A3O-UncMter Farming, Saturday, April 8,1989
BY KARL BERGER
Special Correspondent
SAN FRANCISCO, CA A
controversial proposal to allow
grade Holsteins into the herdbook
of the nationwide Holstein Asso
ciation has been dealt another
setback.
The association’s 16-membcr
board of directors, meeting in San
Francisco March 29-April 1, vot
ed not to introduce a proposed
bylaws change at the upcoming
national convention that - if
approved by delegates there --
would have paved the way for
some grade Holsteins to gain
registered status.
Although the decision doesn’t
rule out absolutely the possibility
of voting on such a bylaws change
in Minneapolis, Minn., June 27-28
-- individual members can prop
ose their own bylaws amendments
for consideration at the conven
tion - it makes it highly unlikely,
according to Zane Akins, the asso
ciation’s executive secretary.
Nothing short of a bylaws change
will bring such animals into die
herdbook, Alans said.
However, a number of Holstein
leaders say the setback does not
spell the end of such efforts. They
expect the association eventually
will approve some means for
grade Holsteins to become regis
tered, a move that advocates say
will increase participation in asso
ciation activities and increase the
pool of elite cows and bulls used
for genetic advancement.
“It’s going to come. If it doesn’t
come in 1989, it’ll be 1990 or
1991,” Nelson Gardner, a director
from Bridgewater, Va.. said
recently, noting the increasing
market worldwide for embryos
and semen from grade cattle.
The vote against introducing it
at this year’s convention is the
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Holstein Directors Vote Against By-law
Advance Grade-Up Plan
Changes To
second defeat the “National Iden
tification Program,” as Holstein
officials have dubbed the grade-up
proposal, has suffered since it
emerged from a director
appointed committee in late 1987.
Delegates to the 1988 convention
in San Diego defeated the initial
proposal of the Holstein Identifi
cation Task Force in a close vote,
126 to 116. The task force subse
quently revised the plan to address
some of the shortcomings per
ceived by its critics.
As outlined to members attend
ing the recent series of Winter
Forum meetings the association
conducts each year, the revised
grade-up process still would
involve four main steps. Like the
similar “genetic recovery” prog
rams already in place in the Jersey
and Guernsey associations, the
Holstein plan would start with a
grade cow that is manifestly Hols
tein in appearance. This founda
tion cow would have to be proper
ly identified and - in contrast to
the previous version - be sired by
a registered Holstein.
Female offspring of this cow, if
sired by a registered Holstein,
would be eligible for provisional
registration under Step 2 and their
offspring, with similar criteria,
under Step 3. Female offspring
from registered sires and Step 3
dams would qualify for Step 4
registration, the first to include
provisional status in the herdbook.
Such animals would have to be
enrolled in the association’s clas
sification program and, as cows,
in the official Dairy Herd
Improvement testing program.
These animals would carry a
“QE” designation -- for qualified
entry - in the herdbook.
Finally, all male and female
offspring of these QE cows would
be eligible for registration in the
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herdbook, although they and their
descendants would continue to
carry the QE suffix. This stipula
tion marks another change from
the proposal voted on in San
Diego, which would have dropped
the suffix in subsequent
generations.
The revised plan also calls for
slightly greater fees than the ear
lier version proposed. If adopted,
the basic cost for an association
member to register a Step 4 animal
would be $43 if all the animals
being registered in each of the
steps were young calves and $l6l
if each of the animals were cows.
As before. Only Step 4 animals
would be required to be alive at
the time registration is sought The
new, proposal also contains more
detail about identification and
blood testing requirements as well
as various other related issues.
Nonetheless, the revised plan
has run into much the same oppos
ition that its predecessor faced. At
the Winter Forum in Culpeper,
Va., March 8-9, Marlin Hoff, a
breeder from New Windsor, Md.,
said he objects to the lack of a live
animal requirement until Step 4,
arguing that this makes it too easy
for a cow jockey to manipulate the
process and for breeders to catch
up lapsed registrations.
“I don’t think we should make it
possible for people to stop regis
tering and keep their own records
on these cows and allow them to
catch it up as easily as this
would,” Hoff said.
Denny Remsburg, another
Maryland member, said, “The
dead animal thing is a quick fix for
people who want to be in the
registered business immediately.”
Both Remsburg and Hoff said the
process would discriminate
against faithful registered
breeders.
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At the Winter Forum in State
College, Pa., the following week,
participants voted against pro
ceeding with the grade-up propos
al in its current form and. in a clos
er tally, against proceeding with
the plan if the animals so regis
tered are identified in a separate
herdbook. The idea of a separate
herdbook for QE animals emerged
from the Winter Forum in Wis
consin, where a majority of the
participants were opposed to the
proposal in its current form.
It was this kind of opposition
that dictated the directors’ deci
sion in San Francisco, Akins said.
Surveys at the 14 Winter Forum
meetings held across the country
indicated that only 51 percent of
those voting supported going
ahead with the grade-up proposal.
The directors “didn’t feel that was
sufficient support,” Akins said.
Before that meeting, John
Cope, a director from Grantham,
Pa., said, “The real struggle of the
directors is the fact that it’s such
an even count of people with
Parasite Testing Program Offered
EPHRATA (Lancaster) The
Easter Lancaster County Adult
Farmer progam will offer a free
parasite testing program on Mon
day, April 17, and Tuesday,. April
18.
Any farmer in the area is invited
to bring up to four samples of feces
from beef and dairy cattle, horses,
swine, sheep, or goats to one of six
collection sites. The samples will
be collected between 8:00 a.m. and
10:00 p.m. both days at the follow
ing locations: Brecknock Elemen
tary School, Caernarvon Elemen
tary School, Blue Ball Elementary
School, Summit Valley Elemen-
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strong stands one way or the other.
We still seem to be in a state of
polarization on this issue and what
we’re striving for is some way to
have the two sides come together
on a give-and-take basis.”
The directors’ decision does not
mean the end of the identification
task force, which will continue to
meet to discuss the related issue of
a uniform animal numbering sys
tem. according to Akins. He rad
other Holstein leaden said they
think it likely some form of a
grade-up program will be imple
mented eventually.
One association insider who
asked not to be identified said that
,it’s mainly the high profile mem
bers. those who attend Winter For
um meetings and go as delegates
to the national convention, that are
in opposition. The rank and file
membership support the concept
three to one, he said.
“Just about everybody would
say it’s inevitable,” Akins said.
“It’s a matter of when and in what
form.”
tary School, Aaron Groff’s Farm
Store, and Aaron Shirk’s Animal
Health Store.
The samples should be collected
fresh in clean containers that can
be tightly closed such as plastic
bags, freezer containers, or small
jars. Each sample should be care
fully labeled with your name and
address as well as the type of
animal.
This testing is done by Hoechst-
Roussel Agri-Vet Co. in their
Sommerville.'NJ., laboratory and
results will be mailed to you.
For further information, call
717/354-4525.
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