Genetic Marketing Provides Extra Income For Fleetwood Dairyman
Seen here with son Andy, Jim attributes most of his suc
cess to the Rich-Ru Tesk Melinda family of cows he pur
chased from his neighbors Dean and Dale Smith. Good
sound cows with fantastic udders, the Melinda family has
given Jirti the opportunity to market offspring to A.I. com
panies and high pedigree farms all over the world.
Genetic Marketing
Dollars & Sense
Putting a profit value on
genetic marketing is difficult.
According to Ken Raney, ex
ecutive director for the Pennsyl
vania Holstein Association,
profit from one flush can range
from the negative numbers to
significant dollars.
“Embryo transfer work isn’t
always gravy,” said Raney. “If
the cow you’re flushing doesn’t
make anything, you still have all
of the cost wrapped into it. And
you have to try again.”
Embryos resulting from one
flush can range anywhere from
0 to 40. “Most guys hope for at
least four to five embryos per
flush,” said Raney.
Costs involved with flushing
include $l5O per embryo for
flushing, $5O to $lOO for freezing
and transfer work, and around
$lOO for semen costs.
Although Jim claims that there’s luck involved in genetic
marketing, it also requires a lot of skill. According to Jim,
the first step in successfully marketing your cattle is get
ting people to visit your farm.
You can sell an embryo for
anywhere from $l5O to $l,BOO.
A.I. companies contract bulls for
anywhere from $3,500 to $5,000.
“If you have a cow that really
produces, you can get a couple
of embryos to sell, a couple of
heifers, and may get a bull to
contract,” said Raney. “So you
make up your cost and then
some.”
According to Raney, the scope
of the genetic marketing is very
broad. “There are all kinds of
buyers out there,” said Raney.
“Some are buying high index
cows, and some are looking for
the top show cows.”
So, as Jim Younkers said,
genetic marketing takes skill,
knowledge, and a lot of luck.
“And a good cow is defined by
the buyer,” said Raney.
(Continued from Pago At)
they could, but it was up to me
to pay for it and make it work.”
Make it work they did. The
first step was renovating the 30-
cow barn into a 60-cow tie stall
bam. With the help of their par
ents and a neighbor, Tim and
Sue did most of the work on the
bam. After it was set up, they
needed to purchase their herd.
“I purchased my first heifer
when I was 12, so I had a herd of
cows at my dad’s,” said Younk
ers. “But I didn’t want to take
them all out of his herd at the
same time. I let them dry off at
my dad’s and gradually brought
them over here to calve in.”
Instead, Younkers purchased
a 60-cow grade herd from a
neighbor who was selling out. “I
never thought I would buy that
kind of herd,” he said. “But it
was the best thing that ever hap
pened to me. I bought the herd,
which was averaging 22 pounds
a day, for butcher price, doubled
the herd average in two weeks,
and got started at a lot lower
cost than if I would have bought
all registered.”
Although Younkers still has
some of those original grade
cows, his herd is now about 75
percent registered. Most of his
grade cattle carry embryos from
his registered animals.
The herd averages 25,400
pounds of milk with 886 pounds
fat and 825 pounds protein.
With 27 very goods in his herd,
Younkers’ Breed Adjustment
Average is 106.7.
Younkers has capitalized on
that B.A.A. and marketed off
spring from his herd to high
pedigree farms and A.I. compa
nies throughout the United
States and'beyond. He got his
first taste of genetic marketing
while his herd was still at his
dad’s farm.
“We were lucky that we had a
cow --Plushanski Mark Oriya
that did really well for us,” said
Younkers. “It brought a lot of
people to my parents’ farm from
all over the world, including
France, Japan, and England.
That really got me started in the
business.”
Since then, Younkers has pur
chased several other high
pedigreed animals, some that
went on to great success and
others that didn’t turn out. But
it was the Rich-Ru Tesk Mel
inda family that really put Kir
byville Holsteins on the map.
“Six months after I started, I
got my first animals from the
Melinda family,” said Younk
ers. “I started out with six and
then got four more later.”
Younkers acquired the Mel
inda family from Dean and Dale
Smith of Richard Smith and
Bradford County Trends
(Continued from Pago At)
try in 1990, 1995, and 2000 by
number of dairy cows, number
of herds, DHI herd average,
and average herd size.
In 1990: 38,000 cows, 660
herds, 16,459 pounds milk,
and 57.4 cows.
In 1995; 32,000 cows, 520
herds, 18,098 pounds milk,
and 59.6 cows.
In 2000: 30,600 cows, 460
herds, 18,858 pounds milk,
and 66.3 cows.
As you will notice from this
chart, cow numbers and total
herds have shown a continual
decline over the past 10 years.
One interesting trend during
this same 10-year period, or
more accurately, a lack of a
major trend is in herd size.
Yes, average herd size has
Sons. “The bam was tuu, ana
they wanted to sell the cows to
someone who could really
market their potential,” he said.
