed. While there are certainly some bloodlines from the past, such as: Roxy; Dellia; and Laurie Sheik; that have had a huge impact; these seven are the bloodlines that are having the biggest influence in today’s modern dairy breeding era.
Costs for raising replacement heifers, like other inputs on dairy operations, have been rising continuously for more than 15 years. Unfortunately market prices received for heifers are landing in the exact opposite direction. Today the market value is below the rearing costs which place dairy managers between a rock and a hard place. You can`t do without replacements but it`s costing too much to raise them. It`s all about being more economical. Ironically the way to get more is achieved by focusing on less.
You Need Advisors Who Know “LESS”
It seems almost counter-productive to expect less from those who are experts in their field, but with the state of the market and the obligation to be profitable, everyone needs to be a specialist in the less proposition: less feed costs, less raising time, less time to weaning, less time to breeding. Each person that you consult with or work beside on your dairy needs to have this appreciation for less: Extension Dairy specialists, nutritionists, veterinarians, geneticists and financial advisors can apply their resources to your specific situation and help you find how to make “less” your value proposition.
SIX ways to MAKE MORE with “LESS”
There are many ways to improve your heifer replacement program. It is no surprise that prolonged challenges in this area is having the positive effect of producing specialists who have focused on solving the numerous issues that are involved. Of course, the Internet is a gold mine of ideas, examples, charts and field trials that can make your decision making more focused. Dr. Larry Tranel and Dr. Lee Kilmer, both of Iowa State University, have provided a compendium of materials to polish up your understanding of this area (Click here). You can start by reviewing published materials or seek out on line or live seminars.
Of course, once you know the exact number you are targeting it is equally important to determine which heifers are actually the best. One option is to identify the lower genetic potential calves by genomic testing and then cull the bottom 10-25% before investing dollars in raising them. Making an informed decision can result in very significant improvements in milk and fat yield.
2. Less Feed Cost
Feed literally eats up a large portion of your dairy expense budget. It therefore is a prime target for management efficiency. Meticulous record keeping is needed to make sure that you have good data for decision making. This is an area which can have wide variation on inputs – due to geography, logistics or specific farm variables such as soil fertility and availability. More than in the past, managers are considering rotational grazing. Motivated by using what is already available, reducing labor and machinery costs or some seek the better profit margins on organic milk which requires pasture-fed management of the milking herd. Other location dependent options could include using various by-product feedstuffs to reduce feeding costs. I recall my first surprise when I learned that cookies and donuts from local factories and fast-food operations were becoming part of dairy herd rations. It gives a whole new meaning to “milk-and-cookies”.
3. Less Confinement Feeding Could Net Profits
Intensive grazing of dairy heifers can reduce cost of labor and feed by reducing manure management and the feeding of harvested forages. Reducing costs by grazing heifers on productive crop ground depends on management skills, yield and assumptions used. Reports of field trials are available on line. Also reported are significant health benefits (ultimately less illness, less cost, less staff time) from rotational grazing for dairy heifers (Click here).
Weight and milk production gains with heifers raised on pasture compared to confinement have also been realized. In a study by Posner and Hedtke, 2012, (CIAS Research Brief #89), yearling heifers gained 1.97 and 1.86 pounds per day on pasture and in confinement, respectively. For ME Milk production, the first lactation heifers produced 25,328 and 23,415, pounds of milk respectively for those raised on pasture versus those raised in confinement. Thus, from reducing costs, increasing health and milk production, raising heifers on pasture makes sense.
A significant conclusion is summed up by Dr. Tranel in “Optimizing Your Heifer Enterprise” where he points out: “Feed costs make up the largest share of the costs to raise a calf to freshening. One method to reduce feed costs is to combine corn co-products with low quality forages. A difference of $0.23 per head per day doesn’t sound like a lot until you consider the 800 pound heifer to be the “average” size heifer in a dairy herd. Therefore, a herd of 100 cows would have about 75 heifers that could be fed this lower cost ration. In one year that is a saving of over $6,000.”
