A4O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 21,1986 (Continued from Page Al) a particular export order we provide these local sales representatives with the specifications and ask them for assistance in locating the cattle that meet these various specifications. We also use these sales representatives to help select for the state assocaition sales. Q. It’s always been a problem to have breeders register their animals on time. What in* volvement does the state organization have in getting the animals in the herd book? A. Our involvement in increasing registrations or maintaining registrations is mostly tied to our membership. Right now the state membership is a minimum of $2O with a 45 cent per registered cow in the herd of the member. This gives us the incentive to keep the animals registered and to increase the number of registered animals on farms throughout the state. Also we encourage registrations through our field day club ac tivities and annual meeting. If our members or even a non-member comes to us with a registration problem we get involved with it right away. Q. Can you give us a little ex planation of the index numbers we now see in the official pedigrees of our animals? A. Indexes are important because it provides a measure for the potential of the animal. But there is discussion about whether there is some possibility of af fecting the indexes by management of the herd in terms of herd mates. Maybe there needs to be some changes made in the formulas and we expect to see some changes made. But the in ternational buyers still look at the indexes. Recently we were host to some bull buyers from Japan. And their specifications called for young bulls to be out of cows with at least an 800 index. But when they got here it was difficult to sell a bull out of a cow that had less than a thousand index. The requirements keep going up. And the domestic market must look at the indexes because the foreign markets use them. The main concern is that we must be sure that the formula is correct so that we are all recognizing the best Thousands of Successful Farmers Can't Be Wrong.. LIQUID FERTILIZER WILL INCREASE YOUR YIELDS AND PROFITS! Many Farmers In Lancaster County Enthusiastically Endorse Our Alfalfa Program! < __ ; We Are Known For... ; Service & Performance! ; •June is daily mouth Holstein Assn. Especially Strong In Export brood cows in the industry and breeding from these cows. We will likely see some lively discussion at the national convention the first week of July in Milwaukee on this subject. Q. Can you give us a little more information on how these cow indexes are formulated? A. Basically the index comes from the sire of the cow and the performance of the cow herself in relationship to her herd mates. Q. You mentioned the national convention coming in July. Can you give a little preview of the convention? A. One of the important things for Pennsylvania members is to get Thomas Kelly elected as national director. The desire for Penn sylvania is to have two directors from our state. That certainly is the highlight of the convention for the Pennsylvania delegation. There will also likely be discussion about how to recognize the cow families a little more by giving a little less emphasis on the sires side when dealing with index numbers. Q. Since the Pennsylvania State Association will be 75 years young next year, are you already plan ning some special things to highlight the state convention? A. Yes. The next state convention will be held in the Sheraton in Wilkes Barre on February 25 and 26. We haven’t done a lot of planning yet. But we want to have a place to display some memorabilia of the first 75 years of the Pennsylvania Association. Local clubs can already start thinking toward what they might bring along to the convention in the way of historical things. Of course some of the records of the early years were not kept as well as they have been in the last 25 to 30 years. So we are looking forward to some of the old things that show holstem history. We also will have a ballroom sale as a major activity. And we will be housing the cattle across the street in the parking garage. Q. What would you like to tell the 120,000 readers of Lancaster Farming about your member relations program? A. First of all, we’d like to tell everyone to keep active and in volved. A lot of people right now GRO-MOR PLANT FOOD COMPANY, INC. 281 Farmland Road, Leola, PA 17540 (Lancaster County) 717-656-4166 LIQUID FERTILIZER We At Gro-Mor Plant Food Co., Inc. Salute All The Dairy Industry and Say ‘Thanks" For Providing Us With Wholesome, Nutritious Dairy Products. J?ui e . Con,m 'tted To Helping You, The Farmer, Make maximum Profits' With More Than 20 Years In The Business Our Experience Is Your Gain! are considering whether they should keep on registering all of their cattle, it might look like they can’t afford membership right now. But if they look down the road they will see that to let their registrations go on the young animals will place a handicap on their sales program three or four years from now. Q. Can you elaborate on the dollars and cents aspect of registered animals over non registered animals.? A. The average registered animal is worth $3OO to $4OO more. Our state average for membership fees is about $33 a year. That allows the member to belong to (Turn to Page A 46) INTERCOURSE. PA (717) 768-8231 CALL US L. If Could Be l¥e Have It WE SHIP PARTS DAILY Via UPS-PPSH-BUS-AIR FREIGHT, Etc. Authorized L¥£*?lll UPS Station MIDDLETOWN, DE (302 ) 378-9555 Spray proof AND high performance agricultural ceiling fans. 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