Holstein Cattle Embryo’s

Pala Family News Flash

Golden Spike has consigned a Sept 08 Goldwyn daughter from Durham Paoli.
Here is a link to Paoli. www.holsteinworld.com/EvansAcres/
Paoli is eligible for GMD. This family are real egg makers!!!
The Goldwyn will sell Mar. 7 Turlock CA Giltex Stampede II, hosted by Gilbert Teixeira Family, Great Northern Land & Cattle Co., Inc., mgr.
Here is the Great Northern link for a Catalogue: www.greatnorthernsalesarena.com/

Please call Eric Evans 801-430-2738 for more info. He is a partner in Golden Spike.

Wendell Mickelsen
President
Golden Spike Genetics

What can you do to get the most milk out of your cows?

This is an age old question that many salesmen seem to have the answer to!
Feed this or do that they all say.
For decades now the A. I. Industry has pushed high milk or net merit bulls.
If you use +1000 pound milk bulls for 10 generations, do you end up with 10,000 pound of milk over the dairymen that used bulls that were 0 for milk and +2.00 for type?

A wise dairymen who was successful at putting successful bulls into AI Studs, showing Holsteins, and an ALL-Time ALL American
committee member taught the following:

1. The #1 index for milk is not in the bull proofs.
Answer: the thing that causes more milk is for a cow to have a calf.

2. The #2 index for milk is not in the bull proofs.
Answer: the second best flow of milk comes when a cow starts lactation after her 3rd calf.

With all the technology of Genomic testing, sexed semen, improved plant genetics, synchronizations programs, computers to balance rations and many more new tools; why do we have horrible success in getting cows pregnant and getting cows to finish 3 lactations?

Wendell Mickelsen

Genomic bulls are now availible.
The January 2009 sire summaries are now in and the major US bull studs are marketing semen through this Genomic tool.

I was told tonight that some Genomic tested youngsires are retailing for as high as $18 US.

I read that Canada will start selling Genomic tested bulls in April. Is that correct?

Will dairymen be willing to pay that high of price for Genomic tested youngsires?
The dairy economy is really hurting. I visited several dairyies in the Boise Idaho area over the past 3 days. They all expressed concerns about how long they can stay in businness with the low milk prices and high input costs.
They also said that they had been using a lot of sexed semen and cannot afford it now.
This may not have been the best time to launch the Genomic tested genetics?

Wendell

With the new technology, there will be a lot of questions in breeder’s minds. I see this genomic issue as similar to the time that A.I first started.
Many thought that because egg yolk was used as an extender for the semen that you could get a chicken born rather than a calf!!!

Because I asked a lot of questions about Genomic testing in my previous blog, I thought I might find an article to answer some of those questions and concerns.

I found an article from Holstein USA written by a very well respected geneticist,
“Dr. Ole Meland – Vice President of Genetics, Accelerated Genetics”

Please read his article form this link,
www.agteamdirect.com/htm/news/whatisgenomicsOle.html

Is Genomic Testing of dairy cattle sending the industry down the right path?
There is a lot of controversy out there!!
Is it going to narrow the genetic base even more than it is? I would say yes. The breeds have been narrowed a lot in the past 30-40 years as the genetic pool became a world wide market.
Now the genomic testing will narrow the cow side of the genetic base more than the bulls ever were.

The value of a lot of great cow lines will drop to a value of grade/commercial cows. A few cow lines will have even greater value to the A.I. companies but will they be willing to pay double the price for the young sires they purchase or lease?

Should the dairymen hold out on selling/leasing the young sire from these superior genomic tested cows or cow families until they are able to get the premium purchase price or lease?

This all starts to happen in the January 2009 sire summary.

Is it time for the old effort of the “Breeders Majority” type movement to return?

Who should run the demands of the genetics of the world? Dairymen or the Major Bull Studs?

It is a time to think and make a stand!!!

Braedale Goldwyn is the first bull in Holstein history to be the Premier Sire of the show at World Dairy Expo (2008) and be ranked in the top 10 TPI.

Then he dies. What a subtle way to end a great career.

Congratulations to Braedale Goldwyn and all who have bred, developed, and used this great sire.

Wendell Mickelsen

This week 2 cows were flushed to Braedale Goldwyn. One was to fill an embryo order to Europe.
That flush had 18 un-fertilzed eggs. The donor cows was Windy-Knoll-View Posey. She is an Ex Integrity daughter of Windy-Knoll-View Pala.

Another flush to Braedale Goldwyn had 3 of 15 eggs fertilized.