4. Less time to Weaning
Tranel and Kilmer point out the benefits of taking less time in getting replacement heifers to the weaning stage. “It typically costs $5-$6 per calf per day to raise a calf from birth to weaning. A 56 day birth-weaning period typically has an estimated $336 of expenses. If this birth-to-weaning cost is subtracted, along with the ownership cost and initial value of the heifer, the cost to raise from weaning-to-calving is $1,661.50 over 674 days or $2.47 per day for the average weight heifer.”
5. Less Time to Breeding
It isn’t unexpected that heifer replacement specialists target less time taken in getting heifers to breeding stage. “Producers should make every effort to grow heifers faster so that they reach the target weights by 13 months of age so that they can be bred.” Getting heifers bred and calving sooner, means they will join the milk string sooner and start generating income.
6. Less Time to Calving
Management strategies targeting less time to calving are positive to many aspects of your heifer replacement program as outlined by the Iowa State Extension Specialists. “Reducing the age at first calving will have one of the greatest impacts on reducing the total costs of raising replacement dairy heifers from birth to calving. Another great impact would be that the doubling of the birthrate from birth to weaning may actually increase costs during that time frame but the milk production benefits later on far outweigh the added costs. More Holsteins calved at 23 or 24 months of age than any other age and these heifers produced more milk in their first lactation than heifers that calved at an older age. Thus there is no economic advantage to calving heifers at 26 months or older.” The article also contained this nugget from Kilmer and Tranel: “It is important to realize that reducing the heifer raising period from 24 months to 23 months saves approximately $94 per heifer for a total cost of $2,166 per heifer raised. For a 100- cow herd raising 40 replacements each year, this savings would equal $3,760 per year.”
Source: Optimizing Your Heifer Enterprise
The Bullvine Bottom Line
The cost of raising heifers is well above the market value they bring on today’s market. Management practices that focus wherever possible on getting MORE from LESS heifers, in LESS time and with LESS feed costs is the best way to get more out of your replacement heifer program. That also means MORE profitability for your bottom line.
Dairy breeders are continually taking steps to be more exact about the way they farm and the products they buy, produce and sell. However when it comes to the genetic make-up of our animals there remains significant difference of thought, amongst breeders, about the actual accuracy of the genetic information. Breeders are presented with a wide range of facts. Gold Medal, Extra, Star Brood, DOM, proven, genomic, photos, Supreme Champion … no wonder many breeders are confused. The Bullvine feels that breeders need to be objective about the animal information they see and to think in terms of the accuracy of the information. Now we are not talking about whether or not an animal meets the ideal. We’re talking about how much we can rely on the facts we see in hard copy or from virtual communication sources.
In the Beginning
In the nineteenth century milk cows were mostly dual purpose and herd size was small. People wanting to get into dairying purchased a cow or bull based on what the seller said were the animal’s merits. In time breed societies were formed to document lineage. That was followed in the early twentieth century with third party authentication of both yield and conformation. The third party oversight of parentage and performance were the beginning steps to know the accuracy of the information. That was the start.
Many Steps Along The Way
Having a milk record or type classification authenticated for a single one cow in a herd was initially thought to be very useful information. The next move was to compare a cow to her dam to see if improvement had been made. But that did not help much as the cow and her dam were not simultaneously at the same age and, in some cases, not in the same herd. Of course, over time we have learned that we need to know the performance of the cow’s herdmates. That was the stage where breeders started to compare animals within a herd with the desire to know which animals were superior, or, conversely, inferior for a trait. The biggest breakthrough in accurately determining the relative genetic merit of an animal came when Dr Charles Henderson, Cornell University, developed the analysis technique that he called B.L.U.P. (Best Linear Unbiased Prediction). Forget about trying to understand the term, what it does is compare all animals within a herd and then compile the results across all herds to produce genetic rankings for males and females.
What About Accuracy?
