Milk quality: the international dairy language

No matter where they are located or what size farms they have, dairy owners around the world are increasingly speaking the same language: higher milk quality.

This universal translation was never more clear than last week at the 49th annual meeting of NMC (formerly the National Mastitis Council) in Albuquerque, N.M., February 1 to 3. Of the 375 milk producers, veterinarians, scientists, and industry professionals who attended, 20 percent came from over a dozen foreign countries. Of NMC’s total membership, 25 percent is located outside of the U.S.

The event was once again a celebration of superior milk quality. Seminars and presentations from both scientists and dairy owners focused on the technology, biology, and practicality of producing low-somatic-cell-count milk. Speakers came from the U.S., Holland, Great Britain, Mexico, and Canada.



Management excellence on farms was recognized through the presentation of National Dairy Quality Awards to 46 dairies across the U.S., including the seven Platinum Award winners pictured here. Academic excellence was honored in the form of NMC Student Recognition Awards presented to four university students from the U.S., Ireland, and Brazil.

So great has been the international enthusiasm and support for NMC that it is perhaps time to seriously consider changing the “N” part of NMC’s name. We propose either IMC (for International Mastitis Council) or QMC (for Quality Milk Council). And as long as we’re at it, here’s a prediction: We think it’s only a matter of time before the rapidly growing international participation in NMC eventually leads to an annual meeting being held outside of the U.S. The top destination possibilities on our list include Canada, England, Germany, Holland, Brazil, and Argentina.

"Temple Grandin" makes HBO movie debut February 6

Temple Grandin, one of the world's foremost humane livestock handling specialists, is the focus of an HBO movie that debuts on cable television on Saturday, February 6, 2010. Airing time is 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time. We have watched the movie trailer, and, if you are at all concerned about animal handing and agriculture, we think it is a must see. The autism message is also very powerful. To see the trailer, click on the title of the blog. Please note it may take awhile for the trailer to download.

If you happen to watch the movie this weekend, please share your comments and movie review with fellow Hoard's Dairyman readers.

As many of our Hoard's Dairyman readers know, Temple Grandin is a Colorado State University professor of animal science. What you may not know about is Temple Grandin's perseverance and determination to overcome the isolating challenges of autism. The movie stars Golden Globe winner Claire Danes in the lead role wearing Temple's often-seen western-style shirts.

The film chronicles Dr. Grandin’s early autism diagnosis, her turbulent growth and development during her school years, and the enduring support she received from her mother, her aunt, and her science teacher. Undaunted by educational, social, and professional roadblocks, she emerges as a woman with an innate sensitivity and understanding of animal behavior who revolutionized the cattle industry and became an inspiration to persons with autism everywhere.

In her October 10, 1999, Hoard's Dairyman article, Temple cites W.D. Hoard for his animal welfare advocacy. "People have known for a long time that rough handling and stress is detrimental to dairy cattle," wrote Temple. "Over 100 years ago, W.D. Hoard, founder of Hoard’s Dairyman, wrote that people working with dairy cows should have patience and kindness," she noted. "He knew that rough treatment lessened the flow of milk."

"W. D. Hoard’s wisdom has now been proven with science. Scientists have mapped the fear circuits in the brain, and they know how these circuits work," wrote Grandin. "Dairy managers can use this information to train employees on the importance of treating dairy cows with kindness."

To read her entire article, download the PDF in this blog.


Reducing%20fear%20improves%20milk%20production.pdf

If you cannot watch the movie Saturday, other showtimes for the film include: February 6 (11:45 p.m.), 7 (5:45 p.m.), 10 (11:30 a.m., 8:00 p.m.), 14 (10:30 a.m., 12:30 a.m.), 18 (9:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m.), 20 (2:00 p.m.), 22 (3:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m.), and 27 (noon). All times are ET/PT.

What consumers want

Dealing with consumer perceptions of their food, farmers and, more specifically, animal care was the topic of two presentations during the pre-conference symposium at the annual meeting of NMC, formerly the National Mastitis Council.

“Consumers don’t want ‘industrial’ agriculture, but they want cheap food,” said Wes Jamison of Palm Beach Atlantic University. “They support strict regulations on animal care, but they want cheap food.”

Animal care is not a front-of-the mind issue for most consumers, he believes. But they trust farmers to take good care of their animals and are easily activated by the media. However, the activation is short-lived, said Jamison. The negative impressions usually fade within 48 to 72 hours. However, consumers who have seen some negative publicity about animal care are more likely to get worked up again.

