Meet Art Baxter , new president of the Pennsylvania Holstein Association
BY JOYCE BUPP
Staff Correspondent
STONEBORO - “I’m
automatically a good boy because
my father was good,” teases Art
Baxter, a grin tugging at the
corners of his mouth and a twinkle
in his eye.
Baxter, a registered Holstein
breeder from Mercer County, is
the Pennsylvania Holstein
Association’s new president, in
stalled during the annual con
vention last week in Pittsburgh.
His tongue-in-cheek comment is
a personal bit of sarcasm leveled
at the hotly-debated “numbers
game.” These computer formulas
that put a numeric genetic
measure on cattle, based on their
ancestry, are coming under in
creasing criticism from many
registered breeders. While sire
and dam information is weighted
into the formula, critics argue that
the animal’s actual performance is
neglected in valuing genetic merit
As president of the state’s
largest dairy cattle breed, Baxter
has set two goals for his two-year
term of office.
The first goal is to encourage and
promote the re-evaluation of the
indexing program within the
Holstein industry.
It bothers Baxter that less than
five percent of the breed now
carries any amount of “numbers”
value. He figures that the indexing
trend is badly hurting the national
association’s pocketbook, too, with
deficits now turning up after years
of operation in the black.
“Why rush to register cattle if
they have very little dollar value
over commercial animals; why
bother to keep the records?”
laments the Mercer dairy leader.
Baxter wants to see a re
emphasis on classification,
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reflecting the need to give credit to
cows that are capable and
deserving of selection as bull
mothers.
For his own herd, Baxter favors
the longevity of animals that prove
they can stay in the herd,
producing and reproducing year
after year.
It’s a philosophy that has paid off
for the Garden Acres herd. Rolling
herd average on 40 head is over
20,000 with 759 fat. That kind of
results has earned the Baxter herd
the high milk herd award in
Mercer County for 1981 through
1984, plus high protein awards in
1983 and 1984.
Baxter credits genetics, plus a
good feeding program and what he
might label his best asset, his wife
Alice, whom her husband proudly
calls “a good milker.”
Type is highly respected here as
well. Pedigrees in the herd trace
eight and nine generations of
Excellents, some with the first four
dams over 20,000 milk, 900 fat, and
150,000 milk production lifetime.
“And not one has an index,” he
observes.
Garden Acres values the “good
old cows that hang around long
enough to see what their daughters
will look like.”
Young cows which start on the
slow slide don’t bother this veteran
breeder. He figures a first lac
tation of 14-16,000 is a fair start,
with a followup second lactation in
the 18-20,000 pound range.
“Then, at four they can cut loose
and hang in the 24-26,000 pound
range for years; you don’t burn out
big strong cows,” Baxter noted.
One example Baxter offers is a
daughter of his own Garden Acres
Trademark bull, milking since the
day of September and holding
steady at 100 pounds of milk per
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Man of a thousand faces, newly installed Pennsylvania Holstein Association President,
Art Baxter, lists two of his goals: to take a hard look at the current index program and
rework or restructure it, and to put through a product supply management program.
day. And, he’ll tell you she doesn’t
have an index.
Having made his feelings per
fectly clear on the index-numbers
issue, Baxter tackles his second
goal as a Holstein state leader; a
supply-management program.
Baxter is ready to work very hard
to encourage the organization of
supply management, often simply
labeled “quotas.”
“If farmers are going to be able
to be in the industry in five years -
if families are to stay in business -
then we must have supply
mangement.”
That could easily be established,
adds Baxter, with quotas of 90
percent of a farm’s production
over a historic base period.
“A dairyman with a million
pound base can make it with 50
head, each producing 20,000
pounds. His less efficient neighbor
down the road might need 70 cows
to attain the same total production.
And with growth hormones
coming, cow numbers might be cut
to 30 for that level. I’m not afraid of
isoacids and hormones if we can
work within a supply management
program,” reflects the Holstein
president.
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“As it is now, we’re just working
harder to sell more for less
money.”
Supply management. And a
rework of the index system. Art
OXFORD Learn 100 great
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Holsteins at the Holstein In
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It will be stimulating, goal
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The fee for this workshop is
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Baxter has given both ideas a
great deal of thought.
“If we have those two things, the
registered breeder will be here
forever.”
Graduates of this program will
receive a certificate and valuable
coupon.
To sign-up and receive further
information on this workshop send
name, address, phone number,
check and your best Holstein ad to
Glenn Freese, 902 Forge Rd.,
Oxford, PA 19363, (215-932-9762).
$
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