From a genetic merit perspective it is important to know two things. Firstly where does the animal rank in the populations? And secondly, and also very important, how accurate is the prediction? How much trust can a breeder put in the animal’s genetic rating? If information is of limited accuracy, then it may be nice to know, but it does little for constructive breeding or to provide the opportunity to drive up on-farm profits. Accuracy produces confidence; confidence accelerates advancement, and negligence ruins the reputation which accuracy had raised. (Read more: Has Genomics Knocked Out Hot House Herds? And The Hot House Effect on Sire Sampling)
Let’s Compare Accuracy
The range in accuracy of genetic evaluation indexes goes from 0 to 99% and is called Reliability. The following chart is an approximation of the accuracy of predicting an animal’s total merit index (i.e TPI, NM$, LPI, or any other national total merit index) from the information that is known on the animal.
Reliability In Predicting An Animal Total Merit Index
As far as accuracy goes the winners, as a result of incorporating genomic information into our genetic evaluation systems, have been young bulls, young heifers and brood cows. Adding genomic information has resulted in a doubling of the accuracy of their indexes. For further information on accuracy an interesting read is Two Ways to Look at Accuracy for Genomic Young Bullspublished by Canadian Dairy Network.
What’s Ahead?
As more and more animals are genomically tested and recorded for their performance, the accuracy of all genetic indexes will increase. Three other steps that will assist in increasing the accuracy of total merit indexing are needed:
Have every milk weight, fat %, protein% and SCC automatically captured at every milking;
Have information on new economically important traits collected; and
Have more economic information available on more traits.
Breeders will be the benefactors of having more and more accurate information so that they can make more and more accurate decisions.
The Bullvine Bottom Line
Having genomic information has been a significant step forward for increasing the accuracy of genetic indexes. But it will go beyond genetics and genomics in the future. Read past Bullvine articles for further details about genomics for health and management (Read more: Herd Health, Management, Genetics and Pilot Projects: A Closer Look at ZOETIS) and what lies beyond genomics (Read more: Forget Genomics – Epigenomics & Nutrigenomics are the Future). When buying genetics breeders need to check that the animals, semen or embryos they are considering will both follow their breeding plans (Read more: What’s the plan?) and that the information is accurate. Breeding dairy cattle is faster paced every year. The accuracy of the information used is an important consideration.
The term “desert resort” is synonymous with the City of Las Vegas. The Venetian canals of the Bellagio, as well as the Mirage’s water-and-fire volcano, make conspicuous water consumption in Sin City iconic. Appearances can be deceiving, though. In fact, the Las Vegas Strip accounts for just three percent of local water use, according to the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
Fully 70 percent of the city’s water supply goes toward irrigating the 60-plus golf courses and the many residential lawns in the area. The municipal government has, however, taken steps to scale back on the city’s greenery, for example, by cutting the maximum size of a domestic lawn to just a backyard patch. Nevertheless, keeping grass verdant in the middle of the desert is arguably folly in the first place.
Don’t Believe Everything you See and Hear
The sight of golf courses lush and green next to nearby desert… the 460 foot gush of the Bellagio Fountains punctuating every 15 minutes of the desert evenings. If this pushes your “water wastage” button, you may be reacting without all the facts. Yes there is an eight-acre lake supplying the Bellagio’s fountains. Yes all the water is recycled. Furthermore automated irrigation systems, high efficiency dishwashers and linen reuse are saving more water. And whether they were first or were inspired by others, water use per person fell 40 percent between 2002 and 2013, according to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the water agency that serves the Las Vegas metropolitan area.
If It “Stays in Vegas” Does it Dry Up Downriver?
However, the news is far from good. In February of this year it was especially bad for farmers in California’s Central Valley. That’s when they were informed that their request for water had been denied by the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Reclamation. The record books will show that 2013 was the driest year on record in California. Reservoirs fell to dangerously low levels. Ten rural towns in the state were identified as having less than 100 days of supply remaining. The impact of this drought must also be seen in the context of the fact that California is the top agricultural producer ($44.7 billion). California accounts for 20 percent of U.S. milk production and dairying is the state’s largest agricultural business ($6.9 billion).
Early in 2014 California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency.
Watch Out! All Bets are Off! They Want Your Water!