“Consumers trust farmers more than they do other industry representatives or advocates,” said Jamison. “But that trust is eroding," due to the negative publicity such as the Westland/Hallmark slaughter plant abuses and the report about animal care on ABC’s Nightline last month.

People view farm animal care through the same prism they view their pets. “That’s a big problem facing animal agriculture,” said Jamison. “Pets are family.” He explained that, in our urban/suburban society, pets are kept indoors and are considered part of the family. Consumers don’t understand why farm animals shouldn’t have the same care and attention.

“Our industry has a lot of economically valid practices for caring for animals, but we have to decide what is socially acceptable and not acceptable,” said Candace Croney at Ohio State University. We have had gestation stalls for sows, crates for veal calves, cages for layers, and even puppy mills. “They all worked economically or they wouldn’t have existed,” she added. “But it has been decided that these are not acceptable.” Jamison had said that profit is not justification for a practice in the eyes of consumers.

“Now we have to look at lameness incidence and tail docking and ask ourselves what’s acceptable and not acceptable,” said Croney. “We also have to look at mastitis and anything else on farms that causes pain and decide what we are going to do about it.”

Self-regulation can work. Programs such as FARM (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) can raise the bar on animal care and give our industry documentation that animal welfare and care issues are being addressed.

Dairy farming is not a spectator sport

Have you ever heard the phrase "politics is not a spectator sport"? Dairy farming isn't either. We're not talking about actually working on the farm or not — rather — standing up for what we as dairy farmers do on a daily basis. It would be easy enough to simply go about our daily chores just as we always have and turn the TV off when the news station lamblasts a hog farm half a world away for what they do. Mark Hardesty, D.V.M., author of the Cowside Practice column in our magazine put it best in his July 2009 column when he paraphrased a well-known poem by Rev. Martin Niemollers.

They came for the mink rancher, and I didn’t object
— for I had no mink
They came for the veal producers, and I didn’t object
— for I fed my calves grain
They came for the egg producers, and I didn’t object
— for I had no hens
They came for the swine farmers, and I didn’t object
— for I had no sows
They came for me, a dairy producer
— and there was no one left to object

Last week, Erin Jones of Homer, N.Y. stood up for the dairy industry by starting a Facebook group called "I support dairy farmers." In just a week, the group grew to over 12,000 members. The group doesn't just consist of dairy industry advocates either; plenty of consumers have joined to show their support,too. Jones said she started the group after her sister became frustrated over an English essay she recently read which criticized dairy farmers. Ironically, that same day was when ABC's Nightline aired an investigation of a New York dairy farm. Jones says that, "I was on Facebook and decided to see if there was a support group for dairy farmers and could not find one, so I decided to create one myself. I never expected for it to grow the way it has." Clearly her support caught on. Our question to you is what are you doing to stand up for dairy farming?

HSUS starts countermeasure in Ohio, Humanewatch.org to be relauched

Shortly after a "win" was made in Ohio for animal agriculture, it now looks like the battle isn't quite won yet. Last fall, Ohioans approved a constitutional amendment that created the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board known to many as Issue 2. The board is to be consisted of family farmers, consumers, the state veterinarian, and others. To find out more about who this board is made of, visit the details of it here.

Just recently announced though, is a countermeasure to Issue 2 spearheaded by groups including (surprise, surprise) the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).The countermeasure aims to set standards (that are HSUS approved) for animals that the animal care board must uphold. While they claim it would force certain minimum standards to be in place, we know that abolishing mainstream animal agriculture is in their long-term plans.

The groups could be bringing this countermeasure to the ballot, too. By collecting 1,700 signatures from 48 counties, the first step has been made. If the language of the countermeasure is approved, their next step will be gathering 402,275 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters in 44 of 88 counties.

The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) is relaunching a website to keep an eye on actions just like this by the wealthy and powerful HSUS. Humanewatch.org will be a blog, document gallery, and more which will be relaunched next week. The site is aiming to expose anything and everything about the group and its actions. Right now, the group has put a call out for information. They are looking for fundraising mailers (including forwarded e-mails), old tax returns, advertisements, magazine back-issues, correspondence, legal papers, photos, contemporaneous accounts of historical events — you name it. Humanewatch.org will authenticate and post relevant information when the site is launched next week. Why do we need this site? CCF says, "because even a dog-watcher needs a watchdog."

Who are the best genetic sources in Holsteins?

