A34-L«nc«3ter Farming, Saturday, February 26, 1994
Holstein
Outlined At
EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Managing Editor
PARADISE (Lancaster
Co.) —At a bam meeting on the
farm of Robert and Gary Bowman,
an outline of the new linear classi
fication program from the National
Holstein Association and other
herd book and registration infor
mation were topics of discussion.
Don Cook, classifier, and Clarence
Stauffer, field services, conducted
the meeting sponsored by the Lan
caster County Holstein
Association.
In the linear Classification prog
ram, a classifier from the national
association evaluates each cow for
17 functional traits. Each trait is
given a value, and you can review a
cow’s ratings and identify her
strengths and weaknesses. Because
bulls are now evaluated by similar
means, through classification of
their daughters, a service sire can
be selected to mate for improve
ment of offspring.
Cook explained the various
important traits for which dairy
men should watch. For example, a
cow with too much set to her hock
Joints, a sickle-hocked cow, would
have trouble moving around. Or a
cow with an udder that didn’t have
good fore and rear attachments
may not be suitable for extended
production.
The linear classification results
are used as a benchmark to track
progress from generation to gener
ation. You have more control of the
direction of your breeding program
by using this unbiased means to
measure progress.
In addition to the new scoring
breakdowns, the association has
Owner
Address
Dean Hood Named Chairman Of Ag Satellite Consortium
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre “My role will be to provide lead- clients or those in commercial can be used for multiple purposes, ning or construction phases.
Co.) Dr. Lamartine F. Hood, ership to ensure that AG*SAT sectors.” maximizing our efforts.” Funding for much of the
dean of Penn State’s College of attains its full potential as a provid- Penn State has been heavily Since 1989, the College of Agri- AG*SAT network, which is head-
Agricultural Sciences, has been er of distance education prog- involved in the production and dis- cultural Sciences also has origi- quartered at the' University of
elected chairman of the Agricul- rams,” Hood said. tribution of AG*SAT program- nated nearly 50 cooperative exten- Nebraska-Lincoln, has been pro
tural Satellite Corporation Hood belives the biggest chal- mmg. One of the first two courses sion videoconferences that have vided by telecommunication facil
(AG*S AT), a consortium of nearly lenge facing AG*SAT is develop- offered via AG*SAT, Introductory been distributed by AG*SAT and |(j es g ranls fj o(n U.S. Depart
-50 land-grant universities and gov- ing quality programming on a reg- Food Science, originated from offered at dozens of locations ment 0 f Commerce. Matching
emment agencies. ular basis. “We have to take a Penn State in the spring of 1991. around Pennsylvania and beyond. f un( j s or in-kind services have
AG*SAT was formed in 1989 market approach in creating prog- The course was downlinked and These programs typically include prov ided by member institu
for the production and distribution rams that meet the needs of our offered for credit at six college videotaped portions and interac- and county governments
of distance education program- partners and diverse audiences,” campuses nationwide, and also live sgements when audience
mmg, including undergraduate he said. was used for professional training members can talk directly with
credit courses and cooperative “We need to form alliances with by extension and food industry specialists in the studio via
extension programs. Penn State is other organizations, such as user personnel in two states. telephone,
a charter member, and Hood has groups and private industry. And “AG*SAT allows member uni- In conjunction with AG*SAT,
been a member of the consortium’s we need to utilize a whole range of versities to use each other’s Penn State is installing'satellite
board of directors since its incep- emerging technolgoies to reach courses to fill voids in their curri- dishes at cooperative extension
tion. He previously served as sec- those who can use the information, cula," Hood said. “But as our offices across the state. So far, 15
retary and vice-chairman of the whether they are location-bound Introductory Food Science course downlink sites have been corn
board. students, cooperative extension demonstrated, course materials pleted and 16 more are in the plan-
Programs
Barn Meeting
several participation programs that
allow dairy farmers to classify only
the cows they want to use in their
breeding program.
For example, you may want to
use the “classic” program that clas
sifies all the cows in the herd that
have ever freshened with 36
months. Or you can select the
option to classify “breeder’s
choice” with only special cows to
be classified. Between these possi
bilities are four other programs that
give dairymen a break on classifi
cation costs but meet the needs of
the breeding programs in many dif
ferent herds.
Stauffer told the group that you
can permanently identify your ani
mals over the phone by calling the
toll-free number and giving the
genetic information to the home
office. They will take the informa
tion and print it on the application
that is sent to you for sketches or
photos. If you don’t want to bother
with sketches or photos, the associ
ation allows you to use permanent
type ear tags.
The Qualified Holstein Herd
book also offers those with cows
that have not been registered to
become part of an identified prog
ram. Grade cows with proper iden
tification of genetic background
can now become pan of this sepa
rate herd registry book. In an
attempt to get many of the good
grade cows into a registry program,
a low application fee is in place
until the end of this year. Anyone
interested in any of these programs
can call the National Holstein
Association at 1-800-952-5200 or
contact a local county association
officer or board member.
lalrvman
Holstein
ANIMAL NO
OATS OP SMITH
Regina
10-03
Veronica
10-04
!23U
6-10
Bon Bon
6-08
11717850
Rebecca
5-10
11990933
Lilac
5-10
Suzanne
5-09
Vera
5-00
Margaret
5-00
12313698
Regal
4-07
12495037
Bonnlta
4-06
12615110
Canaen
4-04
Vanessa
12798:
M*r«o
This sample of the barn worksheet given to you for your files at the time of type clas
sification shows the new linearized descriptive traits now used in the registered Hols*
♦eln ewam.
WI 53535
DATE OF
CAL VINO
12,30 B'
1,15
J 24
2,26
Don Cook, classifier for the National Holstein Association, talks with dairymen at
the bam meeting.
BRIDGE
The functional parts of a cow used to describe linear traits are shown on a model of
the true-type Holstein.
Foma
WUMF
CtOt/FCtT
- JDDER
j FORE UDDER ATTACHMENT
KNEE I '
I i
HEEL
SOLE
UDDER
TEATS
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si
its
oC
Si
f!
At SEARCH T WAITS
5
w
I
o
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-)* lIUMf *
f SWITCH
—PASTERN
\hoop
FORE Ul
TEATS
“The growth of AG*SAT is a
relfeciion of the commitment col
leges of agriculture have to all citi
zens,” said Hood. ‘The creative
use of these distance education
technologies will help us fulfill our
land-grant mission into the 21st
century.”
I TAIL HEAD
riN lONES
REAR UDDER
ATTACHMENT
.THIGH
-STIFLE
FLANK
HEAR
UOOEK
HOCK
|DEW CLAW