There are times when a state of emergency, brings people together to meet the challenge. When it comes to the dwindling life-giving resource of water it’s a whole different game. The old saying is that “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Today, in California, the added nightmare of that road is that it is lined and overseen by consumer advocacy and environmental groups. They are more than ready to point the finger of blame at dairying for being the evil squanderer when it comes to groundwater depletion and contamination.
Surface Water Versus Ground Water
There are two main water sources for water in California: ground water sources and underground water sources. Drinking water – at least more than half of it – comes from underground sources. Growing population consumption means that more of these aquifers will be needed. And once again, changing times have added further problems here.
Although dairy farms use a tremendous amount of water, most of it pumped from the ground and used for drinking, cooling and sanitation. Unfortunately they are now being charged with contamination of the surface water because of the over application of manure and commercial fertilizer in areas such as the Central Valley. This results in high levels of nitrates and other dissolved salts. The end result is that, as surface water allocations are declining or becoming unusable, more and more ground water is needed.
Water quality and water allocation are passing the level of ongoing debate and becoming an all out war.
Whose Side Are You On?
It would seem that both sides have common interests based on the production of healthy food. Neither the producers, nor the human consumers want to see prices rise in response to the water crisis. However, farmers can’t afford to irrigate the crops and thousands of acres will not be put into production. No crops. No milk production. And the impact reaches deeper into the California population as farm workers are out of work and that creates a domino effect among all jobs relating to the industry.
Other states facing dwindling water supplies are responding by charging for consumption. Kansas already requires dairies that pump more than 15 acre-feet of water to put meters on their wells. A 1,000-cow dairy in California consumes 15 acre-feet of water in less than two months. California dairy farmers may soon be paying for more than just the electricity to pump groundwater.
Columbia University’s water scarcity study showed most of California, from San Diego all the way to Santa Barbara, at high risk for water problems. And CIRES’ study showed much of the same areas with high to moderate stress on regional watersheds from the coast and all the way inland. Los Angeles relies on importing much of its water from the Colorado River system which has long provided the American West with water — seven states in all that are home to almost 40 million people. But demands on the river are often cited as unsustainable, due to predicted population increases and climate change.
Your Water Budget is as Crucial as Your Dollar Budget
Dairy cows in California now number over 1.5 million. The majority consume between 20 and 50 gallons of water per day. Crop irrigation, in some cases, could run the total beyond 100 gallons per cow per day. Cows must consume water. Their health and the production of milk require it. Every drop of water that is expended has a rising cost attached to it. Although all water usage is of concern, here are four areas that may help in finding ways to reduce water consumption.
Milking parlors, cooling and sanitation.
Goal: 10 gallons per cow per day conservation when flushing freestall lanes.
Udder prep procedures:
Use hand-operated wash hoses or automatic prep systems (target between 1 and 4 gallons per cow per milking). Water can be reduced to less than ½ gallon per day, when using low water techniques.
Bedding and freestall management
Goal: keep cows well bedded so that they enter the milking parlor clean.
Irrigation:
Keeping grassland productive may not be an option. Deeper wells may be the first step in responding to water needs. Growing more drought-tolerant grasses (than alfalfa) may be the second step. Somewhere in the priority list, some may decide not to plant corn at all. Certainly, irrigation is on the cut backlist.
THE BULLVINE BOTTOM LINE
If you’re reading this and your vantage point includes a pond, river, lake or another large body of water, you may feel that water isn’t on your problem priority list. You may even applaud the casinos and cow operations in California that have started to conserve and solve their problem. However, the simple equation is: No water= Expensive food. If everybody who consumes water doesn’t join the effort, everybody loses. Game over!
The horse race known as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” delivers yet again! This time, the story of its improbable winner, California Chrome, provides inspiration for dairy breeders to believe that it’s possible to achieve lightning in a bottle. The story has hit every news outlet, but there’s a message for dairy breeders too.