For nearly four decades, Penn State's Larry Specht has been evaluating which farms and sires have been the best contributors to genetic progress in the Holstein breed. For his efforts, Specht was named a pioneer by the National Dairy Shrine. The Sire-Son Report ranks a bull based on the average of his son's predicted transmitting ability (PTA) for 11 traits. "The report has long been a valuable educational tool to demonstrate that the bulls with the best daughters are generally those with the best sons," says Penn State's Chad Dechow. "Thought of another way, bulls with the best daughters are also those that are likely to have the best granddaughters," says Dechow. "This seems pretty logical to us now, thanks in large part to Dr. Specht's work, but hasn't always been thought to be the case. There are occasionally those bulls that do not fit the mold and his lists help to identify them."

The Prefix Report is based on a similar concept. "A bull's registration name most often begins with the prefix of the farm that bred him," notes Dechow. "This allows us to summarize the performance of a herd's bulls that have gone to stud. The report has been a valuable tool for buyers of elite genetic stock," says Dechow. "It helps them determine those herds that provide them with the best odds of purchasing a bull or cow that will go on to have outstanding genetic merit.

A recent addition to Specht's work is the Bull-Mother Report. The report is identical to the Sire-Son Report, except that it tracks how well a cow's sons perform once they enter stud.

Only sires and herds with at least 20 sons in A.I. during the past 25 years are considered. Cows are required to have 10 sons to be listed. Genomic selection has added a new wrinkle to genetic selection programs. Currently, only bulls with a progeny test are considered for the lists. However, plans are underway to expand the list to include bulls with genomic-only information.

So, which bull, cow, and farm topped the last list?

Bull: O-Bee Manfred Justice-ET
Cow: Pen-Col Mtoto Dima-ET
Farm: Shadeycrest-H

Vista Grande Farm honored for beef quality commitment

At the annual 2010 Cattle Industry annual convention in San Antonio, Texas, Vista Grande Dairy Farm was recognized for its efforts in improving Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) on its operation while successfully encouraging others around them to implement BQA. This year's BQA award was given to one dairy and one beef producer. The winners were selected based on their commitment to beef quality assurance while operating sustainable cattle operations.

Vista Grande Farm was founded in 1937 by Phoebe Bitler's parents. Phoebe grew up on the registered Holstein farm, and her 4-H project cows paid for her college degree and also helped to build the foundation for the dairy herd that she and her husband, Dave, began in 1977. On January 1, 2010, they began a partnership with their son, Jesse, operating as Vista Grande Farms, LLC and Vista Grande Cattle Co., LLC.

The dairy farm currently consists of 100 registered milking Holstein cows; 23 owned by the Bitlers, and the balance owned by two young men developing their individual herds; they have placed 30 more milking Holsteins in other young farmers' herds, have a dairy replacement business with 150 females, and farm 600 acres, producing feed crops for the livestock. In addition, the family also performs a variety of custom farming operations, facilitates farm-to-farm dairy cattle sales, and Phoebe conducts educational agriculture tours that showcase what family farms have done to remain viable in the industry.

Vista Grande Farm is located in a densely populated county in southeastern Pennsylvania, and one of its "next-door" neighbors is an industry that employs 5,000 persons. The road that travels between the farm buildings is heavily traveled. This creates challenges for cattle and equipment movement but also provides the opportunity to showcase a tidy farmstead, along with clean and well-cared-for animals to the consuming public.

Phoebe and her family have hosted many “Ag in the Classroom” type events for schools, scouts, seniors and farm-city tours. They have also hosted “Breakfast on the Farm” for the Berks County Chamber of Commerce executive board. These types of events provide opportunities to share the truth about modern animal production, dispelling popular animal rights myths. Vista Grande Farm coexists with its community by offering a transparent view of its dairy practices.

Nominator Paul Slayton, Pennsylvania Beef Council executive director, says, “Phoebe believes firmly that they and their cattle are a team; they work in partnership. They also manage their dairy for increased returns on market cows at harvest by reconditioning prior to selling as "white cows." Currently, they are researching the costs and benefits of selling custom bulk freezer packs utilizing BQA labels and the farm logo to accommodate the changing consumer needs and wants. And she provides extensive training to hired labor. She is very deserving of this award.”

The National BQA award winners are selected annually by a committee of representatives from universities, state beef councils, and cattle industry groups.

For more information about the beef checkoff or BQA program, visit www.bqa.org, www.dbqa.org or www.MyBeefCheckoff.com.