On the Road with Lorna and Willie

Lorna Marshall, AVP of Beef Sire Evaluation and Willie Altenburg, AVP of Beef Genetics have been busy this fall checking out progeny of many of our Genex sires. Here are a few of their observations.

Lornas Notes 

Fall Progeny at Connealy Angus 

1AN01302 WESTERN CUT - These cattle are consistently moderate-framed, above depth of body and rib shape, expressively muscled with excellent eye-appeal.

1AN01226 UPROAR -They are powerful, attractive, three-dimensional and sound with good dispositions. 

1AN01278 DOUBLE VISION - Double Vision adds bone, frame size and serious performance.

1AN01281 EXTRA 0011 - They are long-bodied, strong-topped cattle with added bone. He should be protected on depth of body, rear flank and lower quarter.

Spring Progeny at Connealy Angus

1AN01334 PROTOTYPE - This was a very nice, consistent sire group. They are moderate and big-ribbed with above average muscle. 

  

1AN01299 FORTITUDE - These calves have consistently scored a low 6 for frame. They are long-bodied, attractive, and have above average muscle for the +13 CED he offers. 

  

1AN01242 FULL POWER - As usual, very consistent, balanced trait cattle that are not extreme anywhere but above average everywhere.

Weaned Calves at Schaff Angus Valley

1AN01238 RESOURCE - Calves are consistently good and the full sisters in production are awesome.

1AN01365 RENOWN - A tad more level-hipped and longer-fronted than the RESOURCE progeny. 

1AN01287 WEST RIVER - The calves are very smooth-made, moderate-framed and super sound with lots of body.

1AN01237 ANGUS VALLEY - The daughters are a little bigger-framed, but very angular with gorgeous udders. Protect a little on muscle and base width.

1AN01320 TEN SPEED - The calves had very good performance and nice profile. They are above average for body depth, with a lot of top, hip and quarter.

Willie’s Notes

Fall Simmental Tour

1SM00151 ELEVATE - I saw ELEVATE's dam, with a very nice bull calf at her side, when I visited Lassle Ranch Simmentals in Montana. She is a moderate-framed, big-bodied Dual Focus daughter with a small, tight udder. She appears to hold her flesh very well and looked quite impressive.

1SM00155 NIGHTRIDE - Lassle Ranch also had several NIGHTRIDE calves. The birth weights on heifers are consistently small and other operations are reporting the same, so calving ease appears to be a lock. Calves are very moderate-framed, thick, deep and soft-sided. NIGHTRIDE is a commercially-oriented, calving ease bull.

1SM00150 TRUE JUSTICE - When I visited Bata Bros. Simmentals in North Dakota, I saw TRUE JUSTICE's dam, now a three-year-old. She is a larger-framed, hard-working female with a snug udder, and another strapping bull calf at side. At Genex Dakota Sire Service, TRUE JUSTICE was just coming in stud after a summer out with cows. He has grown up; he's added a bit more frame, but his feet have stayed sound. He has an excellent number profile, backed by 50K.

1SM00113 TANKER - When I visited Christensen Simmentals in South Dakota, they had 100+ TANKER daughters in production. These are easy-fleshing, big-volume females with nice udders and big calves at side. Not only does TANKER make great Simmental females, but he is an excellent choice for use on Angus cows.

1SM00154 IRONHIDE - I visited both Rock Creek Ranch and EBY Ranch in Kansas to see every IRONHIDE calf they have. I did not see one bad calf. While not every calf had a blaze face, every calf I saw was thick, deep and correct. Granted, they are still young as the oldest were yearlings, but they were impressive.

1SM00153 COWBOY CUT - I saw COWBOY CUT progeny at both Triangle J Ranch in Nebraska and Cow Camp Ranch in Kansas. They are very muscular, correct and black, as I see little to no white on the underlines. I would probably protect him on rear flank and use him on deeper cows. He would be a perfect cross on Dream On and Angus cows. COWBOY CUT has an EPD number profile unmatched in the industry today.

1SM00133 BEEF KING - BEEF KING's progeny continue to impress, whether red or black. BEEF KING will add muscle while maintaining structural integrity.

1SM00131 WIDE TRACK - Werning Cattle Company in South Dakota has WIDE TRACK progeny in production, mostly half-bloods, and they really like them. WIDE TRACK is an excellent bull to make purebreds or half-bloods and to add muscle and growth.