Photo by NBC News
In an industry known for owners willing to pay millions to secure a potential winner of the Kentucky Derby, this year’s winner cost a mere $10,000 and, on top of that, came into the race as the favorite to win. This story gets more incredible all the time. This parallels the current dairy genetics industry where the top females are bringing outrages prices, and more and more the top animals are being controlled a select few, the large genetic companies. (Read more: Dairy Breeders vs. The Genetics Corporations)
In May 2008, at the Fasig-Tipton Horse Sale for 2 year olds in training, an ownership group from Northern California purchased an undersized chestnut-colored filly named Love the Chase for $30,000. (Side note, this is the same Horse Auction Company that held the recent Day at the Derby Sale that averaged $37,000 US). The new ownership group eager to assess their investment shipped her back across country and took her to the racetrack.
Love the Chase ran so poorly in her first three races that she was dropped into an $8,000 maiden claiming race, the lowest rung at Golden Gate Fields, a track outside of San Francisco. When she won that race, the group met with her trainer Greg Gilchrist, and asked what should they do with her? His response “”If you can find somebody who will give you $8,000 for her,” Gilchrist said, “I’d get rid of her right now.”
Steve and Carolyn Coburn; Denise and Perry Martin (Photo by Benoit Photo)
So the ownership group did that and two self-proclaimed “dumbasses” from the group, Steve Coburn, a press operator at a company that makes magnetic strips for credit cards and drivers’ licenses and Perry Martin, who owned a laboratory in Sacramento, Calif., that tests products such as air bags bought her for the sum of $8,000. Coburn bought her only because his wife nixed the idea of buying a plane—too expensive for a middle-class couple from Topaz Lake, Nevada and the other, Martin, was testing his luck in racing for the first time. The men had never met, but they were bound by their affection for the filly.With new trainer Monty Meier, they took the filly back to the track and matched her against $12,500 claimers. However, they got the same result. She finished last. They dropped her back down against the $8,000 claimers and returned to the track. She still finished dead last. Her future was in doubt.
Not to be dismayed by these poor results, the now registered “Dumb Ass Partners” shocked everyone when they announced that they planned to breed the undersized and underperforming mare. Like the show heifer that is at the bottom of every class.
Now this is where the story gets interesting for dairy breeders. Without any expertise, Martin began studying Love the Chase’s pedigree and discovered she was two generations removed from Mr. Prospector, a classic sire and successful sprinter in the 1970s, three generations removed from Northern Dancer, another top-line sire and winner of the 1964 Kentucky Derby, and although tracing the pedigree any further back would have struck most seasoned breeders as pointless, he found a connection to Swaps, winner of the 1955 Kentucky Derby.
After a failed attempt to breed Love The Chase to a top stallion, the owners paired their horse with Lucky Pulpit, a 10-year-old who had won three times in 22 starts. They paid a modest stud fee of $2,000. This time it took. Their breeding investment was now $10,000.
Almost a year later, Love The Chase gave birth to a 137-pound, chestnut-colored colt that had four white feet and a white blaze down his nose. In racing, white is known as “chrome.” So California Chrome was one of the names Coburn, Martin and their wives wrote on scrap paper and threw into a hat when they gathered one day at a restaurant. , Their waitress picked the winning name.
About two years later, California Chrome was ready to race, and Coburn and Martin wanted to run him in Southern California, where he would be matched against better competition. However, they needed a trainer. Art Sherman, the Dumb Ass Partners, learned, had been the exercise rider on none other than Swaps, the 1955 Kentucky Derby winner six generations removed from California Chrome. Who better to care for their horse, they decided, than a trainer who at 18 rode a railway car with Swaps and slept in the same boxcar with the horse on a three-day trip from Los Angeles to Louisville.
California Chrome’s Jockey, Victor Espinoza , used to train Jack asses and his trainer, Art Sherman, is the oldest winner in history of the Kentucky Derby. (Photo by: Jamie Rhodes/USA Today Sports)
They told Sherman they wanted him to train “our Derby horse” and explained they had a typed-up plan to get their horse to the big race. Sherman, who once moonlighted at the betting windows to help pay the bills, chuckled at their naiveté. After all, he had won more than 3,000 times as a jockey and a trainer, yet had never raced on or trained a Kentucky Derby horse.
