Celebrating National Beef Month: Meet Andy Anderson

By Jenny Hanson, CRI

Beef cattle production is a strong part of the agricultural industry within the U.S. and throughout the world. From farmers and ranchers to processors, thousands of people play an integral role in the journey of beef from field to market. Also among those thousands of people are your Genex beef representatives. As we celebrate National Beef Month here on our blog as well as on Facebook and Twitter, I’d like to introduce you to several of our beef staff members. Today, let’s meet Andy Anderson of Emmett, Idaho.

Andy, what’s your background in the beef industry? I’ve been breeding cows for about 35 years. I got involved with the beef program at another A.I. stud in 1999 and came to Genex with the acquisition of that program in 2003. I worked as a Genex area beef representative (now called independent contractor) until 2006 and then came on board full time as a beef team leader. Today, I work with Genex independent contractors throughout Idaho, Utah and Nevada, supporting them as they serve Genex members and customers. I also organize teams for large breeding projects.

What would you tell someone considering Genex genetics and chute-side service? I feel we have the best beef lineup of the A.I. studs. We also have some of the best beef teams in the industry. We have people that know cattle both from the science sense and the cow sense. We have a variety of bulls with good, balanced numbers. Even more, our team members not only sell semen but can go in and breed cows. We provide chute-side service not only in small herds but also in large ones, breeding anywhere from 300 to 1,000 head or more. We also have the logistics – breeding barns and such – to get those breeding projects done efficiently.

Who’s your favorite Genex sire and why? Personally, my favorite bull would be 1AN01117 Connealy THUNDER, though with slow production he isn’t as readily available this year. I like Thunder because he works in so many different types of environments and in so many different herds. He sires cattle that are easy fleshing with great udders, good disposition and adequate growth. Mainly, he produces functional cattle.

Why are you ag proud? I am ag proud because I love working with cows and with other people who love their cows. Beef producers really care about the welfare of their cattle, and they always strive to improve their herd through each generation. Also, they always strive to best serve the end user, the consumer. The beef industry is a good industry to be involved in - with some of the best people in the world!

Thanks for joining Genex in celebrating National Beef Month. Watch for more beef facts, contests and features on our social media channels throughout the month!

It took a “Push,” but I’m sold!

By Brad Johnson, Genex

"I am confident Push works, and it
helped these two calves get up
and going" - Brad Johnson

My wife, Lindsay, and I have a small herd of Angus and Red Angus cows outside of Shawano, Wisconsin. Lindsay works in CRI Public Relations, and I am part of the Genex Beef Genetics division. Earlier this year, Lindsay brought home two tubes of Push™, a new protein and energy paste for calves that Genex is marketing within the U.S. Her mission was to get a photo of me giving a tube of Push to one of our calves for the upcoming advertising campaign of this new product. “No problem,” I told her.

We calve our heifers in February and the cows primarily in March and April. February in northeast Wisconsin is cold and snowy while March and April are cold, wet and muddy; neither time is ideal, that’s for sure. In fact, Lindsay has occasionally threatened to find a more patient A.I. technician so we can calve when it’s warmer! We build a few temporary calving pens in a pole shed and rotate cows in and pairs out. It works okay as long as we’re prepared.

This year Heifer #351 decided to calve outside on a cold, windy January day, about 10 days early! Upon noticing the newborn, I quickly shuffled the new pair to the shed, snapped on a CRI Calf Coat and began my normal new calf processing routine. I remembered the tube of Push stowed in the back pocket of my coveralls, so I gave it to the calf. Either it was too cold and windy for the photographer or two young kids were occupying her time, but we didn’t get a photo taken. In short order the calf was up and nursing and showing great vigor, so I felt pretty confident I’d gotten to the new calf in good time. About two weeks later, the calf’s ear tag fell completely out as her ears continued to get shorter and shorter from the frostbite she’d suffered. It was then I finally realized how much stress the calf had experienced. One tube of Push left. 

Heifer #312 spent several nights in the calving shed because the vet called her A.I. bred, but it soon became apparent she must have been bull bred. She was the last heifer to calve. I was tiring of 2:00 a.m. checks, so I was glad to see when she started calving at 10:00 p.m. I went back inside with intentions of giving her two hours. After the two hours it was clear I’d be assisting this delivery. Long story short, #312 delivered an 87 lb. bull calf with moderate help. Not the worst pull ever but stressful for the calf nonetheless. While Junior, the newborn calf, laid there sprawled out not doing much of anything, I again thought of the Push tube in my back pocket. He looked like a calf that could use a pick-me-up. Should I text the sleeping photographer to wake up, get dressed and come out into the cold to take our picture? What would any sane husband do? I opted to let Lindsay sleep. Fast forward 10 minutes and the calf was up drinking happily, thanks in large part to that tube of Push. I consider Junior a great advertisement for Push and for using proven A.I. sires on your heifers! Zero tubes of Push left. 

