National Holstein Leaders Report Growth

1,500 Gather in Water-Logged Wisconsin for Annual Convention

Marilyn Hershey
Correspondent

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. — More than 1,500 dairy producers, youth and Holstein Association delegates registered for the 123rd National Holstein Convention here at the Kalahari Resort June 23 to 26. The week’s events included youth contests, farm tours, cow sales, and the annual meeting for Holstein Association USA.

The Wisconsin Dells is a popular summer vacation area with several water parks and recreational activities centering around Lake Delton. During the week of June 9, water levels exceeded a 500 year history, flooded miles of farmland across the state, and breeched the land between Lake Delton and the Wisconsin River, draining the lake into the fast-flowing river.

More than 15 inches of rain fell across Wisconsin closing highways, flooding fields, and spreading devastation. The roads and interstates leading to the convention site were opened just days before the National Holstein Convention and the farm tours, cattle sales, and other outside activities were held as expected.

The annual meeting was called to order on Wednesday June 25 with 115 Holstein Association delegates that represented 38 states. President Doug Maddox and CEO John M. Meyer were present for the State of the Association address. CEO Meyer reported growth in the association over the past five years, with 2007 bringing a “15 percent increase over 2006 in registered animals.” The year also brought increases in classification, TriStar enrollment, and National FAIR. National FAIR is the world’s largest animal database, which includes an excess of 5 million animals.

Two bylaws were proposed to amend and the delegates turned both down. The first, proposed by Maddox, would allow more members the opportunity to serve as delegates by counting years delegates are elected, whether or not they served, toward their three consecutive years of eligibility and increasing from one to two years the time period before they are again eligible to be elected. Some of the delegates present felt that this would limit representation from the smaller states.

The second proposed bylaw was proposed to restrict AI organizations from changing the common names of their sires. However, this would not restrict the organization from changing the short name, which could result in confusion because many bulls would have common names that are different than their NAAB (National Association of Animal Breeders) short names.

The meeting included comments from eight members that were running for director positions. In Region 2, Jim Burdette of Mercersburg, Pa. ran unopposed for his position.

Re-elected to their second three-year term were Ron Fuhrmann of Indiana (Region 3) and Kate Geppert of Missouri (Region 7). Elected to their first three-year term were Burdette in Region 2 and Boyd Schaufelberger of Illinois (At-Large).

Two board members are retiring this year, John Bierbaum of Minnesota and Jay Houser of Pennsylvania. Both directors served for 6 years. Houser shared his continued support of youth programs and contests that continue to implant “passion for the industry in the hearts of our young people.”

A highlight for the delegates was taking a break in the meetings for a panel discussion on the “Future of the Dairy Industry from a Young Holstein Breeder’s Perspective.” The panelists, young producers from across the country, shared how they got started, unique points of their operation, their management philosophies, and why they are optimistic about the future of the dairy industry.

The annual cattle sale drew the largest crowd in the history of the convention on Tuesday, June 24, 2008. More than 2,000 people gathered at Heatherstone Holsteins, Baraboo, Wis. for the annual event, which averaged $12,785 on 86 lots. The animals were sold to 11 different states and two countries. Top of the sale was Dutches Advent Divine-ET for $62,000. This 2007 All-American senior 2-year-old was consigned by Rick Frozene and John Steinhoff and was purchased by Brooks Buchholz and Rick and Linda Frozene.

A second sale, The Futures Edition was held on Wednesday evening at the Kalahari Resort. This video sale of mostly embryo transfer consignments had an average of over $10,000 on nearly 40 consignments.

National awards were presented during the Banquet on Thursday, June 26, Distinguished Young Breeders Award, Elite Breeder, and Distinguished Leadership Award. The evening concluded by the announcement of the six National Distinguished Junior Member Finalists.

Mark and Angie Ulness, Valders, Wis. were the recipients of the Distinguished Young Holstein Breeder Award. 2008 marked the 20th anniversary of the award. Mark and Angie milk 85 Registered Holsteins twice a day with a herd average of 27,714 pounds of milk, 1,069 fat, and 892 protein. The young couple focuses on building strong cow families, cow comfort, and nutrition. In their herd are 14 Excellent, 29 Very Good, six Gold Medal Dams, and six with lifetime records over 200,000 pounds of milk.

The 2008 Distinguished Leadership Award went to Richard Coyne, Coyne Farms of Avon, N.Y. With his “unselfish and outstanding leadership” Coyne has been a visionary in his local community. His involvement and direction in the land preservation program has been “leading the way to better the industry.”

Max Herzog, Sleepy Hollow Dairy, Petaluma; Calif. was the recipient of the Elite Breeder Award. This Holstein Hall of Fame winner has bred 150 Gold Medal Dams, 77 Dams of Merit, and 173 Excellent cows. For four years he led the nation in Gold Medal Dams. Herzog shared the history of his farm; he started by farming 1,000 acres by hand with 150 workhorses. His involvement in FFA, his passion for dairy farming, and his family’s support were all-important factors in the development of Sleepy Hollow Dairy.