(ContfnuMl from Pag* Al)
members.
Some of the issues during the
day-long fourm ranged from die
continuing challenge of identifica
tion of registered animals to call
ing for a return to annotating on
pedigrees that a sire was rated as a
Gold Medal sire in his day.
The open forums are held annu
ally prim' to the national conven
tion so that directors, delegates and
members can begin the process of
building consensus on issues that
affect the industry.
For the purpose of facilitating
discussions, attendees are given a
booklet with a suggested agenda,
though groups are invited to create
their own agenda, according to
what other issues and information
members consider to be important
The issues in the booklet were
animal identification, goals of
Held representatives and how they
should coordinate promotional
efforts, a review of association
finances and expenditures, several
proposed bylaws changes, changes
in the rules of the National Dairy
Herd Improvement Association,
changes in the herd’s Redbook,
semen from foriegn-owned bulls
and registration of offspring, an
upcoming pilot program (A-Value
Program) that is to give cow family
traits some comparative values,
the existing herd classification
programs and average scores since
switching from a four-category
rating system to a five-category
system, among some others topics
for review.
When the convention business
meetings get underway, some of
these issues are expected to be vot
ed upon, while others are expected
to receive more attention and
discussion.
Overall, according to discussion
Thursday, the association is appa
rently doing well financially,
although there has been some
delay in getting a new main com
puter installed. The old mainframe
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Members generally agreed that
the gist of rules changes proposed
by National DHIA which is to
put the onus of determining the
accuracy of individual producer
records on the user of those
records, instead of DHIA will
work, and that, while more discus
sion is necessary, breeders ought
to be allowed to be more flexible in
testing procedures.
The buyer-beware thinking also
seemed to continue into discus
sions of whether or not the associa
tion should support a five-year
wait before changing the predicted
transmitting abilities of sires based
on new daughter information.
According to statements from
several in attendance, most of the
world’s breeding organizations
use a five-year interval before
recalculating the values. Canada
and some others use an annual
updating method, called a tolling
base, which changes the values
annually.
It was said Thursday that prior
to the 1980 s, a rolling base was
used, but breeders complained
about losing value on a heifer calf
even before she was bom because
the rating of the sire decreased
after 12 months.
Though not demonstrating a
strong commitment to either, those
attending the Harrisburg forum
seemed to consider that both types
of base reporting requires more
educational efforts to members.
Steve Berland, Holstein Associ
ation’s director of type evalua
tions, presented a review of the dif
ferent breakdown system for clas
sifying animals.
As a result of a survey that was
done about client satisfaction with
the new classification system, Ber
land said that the majority of peo
ple surveyed understood the new
program (56 percent), while 31
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percent said they didn ’ t understand
it very well.
While the percentages that Bor
land reported, using cells and an
overhead projector, differed
slightly from those included in the
forum topic guide, they were with
in a few points of each other.
The survey further showed that
69 percent found their classifier
helpful in explaining the new sys
tem, and that most people found
information material distributed
by Holstein Association USA Inc.
helpful, while the majority thought
the new system beneficial to them
as breeders.
What the change has attempted
to do is to remove more subjectivi
ty in classification and eliminate
some of the “unwanted” ratings.
Previously there were a seemingly
Dairylea To Sponsor
Young Farmer Seminar
SYRACUSE. N.Y. Recog
nizing that today’s young fanners
will provide the dairy industry with
direction and leadership well into
the next century, Dairylea Cooper
ative Inc. is sponsoring an informa
tional seminar for members ages
20-40.
On Feb. 25 and 26, more than
100 Dairylea young fanners will
gather at the Holiday Inn in Syra
cuse, N.Y., to hear about issues
pertinent to farm operations and the
dairy industry. Breakout sessions
will be held on herd health and
comfort, manure/nutrient manage
ment, and family farm transition.
“Knowledge is a key factor in
building leadership. Dairylea is
committed to keeping our young
members up to date on farming and
industry matters,” said Mark
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198.2
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A
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incongruously large number of
85-point cattle, compared to
84-points, and a lot of 90s com
pared to 89s.
According to Borland, the new
system using five number-valued
trait categories has helped arrive at
better scores because the classifier
doesn’t know what the final score
will be until he enters the final
category score.
Berland also showed a series of
charts of average scores of cattle
classified and it seemed to reflect
dairy breeder selection trends, he
said.
A number of other items were
discussed, such as the possible
positive aspects of “set” classify
ing versus official classifications.
Set classifying refers to the prac
Kenville, Dairylea Director of
member relations and communica
tions. ‘There also is immense ben
efit in bringing together young
farmers who have similar experi
ences, challenges and goals.
Through interaction, many partici
pants return home from our semi
nar with new approaches and ideas
for their farm operations.”
A highlight of the two-day
annual seminar will be a choice of
tours for the Young Farmers to
attend. These tours will include the
New York State Farm Show in
Syracuse, N.Y.; the H.P. Hood
Manufacturing Plant in Oneida,
N.Y.; and Oakwood Dairy, a large,
modem farm operation in Auburn,
N.Y.
The seminar also will include
guest speaker Judy Gifford of the
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dee of an artificial insemination
group paying to have classifica
tions done of daughters of its
young sire program.
Some said that some commer
cial dairymen and breeders may
think that classifying only through
the set-system may be enough for
his herd, and it may discourage
them from participation in official
classification, while others said
that classifying through the set
system gives the Holstein Associa
tion an opportunity to promote the
organization and its benefits face
to-face.
For more information on some
of the issues to come up at the con
vention. contact a local Holstein
association club member, the state
association, or the national
association.
National Milk Producers Federa
tion, who will inform the partici
pants on “New Developments in
Washington.”
In addition, the Young Farmers
will hear from Dairylea Chief
Executive Officer Rick Smith, who
will address the Cooperative’s
progress and Us outlook for the
future, while a Dairylea and indus
try update will be given -'by
Dairylea President Clyde Ruther
ford.
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