A32-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 26, 2003
Woods Totals $3,905 At FFA Livestock Sale
Shippensburg FFA member Matt Adams, right, sells his
1,110 pound grand champion market steer to Bill Camp
bell from Moss’s Steak and Seahouse for $2,000.
Cumberland Valley FFA member Sherissa Brammer,
center, holds her 71-pound grand champion market goat.
Bill Campbell from Hoss’s Steak and Seahouse, left,
bought the animal and Cheryl Cook presented the award.
Pa. Cattlemen’s, Angus Associations Gather At Cyagra/Em Tran
CHARLENE M. SHUPP
Special Correspondent
ELIZABETHTOWN (Lancas
ter Co.) More than 275 beef
cattle producers gathered at the
Em Tran Facility in Eliza
bethtown, Lancaster County, to
get an insight to the latest genetic
tools and technologies at the 2003
Pa. Cattlemen’s Association and
Pa. Angus Association Field Day.
Alejandro Cantarelli, CEO of
Cyagra, Em Tran’s parent com
pany, welcomed everyone to Em
Tran by saying, “You (the visi
tors) make this day special. We
are excited to have everyone here
today and to introduce you to
what we are doing today. This
company has been in existence in
excess of 20 years. (Recently, Cy
agra) has been redefined as a bio
technology company, in anticipa
tion of the future.”
Visitors were able to tour the
Em Tran facility and several
cows in the Em Tran Embryo
Transfer (ET) program and the
newest additions, cloned calves
bom at the farm.
The keynote speaker, during
the noon program, was Don
Coover of SEK Genetics. He
spoke about his experiences with
cloning from a breeder and pro
ducer perspective.'
►>VaV’
Coover, remarked that cloning
is a tool that can be useful to gain
increased genetic impact from
beef cattle. A breeder of club
calves, he notes that one chal
lenge is the quick turn around in
the club calf industry, noting that
“by the time you identify animals
of importance, it’s too late.”
He said cloning will help ge
netics reach their full impact that
otherwise would be lost.
Cyagra has successfully cloned
five bulls of Coover’s popular
club calf sire, “Full Flush” and is
waiting for approval by FDA to
market their semen. His decision
to clone this popular bull came
after demand for semen of Full
Flush exceeded the production.
Although a large investment is
needed to begin the process to
clone a calf, cloning provides a
great marketing opportunity for
a breeder.
Coover said, “If you have a
great animal, you can sell the an
imal and still have the genetics.”
Cloning is still in its early
stages, which Coover compares
to the early days of artificial in
semination, and like this genetic
counterpart, its impact is yet to
be realized.
“This is a powerful technolo
gy,” said Coover, who is also a
veterinarian. “We are on the
NICKI LEFEVER
Special Correspondent
SHIPPENSBURG (Cumber
land Co.) Mike Woods runs
from pen to pen. The humidity
makes his blond hair drip sweat.
Woods, a member of Cumber
land Valley FFA, escorted seven
animals into the auction ring at
the 24th Annual Robert L. Fin
kenbinder FFA Livestock Sale at
the Shippensburg Community
Fair July 22.
His varied group of livestock
from The Myers Family Dairy
Farm, Mechanicsburg, included
the grand champion market
lamb, grand champion dairy beef
steer, and a pair of grand cham
pion market hogs.
“This was a very good year
and a lot of fun,” he said. “The
judges were very impressed with
my dairy beef steer and said it
was ahead of the rest.”
Woods’ 1,300-pound dairy
steer, Pedro, sold for $1,075. His
129-pound market lamb sold to
Bill Leib of Leib Southdowns and
John Warner of Warner Painting
for $5OO.
He also sold a Dorset market
lamb for $325; a 1,275 pound re
serve champion light-heavy
weight dairy beef steer. Bullet,
for $950; a champion light weight
market goat, Belle, for $275; a
market goat, Pepper, for $220;
and a grand champion pair of
market hogs for $560.
This is the third year showing
market animals at the FFA sale
for the 17-year-old Cumberland
Valley Senior and his seventh
showing dairy steers.
“I grew up on my grandpar
ents’ dairy farm with the animals
and that has been my job,” he
said.
His grandparents, Barb and
George Myers, own Myers Fami
ly Farm, a 60-head, 150 acre
dairy farm in Mechaniscburg.
Woods said his future plans in
clude an ag education degree
from Penn State University and
raising meat goats on the side.
Woods was among 26 FFA
members from Big Sring, Cum
berland Valley and Shippensburg
to show 92 heads of livestock and
bring in $38,812. Average prices
for youth livestock at the sale
were: beef, $956; market lambs,
threshold of a biotechnology rev
olution. In 30 years, you will not
be able to recognize the beef in
dustry. It will be totally differ
ent.”
The use of cloning in animal
agriculture is still in review by
FDA. While the final decision on
the use of cloning is not decided.
Coover remains excited at the
potential for its use in the future.
In addition to the keynote ad
dress and tour, seminars were
held at different locations at Em
Tran. Jena Melot of NRCS
talked about the stream bank
fencing project recently com
pleted at Em Tran and other
conservation programs available
to beef producers to maintain an
environmentally sound opera
tion.
Paul Tauer of Heat Watch, a
cattle heat detection program,
talked about ways to improve re
productive efficiency with com
puter technology.
Cyagra staff also expanded
Coover’s topic with sessions on
the use of improved methods to
program cows for breeding and
Em Tran’s embryo flushing and
sexing programs. They also had a
seminar taking visitors step by
step through the genetic preser
vation and cloning process.
Mike Woods, right, sold his 129-pound grand champion
market lamb to John Warner of Warner Painting, left, and
Bill Leib of Leib Southdowns, center, for $5OO.
From left, Pam McNew and Wayne Craig Sr., bought
Jen Weaver’s 245-pound grand champion market hog.
Cheryl Cook presents the Shippensburg FFA member
with her award.
$258; market hogs, $347; and Woods said,
goats $248. Even though he raises goats
A " . . and would like to continue, he
Goats are the second most said he never tried goat meat,
consumed red meat next to beef,” “I’d like to try it,” he said.
Alejandro CantarelH, CEO of Cyagra, Inc. stands with a
pair of clone calves at the 2003 field day.