AIS-Lancastar Fanning, Saturday, April 26,1986
Strasburg
BY MARTHA J. GEHRINGER
STRASBURG The American
Milking Shorthorn Society recently
held their National Convention at
the Historic Strasburg Inn.
Breeders from over 27 states and
three countries gathered to renew
old acquantances and return to the
site of one of their best remem
bered conventions ten years ago.
They discussed the current state of
their society and how to enhance
the future of this versatile breed.
They toured an Amish farm and
saw a demonstration of working
milking shorthorn steers. The
annual meeting featured awards
and a panel discussion on Genetic
- Expansion. The annual banquet
witnessed the crowning of a new
Milking Shorthorn Queen and the
selling of a Milking Shorthorn
quilt.
Dr. Dave Seiner of 21st Century
Genetics, Rex Powell of the USDA
in Maryland, and Stuart Rowe is
Inrflsfail Farm in California
participated in a panel discussion
concerning the Society’s Genetic
Expansion program.
All of the panel members agreed
that this program is valuable for
the improvement of the breed, but
it must be used wisely and in
moderation.
“It’s a progressive move,”
Powell said. “We want what is best
for the breed and must take ad
vantage of what’s available,” he
continued. He also suggested the
very best to be the top six red and
white bulls.
“We have to go with what we are
paid for or what we will be paid for,
Pacesetter daughter
BY MARTHA J. GEHRINGER V( f Bs- J ... ... . ,
STRASBURG - The top selling _ Second high selling animal was
animal at the National Milking Spruce ah RS Aubry EXP.
Shorthorn sale was Wilder Farm onsi ®f/ P°. u ® as
Laurie. She sold for |2,050 to she sold for $1,625 to A-Grand-View
Kingsdale Farm in Onida, IL and Ear™, Strasbiirg.
was consigned by Sam Yoder, D heifer from Class
Shoemakersville. Reunion is due in June to Bettma s
This three-year-old cow was Prom p e - Her dam produce a
sired by the top bull in the breed, recor d of 19,123 pounds of milk
Korncrest Pacesetter. Her dam, with a 4.2 percent test as a six-year
Second highest selling animal at $1,625 was Spruce Hill RS
Aubry EXP. She was consigned by J. Douglas Marsh and
purchased by A Grand View Farm. Chris Young is at the lead.
Wilder Farm Laurie was the top selling animal at the
Milking Shorthorn Sale. She sold for $2,050 to Kingsdale
Farm, Onida, IL. Pictured from left are: Sam Yoder, con
signor; Keith King, of Kingsdale Farm; and Rick Reese on the
halter.
hosts National Milking Shorthorn Convention
and that appears to be pounds not
percentages,” Powell added when
explaining what to consider when
looking at a bull’s proof.
Seiner pointed out that the A.I.
industry is looking for genetic
advancement and needs to know
where the breeder wants to make
these advances. By knowing this
the industry can proceed to select
for these traits.
Cautioning that “there is no such
thiqg as a perfect bull,” Seiner
reminded breeders not to try to
improve too many points with one
mating. This will decrease the
amount of improvement made in
any one area, he noted.
When determining what outside
bull to use, Seiner suggested
considering the economic im
portance of each trait to be
corrected as well as maintaining
breed characteristic.
“We wasted time by not using
outside blood more often in our
breeding,” Rowe said. He also
reminded breeders of the im
portance of maintaining the
breed’s identity.
Rowe suggested that for every
one outside bull that is approved
for use with Milking Shorthorn, a
purebred bull should be added.
“This is our best chance to make
genetic progress and remain
competitive,” Rowe added.
However, he continued, a better
system is needed to evaluate this
progress.
President Harold Krause
reported that the board approved
using a full-time executive
assistant in their new office in
Beloit, WI. This econimic action
also moves the executive
secretary-treasurer to a part-time
position.
This past year the Society also
moved their office into the Brown
Swiss office in Beloit. Here they
will be able to utilize the computer
and perhaps the classifiers of the
Swiss Association.
Krause noted these changes
have aided in returning the society
to a more stable financial
situation.
Fred Slatter from Australia was
honored for his continous efforts to
bring the best blood of the Rlawara
breed into America to strength the
genetic pool of the Milking Shor
thorn.
The 1986 National Milking
Shorthorn Queen crowned at the
banquet was Trudy York from
Maine.
Following the banquet 28 items
from across the country were
auctioned off for a total of $2,566.
This sale featured the Milking
Shorthorn quilt with a cow and four
calves. This quilt was handmade
by Maryjane Stoltzfus and Reba
Yoder from Berks County and sold
for $9OO to Mike and Bobbi Rauch
of Billings MO.
A positive attitude about the
financial and genetic progress of
the Society was present at the
convention. Those in attendance
were assured that the Society is on
the right path to financial stability
and that the breed will survive.