In December, California Chrome won the King Glorious Stakes, followed by another victory in the California Derby Cup. Next, in the San Felipe Stakes, he faced open company, top-caliber horses from outside of California. With the pressure ostensibly mounting as post time approached, Coburn jauntily handed out purple hats with the donkey insignia and invited fans into the paddock area as they saddled up their horse and lifted Espinoza, the one-time donkey-riding jockey, atop California Chrome. The horse blazed to victory, after which Coburn passed out more purple hats and invited fans into the winner’s circle.
Photo by: UPI/John Sommers
Soon after, Martin and Coburn reported, they got an offer of $6 million for 51 percent control of California Chrome. They were vague in public about the details, with Coburn saying only that the offer came from the Middle East. Nevertheless, they were clear about their answer: “Hell no.”
Photo by: APphoto_Santa Anita Horse Racing
In early April, when racing fans wondered if these first timers would match their horse against other Kentucky Derby hopefuls in the Santa Anita Derby, the answer was “Hell yes.” California Chrome romped to victory, giving him four consecutive victories by a combined 24 1/4 lengths, increased his earnings to $1,134,850 and stamped him as the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby.
This past week, while the blue-blood owners and their famous trainers stayed in $1,000-a-night rooms in downtown Louisville, Coburn, Martin and their wives stayed at the Hampton Inn in Frankfurt, an hour long drive from Churchill Downs racetrack. Coburn had announced to anyone who would listen that, on Saturday, they would collect $2 million and the red roses reserved for the Kentucky Derby winner. That is exactly what they did. It was redemption for a jockey who used to train “jack asses” (donkeys) it was redemption, for a slow-running filly-turned-mare and redemption for a couple of self-proclaimed dumb asses.
California Chrome owners Steven Coburn, right, and Perry Martin hold the trophy after Victor Espinoza rode California Chrome to victory in the 140th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 3, 2014, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
The Bullvine Bottom Line
Today one of the significant differences between the thoroughbred horse industry and dairy cattle breeding is the use of genomics. Much of the breeding in the thoroughbred industry is still done by “gut feel” versus proven numbers. , That is why performance and track records for over 60 years have failed to improve. Where would horse racing be with a tool like genomics? Still, the heartwarming story of California Chrome, gives hope to dairy breeders, who are in it for the love more than money.
Not to sound like a Jane Austin novel, but the pride and prejudice of purebred dairy breeder’s are leading to their own downfall. It’s human nature for people to have pride but when that pride leads to prejudice against others that leads to trouble. Unfortunately, pride and prejudice are preventing many purebred dairy breeders from facing the truth in the current dairy genetics industry.
Recently I wrote an article, Dairy Breeders vs. Genetic Corporations: Who are the True Master Breeders? explaining how it is only good business sense that is leading to less and less genetic sales for many dairy breeders. Their future is not looking bright as larger genetic corporations are investing heavily in the very top 0.1% genomic animals and In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Their significantly greater capital is giving these genetic corporations a distinct advantage over the average breeder. As expected, this article got diverse reactions. They covered the full range from those in A.I. organizations and on the industry side that quickly acknowledge that this is happening to those “traditional” breeders who bury their heads in the sand and deny that it could ever happen.
It is that latter head-burying reaction that has led us to today’s situation. You see it’s exactly because breeders have so much pride in what they do that they are not able to accept the truth. This has led to a severe bias for the capabilities of the great breeders from the past and prejudice against the new age geneticists who arm themselves with numbers, genomic tests and formulas. The resisters site situations from the past where breeder’s outperformed the A.I. companies with sires as Goldwyn, etc. that would have never been selected by A.I. geneticists. However, as we have said many times before here on the Bullvine, you can always find the odd case to prove your point but you have to look at the big picture across the whole industry to see what the true trends are. When you do that, the picture painted by the current situation, with the introduction of genomics and significant corporate dollars does not look so rosy for the breeders.