10 low cost things you can do TODAY to show your employees your appreciation

I have recently been thinking a lot about what motivates people to do their job and if extrinsic motivation equates to higher job performance. While I am skeptical of if rewards lead to lasting achievement, I can tell you most people appreciate some type of recognition from time-to-time. With lower milk and beef prices this year, some of you may be wondering if you can provide your employees with any type of acknowledgement. I am here to tell you - YES! In fact, I would argue you should try to do some of these small things all year long, not just during this time of traditional holiday giving and thankfulness. Begin to foster a climate of gratitude, and see how great it makes everyone feel, including you.

10 low cost things you can do TODAY to show your employees your appreciation

1. Say Thank You. It seems so obvious, but when was the last time you said thank you for a job well done and provided a few sincere reasons?

2. Food. Depending on the size of your group, take them to lunch or bring doughnuts. It could be as simple as arranging a pot-luck with everyone providing a great dish for a chance to get together with their co-workers.

3. Flexibility. Think about what is going on in their life. Perhaps allowing them to come in a little late to go to a doctor’s appointment or duck-out early to catch their kid’s first pitch is all they have been wishing for.

4. Public Shout-Out. Look for an opportunity to give public praise. Maybe you have a newsletter, or farm/ranch social media account that could be tapped for this purpose. It could be as easy as inserting the compliment into a group conversation.

5. Impromptu Meeting. Schedule a meeting to do nothing but provide praise to each individual employee.

6. Swag. Give whatever your budget allows. Jackets, shirts, hats, water bottles, pens and other farm/ranch logoed items allow your employees to wear/use your company name with pride.

7. Handwritten Note. There is nothing like an old-fashioned note. Is it your employee’s birthday? Did they recently go through a difficult time? Write them a sincere note to show you are thinking about them and care.

8. Caught Doing Great Wall. Create an area or system that encourages employees to recognize their co-workers for going above and beyond.

9. Encourage Giving Back. Organize a food drive for your local pantry. Take an afternoon and help out at the 4-H small animal vaccinations clinic. It doesn’t matter what group you are helping, your community benefits and everyone feels great for the assistance they were able to provide.

2014 ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

10. Give them an extra hand. I know your plate is full, but can you give an hour somewhere to help out on a particularly difficult project or task? Your employee will appreciate the effort you provided. 

Let your milk test do more with KetoMonitor

An AgSource DHI milk test can tell you many things about a cow.  In addition to how much milk, fat and protein she is producing, you can also:

• Measure how healthy her udder is
• Identify which pathogen is the culprit of any udder illness
• Confirm whether or not she is pregnant
• Determine if she has Leukosis or Johne's Disease
• and you can now detect ketosis in your fresh cows! 

Ketosis, a common early-lactation disease in dairy cattle, is characterized by reduced feed intake, lethargy and abnormal licking and chewing. Until now ketosis was typically diagnosed using a blood test. 

Enter the AgSource KetoMonitor™, which has been received with great enthusiasm for several reasons: It’s easy, it’s accurate and it saves a lot of money.

The beauty of KetoMonitor is two-fold. It helps to monitor a very costly disease (Ketosis is estimated to cost $289/cow/case) at the herd level. Without regular blood sampling, 85-90% of subclinical cases of ketosis go undetected. Utilizing test-day milk sample information, KetoMonitor can help dairy producers measure how big the problem is in the herd.  This information is tracked over a period of 12 months, so the impacts of seasons and management changes (like feed and housing) can be evaluated.

The report not only helps manage the herd. It helps manage sick cows. The back side of the report lists all of the cows tested that day suspected to have Ketosis and keeps track of cows due to freshen within the next 90 days that had ketosis in a prior lactation. This is important because the likelihood of them developing ketosis in subsequent lactations is higher. Listing these cows allows them to be more closely monitored as they approach their due date.

To date 204 herds and 114,469 cows are enrolled on KetoMonitor. If you’d like to join them, contact your local DHI manager or call AgSource Customer Service at 800-236-4995. Learn more at www.agsource.com/ketomonitor. Read how Larson Acres, in Evansville, Wisconsin, utilizes KetoMonitor in their herd.  http://www.progressivedairy.com/topics/people/report-uses-milk-tests-to-predict-levels-of-ketosis-in-the-herd

The Full Story Behind W/C Wide Track 694Y

By Jackie Atkins, The American Simmental Association and Lindsay Johnson, Genex

This spring, a high-impact Simmental bull, W/C Wide Track 694Y, was erroneously named a carrier of Contractural Arachnodactyly (CA), also known as fawn calf syndrome. After further investigation, it became clear that Wide Track was in fact free of the defect. What happened to lead to such a monumental mistake? Here is the full story from American Simmental Association (ASA), Genex Cooperative, Inc. and the Werning family.