The next morning I called and ordered a box of Push. While these two examples aren’t the most difficult calving experiences I’ve ever seen, I am confident Push works, and it helped these two calves get up and going. The cost of a box of Push seems worth it, especially with $2.50+/lb. feeder calf prices and record sales of seedstock cattle.

I’m going to make sure I’ve always got a tube of Push in my back pocket when calving season rolls around. Now if we could just get that darn picture taken…

Freezin' For A Reason!

Mornings like this make me happy I have an office job!

But alas, sometimes I have to put on my big-girl boots and take the cold like a farm girl, especially if I wanted to see what our Dairy Regional Account Managers (DRAM) do on a daily basis.

I arrived at Genex DRAM, Derek Kolpack’s house for an early morning departure on his route to a few of his north eastern Wisconsin farms. I quickly discovered there is not a typical day, but I got a great look into some of what our Genex representatives have to offer dairy farmers. We made a couple of stops at potential customer's farms and spent time with Reproductive Program Senior Technician, Jeff Jahnke, in addition to doing a lot of observation and note taking.

The day made me take a step back, (literally-I had to step back a few times in the free stall barns to prevent a minor wardrobe malfunction!) and think about dairy farming as a whole.

Today's farmers are required to wear so many hats

First and foremost - they are an optimist!

Then they are scientists, veterinarians, accountants, truck drivers, nutritionists, general farm laborers and the list goes on...

Reasons for a farm's success or failure can be just as varied as the jobs a farmer must take on: feed quality, housing, animal health, environmental factors including weather, a particular cow's disposition, the humans the cattle encounter, soil conditions, and (insert your farm variables here).

Since the margin of error has become so narrow on today's farms many, if not most, farmers rely on a host of outside individuals to provide knowledge and expertise for their operation.

Genex recognized the need for farmers to have trained cattle reproductive experts available and expanded their lineup of staff. We not only offer individuals to breed cows and provide advice on which sires to use, we offer services such as: 

• Visual heat detection
• Chalk-and-walk heat detection
• Synchronization protocol management
• EAZI-BREED™ CIDR® management
• Artificial Insemination
• Breeding data input and analysis
• Reproductive consulting services
• Herd benchmarking
• Corrective dairy mating through MAP

all with the intention of helping farmers reach their farm's goals.

After today, I am confident the only hat you need to wear when talking about cattle reproduction and genetics is a Genex one (if it is anything like today's temperature, I would recommend it being a warm fuzzy one too!). Let our staff deal with the constant change, worry, hassle and confusion of the industry, you can worry about the weather!
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Author Brenda Brady is our Communications Specialist.  Brenda graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a degree in Agricultural Education.  She went on to teach high school agriculture for 13 years. Brenda grew up on a small Registered Holstein farm in central Wisconsin and now farms with her husband and in-laws.

The Results Are In!

We tested; we waited, and the results are here! So now what? How can we utilize the data reported from our very first DHI milk test? 

Since we already knew milk weights on test day, the item of immediate interest to me on the Sample Day and Lactation Report is Somatic Cell Count (SCC). SCC is composed primarily of leukocytes, or white blood cells, that are produced by the cow’s immune system to fight an inflammation in the mammary gland, or mastitis. Leukocytes increase as mammary system inflammation worsens, so a higher SCC indicates a higher level of bacterial infection. Because mastitis is tricky, it may be clinical (showing visible signs of infection) or subclinical (showing no visible signs of infection). Obviously the subclinical variety is what I am looking to the test to help me find for a couple of reasons. First, I want our cows to be healthy and comfortable. I can not treat what I can not see or do not know about. And then there are things called regulations and premiums. On the federal level, Grade A milk can not be sold with a SCC of over 750,000 cells/mL. While we are not in danger of that, it is always something dairy producers keep in the back of their mind. What we are excited about is most milk plants (including ours) will offer a premium for extremely low SCC levels as low SCC equals higher quality milk.

Of course, I am also interested in other data such as Fat and Protein percents on individual cows, days in milk (DIM) and reproduction status. All of these numbers, in combination with SCC, can assist in breeding and culling decisions in the future. In addition, I also look forward to the day, now that my Husband and In-laws know about it, that we can utilize breeding dates to conduct milk pregnancy tests! 