Now don’t get me wrong, pride is not a bad thing. There is such a thing as possessing positive pride, meaning to have self-respect, confidence, honor, and integrity. On the other hand, negative pride is defined as showing arrogant or disdainful conduct and haughtiness. Unfortunately, I have been seeing that pride from many pedigree breeders. They arrogantly think that the industry will survive because they are better than or smarter than someone else is. That arrogance has led us to this situation, where top end cattle prices went from record numbers just a year ago to a place now where many high-end genomic index heifers are not selling for much more than commercial cattle.
The Bullvine Bottom Line
We are all guilty of being quick to judge something. However, when we let that quick judgment affect our lives in a negative way, and are too proud to admit and change our prejudice, we are leading to our own downfall. Such was the case with many dairy breeders who were too quick to write off genomics as a fad or declared that it was not going to work. Yes, it is not a perfect science. It is a tool that, when used correctly, can greatly accelerate the genetic advancement in your herd. By letting prejudicial judgments and misunderstandings affect breeding programs, breeders have allowed the large A.I. companies and genetic corporations to get so far ahead that it is almost impossible to catch them or to prevent the inevitable. While many purebred breeders have sought the wealth and esteem that comes with producing the next great sire, the tragedy of it is that their pride and prejudice could completely derail such a happy ending. Pride and prejudice makes an enduringly successful novel because readers never lose hope that good sense will prevail in the end. Let’s hope that in 200 years, the purebred dairy industry will look back on commercial success that survived its own too quick rush to judgment.
Now more than ever buying embryos may be one of the best decisions breeders can make to accelerate the rate of genetic advancement in their herds. With the price of semen going up and the cost of embryos coming down, it is a great time to think about buying. In order to help you make the right decision for your herd, the Bullvine asked breeders what advice they would give to breeders who are looking to purchase embryos. The following are the top tips that we received:
Set Your Goals
There is no question that first you must know your plan, before you invest any money into genetics, embryos, semen or live cattle. Regardless of your situation, a well-thought-out business plan is necessary before you start spending money on genetics. Like any other viable business, your farm is more likely to succeed when investing in embryos when your goals and strategy are part of a written business plan. (Read more: What’s the plan?) ” You have to know your herd, your cow and yourself before you make even one mating decision.” Points out Ari Ekstein of Quality Farms ltd. (Read more: Quality Holsteins – Well-Deserved Congratulations) Dann Brady from Ferme Blondin shares this viewpoint “There is a niche market for so many different breeding goals, don’t try and focus on all of them. Find where your passion is and builds from there.” (Read more about Ferme Blondin in our feature article FERME BLONDIN “Passion with a Purpose Builds Success”)
Take No Bull
Considering that the breeder of the embryos you are buying will probably have all the male sales accounted for, you should make sure that you purchase only female embryos. Buy them reverse sorted female or sexed to eliminate males. Jerry Jorgensen from Ri-Val-Re Holsteins shares “Before doing anything, set your goals. What do you want to achieve? Set YOUR goals and where you want to be.” (Read more about Jerry Jorgensen and Ri-Val-Re Holsteins in our feature articles – BREEDING RI-VAL-RE: Where Looking Good in the Stall Is Just As Important As Looking Good On Paper and $10,000 a dose Polled Semen).