The 1987 convention is set for
Wisconsin.
tops sale
Next in the bidding was Wild
wood Dixie Leah. This bred heifer
sold for $1,200 to Bill Harris of
Illinois. She was consigned by Eldo
Bentley of Minnesota.
The unofficial average on 35 lots
was $922. The 12 bred heifers
averaged $954 and the 13 cows
averaged $1,158.
These averages are down from
what was anticipated since Penn
sylvania would not allow several
animals in from Class C states. It
was the animals that were
prevented from entering the state
that were expected to too the sale.
Executive Secretary Ellsworth
commenting on this development
stated, “Pennsylvania was not
State participation in the buyout 4 fairly low’
Participation in the Milk
Production Termination Program
(MPTP) will be fairly low in
Pennsylvania. Only 418 dairy
farmers, or about 3% of the total
number of dairy farmers, had their
bids accepted by the USDA. The
1985 milk marketings of these 418
farmers was about 271 million
pounds. These farmers will receive
about $42 million for ceasing
production for 5 years and selling
20,614 cows; 7,314 heifers and 5,386
calves. Assessments on Penn
sylvania dairy farmers who
remain in production which will be
used to help pay for the cost of the
MPTP will amount to about $47
million. Thus, at least with respect
to Pennsylvania, the MPTP
program is more than self
supporting. In the Ist period, 265
dairy farmers or 63%, are required
to cease production and sell their
animals by August 31, 1986. They
will sell 12,260 cows; 4,171 heifers
and 3,043 calves which should
reduce milk production in 1986 by
about 158 million pounds. Fifty
nine dairy farmers will sell out in
the 2nd period and 94 will sell out in
the 3rd period both of which will be
in 1987.
The distribution of farmers
entering the MPTP is fairly evenly
spread across the state with-59 of
the 67 counties having at least one
farmer participating in the
iry-
American Milking Shorthorn Society (left), presents the
award for top gaining bull to Robert P. Scott, Homer City, at
the recent national convention. Scott is president of the
Pennsylvania Society.
Day one of the Nationaf Milking Shorthorn Association's
annual convention in Lancaster featured a working steer
demonstration by members of the Franklin County 4-H
Working Steer Club. The club's 14 members, from Far
mington, ME, put this pair of steers through their paces for
those attending Thursday's activities.
reasonable. We guaranteed that all have a bad time in Pennsylvania,”
the animals would pass every test Ellsworth added,
they would require. They were The sale was sponsored and
more intent on enforcing the rules managed by the American Milking
to the letter and would not allow Shorthorn Society. Auctioneer for
these animals in.” the day was Abe Diffenbach,
“Inspite of this, we will come president of New Holland Sales,
back anytime. It’s impossible to
program. Lancaster has the
highest number of farmers en
tering the program with 27.
Susquehanna is second with 23,
followed by Somerset with 22,
Tioga with 21, Erie and Crawford
each with 18 and Wayne with 17.
Chester, Berks, Bucks, York,
Wyoming, Washington and
Franklin counties will each have
from 10 to 15 farmers participating
in the program. Only 4 counties
(Elk, Bucks, Cambria and
Lackawanna) will have a greater
than 10% decrease in the number
of dairy farms. There are 15
counties which will have a
decrease in farm numbers from 5
to 10%. Several of these are among
the largest dairy counties, in terms
of farm numbers, in Pennsylvania.
These are Somerset, Susquehanna,
Wayne and Tioga counties. Since
the participation and subsequent
decrease in farm numbers will be
fairly uniform, the dairy industry
and its service industries should
not suffer greatly from the par
ticipation of Pennsylvania dairy
farmers in the MPTP.
Another important aspect of
participation in the MPTP in
Pennsylvania is the size of herd of
the participants. On average, they
were somewhat smaller than the
state average herd size of 53 cows
at the time they submitted their
bids. This is attested to the fact
that, although almost 3% of
Pennsylvania dairy farms are
participating, they account for
only about 2.8% of Pennsylvania’s
1985 marketings. The herd size of
the 418 participants ranged from 4
to 708 cows. Only 4 farms had herds
with 200 or more cows, 22 farms
had herds which ranged from 100
to 199 cows, 38 farms had herds
which ranged from 75 to 99 cows
and 35 farms had herds which
ranged from 60 t 074 cows.
Another factor, which may prove
to be important to the dairy in
dustry in the future, is how many
of the 418 farmers were financially
stressed. If only a few of all those
under financial stress had bids
accepted, there may be significant
additional decrease in the number
of farmers outside of the MPTP
program because they cannot
handle the continuing cost-price
squeeze in the future. When all the
dust finally settles, the Penn
sylvania dairy industry may be
better off in the future as a result of
the MPTP. Pennsylvania’s lower
level of participation relative to
the rest of the U.S. (except for
Nevada) suggests an underlying
strength in the industry that should
bode well for the Pennsylvania
dairy industry for whatever lies in
the future.