Today the Melinda family is
internationally known for its ex
cellent udders and good, solid
frames. “I give the Smiths a lot
of credit,” said Younkers. “The
cows were in a commercial free
stall operation. The Smiths reg
istered, tested, and scored the
animals. They definitely had the
cow power there, but not much
was going on in the genetic mar
keting end.”
Acquiring the Melinda family
gave Younkers the opportunity
to merchandise that particular
family, as well as the rest of his
herd. “I never really counted on
creating such a marketing inter
est with her,” said Younkers. “I
was just hoping to make a little
money off of her.”
Since the Melinda family
came to Kirbyville, Younkers
has sold more than 100 embryos
and has exported them around
the world. Although he has had
success with other animals in his
herd, the Melinda family has
really overshadowed anything
else he’s had.
People from all over the world
have come to visit Kirbyville
Holsteins to see the high pedi
gree animals in the Younkers
herd. In fact, the Prime Minister
of Denmark was at the farm last
year while on a tour of the area.
“We didn’t realize it was that
big of deal until we saw the
Reading Eagle and other people
covering the event,” said
Younkers.
A member of the Berks
County Holstein Club board,
Younkers is very active in the
marketing arena. “I’m always
studying* genettts,” he said.
“But success in marketing de
) pends a lot on the luck of having
the right cows at the right time.”
Over the years, Younkers has
purchased different animals just
to bring traffic into his farm.
“The main thing in marketing is
to get people to your farm,” he
said. “If they don’t see the cows,
they’re not going to buy them.”
He also advertises his herd
through Holstein World and
Pennsylvania Profiles. He is a
regular consigner at Holstein
sales throughout the state.
“Word of month is probably
my best seller,” said Younkers.
“Enough people have seen my
cows, so we merchandise a lot of
animals privately.”
According to his wife, Susan,
who helps milk the cows, Jim
spends most of his evenings
talking on the phone. In Decem
ber 1999, Susan quit her full
time job as a secretary for GPU
Electric to heln full-time on the
grown, but not at as drastic a
rate as we have seen in other
major dairy areas of the coun
try.
What are the major trends
and changes that are occurring
in today’s Bradford County
Dairy Industry? As I see them,
they are as follows:
✓ A new accelerated move
by some dairy farm operators
toward major expansions (150-
600 cows).
✓ A move by some dairy
farm operators toward a grass
based (intensive pasture man
agement) system of feeding
dairy cows and heifers.
✓ A move by some dairy
farm operators toward special
ization (especially contract
heifer raising and contract
forage harvesting).
farm ana raise their two chil
dren, Andy, 5, and Joel, 2.
“Most nights Jim comes in
from the barn and gets on the
telephone talking to different
people about his cows,” said
Susan.
“You don’t get any dumber
by talking to them,” said Jim.
“People need to know who you
are and where you are to buy
your cattle.”
According to Younkers, the
dollar value of genetics varies
from year to year. “It’s a cash
flow business,” he said. “IPs
great when your milk check is
low. A bull check really helps
carry things along.”
But, for Younkers, genetics
isn’t all profit. “There’s a lot of
expense in embryo transfer
work,” he said. “If you can’t sell
the embryos or bulls, it probably
doesn’t pay because it'is so ex
pensive.”
One way Younkers keeps cost
down is by transferring his own
embryos. “Bill Pettit from Huff
& Puff Embryos does my flush
ing, and he taught me how to do
transfers,” said Jim. “It isn’t a
whole lot different from breed
ing cows.”
Younkers doesn’t flush any
animals that he doesn’t have a
contract on. “If you can’t sell
the embryos, it’s not worth the
cost.”
He claims that successful
genetic marketing has a lot to do
with luck, skill, knowledge, and
knowing when to let a good cow
go.
“Somebody once told me that
the last thing you want to do is
be the owner of a cow when she
dies,” said Younkers. “You
have to price her reasonably be
cause the next guy only wants to
btiy if he thinks he can maki
trioney off of her.”
Although- genetic marketing
does add extra to his bottom
line, Younkers still depends
most on his milk check. “Milk is
my number one source of
income - it’s what I base every
thing else off of.
“ET marketing gives me a
little extra that I can use to do'
stuff on my farm,” he said. “But
if you have to start using ET
profits to supplement the milk
check, then you wonder if it is
really worth it.
"We’ve been really fortunate
here,” said Younkers. “I owe a
lot of credit to a lot of different
people. My parents have been
really supportive. I use my dad’s
equipment to farm our land,
which helps cut costs. And my
mom helps milk in the morn
ings. We feel really lucky to be
able to live the life we’ve always
wanted.
✓ A move by some dairy
farm operators to partially use
all of the trends listed above;
increasing herd size slowly, use
some specialized contracting,
and adjusting their feeding
systems toward the use of
Total Mixed Rations and/or
utilizing pastures to maximize
dry matter opportunities.
Because ot the large amount
of reasonably priced farm
land, potential grazing land,
and large acreage to spread
manure and be in compliance
with Nutrient Management
Act guidelines, Bradford
County will continue to be a
major dairy area in Pennsylva
nia with at least the potential
of growth in tomorrow’s dairy
industry.