KHW Regiment Apple-Red-ET EX-96 DOM 2013 HI Red Impact Cow of the Year Res Grand Champion, Grand Int’l R&W Show 2013 Grand Champion, Grand Int’l R&W Show 2011 All-American R&W Aged Cow 2011 HI World Champion R&W Cow 2010 Unanimous All-American Jr 2-Yr-Old 2006 All-American R&W Jr 2-Yr-Old 2006 HHM All-American Jr 3-Yr-Old 2007 Nom All-American R&W 5-Yr-Old 2009
It’s a Family Thing
If you are looking to build generations of success, it helps to purchase from cow families that have already proven themselves over multiple generations. Jimmy Perreault of Vieux Saule Holstein highlights the need to buy from strong pedigrees, which is something they have done very successfully“ (Read more: Vieux Saule Holstein: Rooted in Family Values). Families like that of KHW Regiment Apple Red, Quality Charles Francisco or Thrulane James Rose, almost sell themselves. Pierre Boulet highlights “Thrulane James Rose with all of the success that she has had, she obviously creates an enormous amount of demand for genetics from her and her daughters.” So this leads him naturally to the most important reason Rose is unique. “There is a whole other aspect that we have to consider with Rose and that is the publicity that she has generated for us. A cow like her puts our name out around the globe, attracts people to our farm, and indirectly generates business for the other genetics that we offer.” Once the word is out, it is a lot easier to share your breeding philosophy and the successes that have come from it. (Read more: FERME PIERRE BOULET: FIRST COMES LOVE THEN COMES GENETICS)
THRULANE JAMES ROSE EX-97-2E-CAN 3* ALL-CANADIAN MATURE COW 2009,2008 ALL-AMERICAN MATURE COW 2009,2008 GRAND ROYAL 2009,2008,2006 Supreme Champion – World Dairy Expo 2008
Max the Stack
Tried tested and true a cow’s/calf’s sire stack is probably one of the most reliable things you can look at. Maxime Petitclerc of Ferme Petitclerc, highlights that it’s a must. “Whether you are looking at high index animals or show winners, their sire stack can go a long way in predicting future breeding ability. Pierre Boulet comments “When I like what I see, the next thing that I check is the pedigree for the family and the sire stack. The family is obviously important because a solid family that consistently breeds well takes away a lot of risk. At the same time, the importance of the sire stack is often disregarded. When a cow or heifer is backed by several generations of great bulls it gives you the reassurance that there is solid, well proven genetics in her blood.” (Read more: FERME PIERRE BOULET: FIRST COMES LOVE THEN COMES GENETICS)
Do Your Homework
It’s important to look at more than just their indexes and classification. It’s also important to do careful homework. One key area that we have always found important is to see how well the family flushes. When looking to have the greatest effect on the genetic advancement of your herd, your purchases need to be very fertile. A good “chicken” will outperform a great cow that does not flush. Take the time to make sure that the family you are considering has the ability to flush 7+ embryos per time. (Read more: What Comes First The Chicken Or The Egg?)
Know Your Costs
For every breeder, the return on investment is going to be different. Depending upon availability of recipients and flush costs, your costs of production will be different. Also, budget for about a 50% conception rate, combined with the fact that 50% of the resulting progeny will be male. That is why it’s important to know both what your costs are going to be and what your targeted revenues are. To help calculate your costs download our Dairy Cow Investment Calculator.
Know Your Risk Threshold
If this is your first time purchasing embryos, and especially if this is your first time implanting embryos, it’s better to purchase $200 embryos instead of $2,000 ones. The learning curve and understanding of what it takes to get good conception rates can be very costly when spending significant amounts for the purchase of the eggs.
Know the Market
If you are planning to sell any of the resulting progeny, it will be important to have an accurate assessment of their value, so you know how much you should invest. To learn what current market prices are check out AN INSIDER’S GUIDE TO WHAT SELLS AT THE BIG DAIRY CATTLE AUCTIONS 2013
Make the tough choices
With so much Embryo Transfer and IVF occurring on top animals and many people buying embryos from yearlings, it can be hard to determine which animal you should purchase embryos from. Buying on genomic indexes is quite accurate, and it will become more accurate as more animals are genomically tested, and then performance tested. It is quite simple in the end. Buy the sister that most closely meets your needs. To learn more read Which Full Sister Do I Buy?
Think Outside the Box
Innovative, forward thinking breeders have been and will always be the people who move dairy cattle breeding ahead. They are not satisfied to only think within the box. They use the approach that works for them. That is always the best alternative. (Read more: Investing in Dairy Cattle Genetics – Think Outside the Box).
The Bullvine Bottom Line
Purchasing embryos can be a great way to accelerate the rate of genetic advancement in your herd, without opening your herd up to potential health and other concerns. Prices for high quality embryos are as low as they have ever been, making it one of the greatest rates of return you can get in the genetics marketplace. By following these 10 tips, you can greatly accelerate not only your rate of genetic gain, but also you’re learning curve and ROI.
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