As part of an effort to screen the most-used bulls in the ASA registry, the ASA in collaboration with Genex, Accelerated Genetics, Select Sires and Allied Genetic Resources, sent in samples on all SimGenetic bulls available through these companies for extended genetic condition testing.  On April 16, 2015, the ASA received results on 249 sires tested for the following conditions:

AM = Arthrogryposis Multiplex, a.k.a. Curly calf (Angus)

DL = Dilutor (Hereford)

IE = Idiopathic Epilepsy (Hereford)

NH = Neuropathic Hydrocephalus, a.k.a. water head (Angus)

OS = Osteopetrosis, a.k.a. Marble bone disease (Red Angus)

PHA = Pulmonary Hypoplasia with Anasarca (Shorthorn and Dexter)

TH = Tibial Hemimelia (Shorthorn)

HY = Hypotrichosis (Hereford)

CA = Contractural Arachnodactyly, a.k.a. Fawn calf (Angus)

DD = Developmental Duplication (Angus)

One bull, W/C WIDE TRACK 694Y (ASA # 2588250), was reported a CA carrier. Dr. Jon Beever conducted further testing on the original sample (two additional tests) and concluded the sample was in fact a carrier of CA. Wide Track had an Angus cow, of unknown pedigree, four generations back in his pedigree making it unlikely, but feasible, that he carried the CA gene. As the dam and sire of Wide Track did not have DNA on file, the Wernings sent in samples for parent verification and CA testing to both Dr. Beever and GeneSeek.   

In the meantime, Genex pulled Wide Track from their lineup. Announcements were sent out from Genex (April 20) and ASA (April 26) to notify their members.

“For those Genex members and customers who had purchased Wide Track semen within the past 24 months, Genex issued a credit for any semen that hadn’t been used,” states Willie Altenburg of Genex Beef Genetics.

During that same time, the Werning family pulled Wide Track from the herd and made the decision to have him put down.

“We don’t believe in using a carrier bull so didn’t see any value in keeping him around,” states Scott Werning, Werning Cattle Company. “We realized there was the potential for him to sire clean calves; however, we didn’t want to be known for propagating the defect. We knew putting him down was the right thing to do.”

On May 6, Dr. Beever notified ASA and Genex that neither of Wide Track’s parents were carriers of CA. This is not possible unless 1) the original CA report was wrong or 2) the parentage was wrong. Dr. Beever isolated a new sample of DNA from Wide Track which tested free of Contractural Arachnodactyly. Dr. Beever then obtained a new straw of semen from Genex and tested that sample. Again, the sample came back CA-free. On May 8, Genex and the ASA announced that Wide Track was indeed CA-free and the original testing was an error. The reported parentage was confirmed with GeneSeek on May 15, 2015. 

“When we learned Wide Track was CA-free, many customers, who had received credit for Wide Track semen, used that credit to purchase more Wide Track semen,” states Altenburg. “That tells you how well our customers like the bull. Today, a limited amount of Wide Track semen is still available from Genex.”

The obvious question is, “Why was the original sample positive?” The simple answer is we still don’t know. All the samples in the same order were retested twice and all came back free so there was not a simple swap. It is unclear how the original sample was contaminated; but, there is no doubt that Wide Track is free of these 10 genetic conditions.  

Ten Signs You May Work for an A.I. Company (and we’re not talking artificial intelligence)

What do you think? Have any to add? Give me your best 10 signs you are a farmer/rancher. I'd love to hear them!

Dairy Synchronization: A Learning Experience - Part 3

By Brooke Schultz, Communications Coordinator, CRI 

After learning about waves and magic, we’ve come to the last part of synchronization (I know, I know – finally). No discussion of synchronization would be complete without talking about Resynch. This is an important aspect of synchronization because not all cows become pregnant at first breeding and require at least one resynchronization to conceive. 

Resynch is applied around a non-pregnancy diagnosis and helps to quickly returns the animal to another timed A.I. Resynch helps to shorten the number of days between inseminations and improve the efficiency and profitability of an operation. There are several dairy Resynch methods to choose from.

Now, how does Resynch shorten the number of days between inseminations? Since not all cows become pregnant after first insemination, this leaves a number of animals open. The earliest time they can be re-inseminated is when they return to heat at around 21 days. Those that do express heat at this point are re-inseminated at the most optimum time (which probably turns out to be the most inconvenient time for you, of course). Here is where the challenge lies, however, because a significant number of cows do not display estrous before pregnancy diagnosis. Thus, an alternative method, Resynch and its series of injections, must be used if you want to reach peak reproductive efficiency.

When properly implemented, Resynch permits timed A.I. to occur as soon as three days after a non-pregnancy diagnosis on all animals confirmed open. Yes, you read that right – three days! This leads to cows being rebred in a timelier manner and shortens span between inseminations. As a result, Resynch improves the efficiency of a reproductive program and thus improves profitability of an operation.

1-2-3
Resynch permits timed A.I. to occur as soon
as 3 days after non-pregnancy diagnosis!

With all that being said, synchronization seems like a no-brainer in many situations. An operation is only as successful as its profitability, and an operation is only as profitable as the quality of its livestock, and the only way a producer can improve the quality of his livestock is by breeding and re-breeding in a timely fashion (and using Genex genetics, of course). 

Dairy Synchronization: A Learning Experience - Part 2

By Brooke Schultz, Communications Coordinator, CRI

Now that we’ve covered the basics of the dairy cattle estrous cycle (even though it doesn’t really seem that basic at all), let’s leap into the next part of synchronization – Ovsynch.

Ovsynch is used on many dairies. It can be an important ingredient to the success of a reproductive program and has helped make many operations more profitable. This is directly related to Ovsynch enabling producers to get cows inseminated in a timelier manner. We all know your time is precious, so even though you’re taking 10 minutes out of your day to read this, you’ll make up for the lost time tenfold with synchronization.

So, on to the nitty gritty of Ovsynch.

Ovsynch was developed in 1995 (wow, that's 20 years ago already) to increase service rates and improve the overall reproductive efficiency of an operation. It allows a cow to be inseminated without observing signs of estrous and is particularly helpful in situations where heat detection is a challenge.

The term Ovsynch is short for ovulation synchronization (bet you never could have guessed that). The process begins with the administration of GnRH (see Graph 1) which causes ovulation and the start of a new follicular wave (back talking about those waves again - I told you they were important!). Prostaglandin (PGF_2α) is given seven days later and brings about regression of the corpus luteum. Two to three days after the prostaglandin shot (time is dependent on the protocol selected), a final injection of GnRH is given which causes ovulation of the follicle contained in the new follicular wave. Ovulation occurs 24 to 32 hours after the second GnRH. 

Therefore, if working with a group of cows enrolled in this protocol, those that respond will experience synchronized ovulation (makes me think of synchronized swimming); they will all ovulate within an eight-hour period. Insemination is completed at a prescribed time and allows semen to be present as the cows are ovulating. This leads to protocol success.

To break it down just a bit simpler for you:

Ovsynch 56 Steps

1. Initial ovulation is caused by the first GnRH shot.

2. The corpus luteum is regressed on day 7 by the prostaglandin shot.

3. The second ovulation is caused by the final GnRH shot given 56 hours after the prostaglandin.

4. Timed A.I. occurs 16 hours after the final GnRH shot.

What tools can help improve
dairy repro? Magic, of course!
If only magic was synonymous
with science ...

Seems simple enough, right? Don’t worry – we’ve still got more to add to the mix. Only for your benefit, of course.

Lo and behold, there’s something you can do to receive even higher conception rates than just using Ovsynch.

Presynch, short for presynchronization, is a series of injections given prior to administration of the Ovsynch protocol. Presynch, when used in conjunction with Ovsynch, can lead to higher conception rates over Ovsynch alone. The result of this combination is a protocol that is longer than the standard 10-day Ovsynch, and therefore is only recommended for use with first service breedings. What is the cause of this improved fertility? Magic, of course! If only magic was synonymous with science ...

In all seriousness, Presynch is a means of synchronizing the cycles of a group of animals. It places the cows between days five and 10 (see Figure 1) of the estrous cycle prior to administering the Ovsynch protocol. The advantage of grouping cows at this stage of the cycle is the high likelihood these animals will ovulate to the first shot of GnRH at the beginning of Ovsynch. This is the key to the increased fertility. Beginning Ovsynch at any other stage in the cycle results in lower rates of ovulation when GnRH is given.

Various studies have shown that Presynch – Ovsynch protocols increase fertility by approximately 7% to 9% over Ovsynch alone! There are a variety of Presynch options available. Those Presynch methods can be used prior to any of the Ovsynch methods shown on the link.

Stay tuned for the final article in this series. You got it - we'll be focusing on resynchronization!