Woohoo - since it took me a while to publish this post, we tested again, and I convinced them to try the pregnancy tests on two of the cows we were wondering about. Two cows confirmed PG!! That was super simple, no extra work for us or the cows. You can bet we are doing that again. Look out AgSource, our 40 cows are going to set you right over the edge - you may have to hire another lab assistant for all of our samples! ;)

On the herd level, a Herd Summary report is generated and was also in the envelope. While the Milk Production section it is not too exciting on our current report with only one test date to plot on the charts and graphs, I look forward to seeing where we have been and where we are headed in terms of average test day milk, fat and protein, rolling herd average and peak milk trends. It is also interesting to see where we are as compared to the breed average. The back side is the Reproduction and Genetics section, along with the Inventory section. Data such as conception rates, service and pregnancy rates, DIM at first breeding and herd inventory is all available in easy to read, color-coded graphs.

Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what reports can be generated and data gleaned from the milk samples and reproductive data we supplied AgSource Cooperative Services. For a full listing of their DHI services, check out their website.

While our herd certainly has a way to go to get to my goals for it in terms of milk production and quality, we now have concrete numbers to base our decisions on. While it make take a little extra time milking on test day and scouring through the numbers, to me it is time well spent!
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Author Brenda Brady is our Communications Specialist.  Brenda graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a degree in Agricultural Education.  She went on to teach high school agriculture for 13 years. Brenda grew up on a small Registered Holstein farm in central Wisconsin and now farms with her husband and in-laws.

Eight Fabulous Reasons to Attend Your Genex Membership Appreciation Meeting

Last week I attended my first ever Genex Membership Appreciation Meeting. It was great getting to talk with so many dairy producers from northeastern Wisconsin. If you are a Genex member, ask your representative when and where your closest meeting is. You won’t regret going, I didn’t!

Eight Fabulous Reasons to Attend Your Genex Membership Appreciation Meeting

1)Door prizes

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2)      Real conversations with beings other than cows

3)      Access to the newest flyers, sire summaries, calendars and other printed materials

4)      Receive inside information into the state of YOUR cooperative

5)      It’s a chance to get to town and away from the farm for a few hours

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6)  Amazing food

7)      Learn about the latest and greatest products available from Genex

8)      Because it’s free!

What is your favorite reason for attending a Genex Membership Appreciation Meeting?

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      Author Brenda Brady is our Communications Specialist.  Brenda graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a degree in Agricultural Education.  She went on to teach high school agriculture for 13 years. Brenda grew up on a small Registered Holstein farm in central Wisconsin and now farms with her husband and in-laws.

Cramming for the Test-Bringing Milk Weight and Component Testing to My Farm

It was time. Time for our ladies to get TESTED, and it wasn’t going to be a true/false or multiple choice kind of test. Sure they were a little nervous at first, but the test anxiety quickly wore off, and the work began. Now with it over, all they can do is sit back, relax and wait for the results.

Okay, so it may not have been that kind of test, and our herd of dairy cows may not have felt any stress whatsoever, but it was an exciting day for me, as our dairy completed our first unsupervised (owner sampler) test. I had been talking about this day for about seven years, since I first became a part of the farm with my Husband and In-laws. Sampling milk from cows was not new to me. I grew up on a farm that was on what we called official test or supervised test, (See more about the DHI service options at http://agsource.crinet.com/page479/DHIServiceOptions) but it was certainly a foreign concept to my farm by marriage. 

I was excited. Did I say I was excited? Maybe I should tell you this also qualified in my book as a date night! My husband set up a babysitter to watch our 3 and 5 year old, I donned my best barn attire, and across the yard I went to meet with our DHI Field Technician, Patty. She unloaded the meters, hoses, test bottles, clipboard and data sheets. We hooked the meters up to our milkers, got out a waste milk bucket and improvised a table. 

It was time to start milking. Patty stayed with us for the first five cows or so, providing great advice on making sure the meters hung straight, how to read weights accurately and mixing the samples before putting a small amount in the sample bottle. 

Then we were on our own. Well, not really, she made sure we had her phone number, so we could call or text if we had any problems.

The rest of the milking went along flawlessly. My Mother-in-law had worried our cows would be afraid of the meters or lick them to the point of breaking, but our ladies didn't even seem to notice the extra apparatus hanging from the pulsation line. 

It was enlightening to see how much milk the cows were giving and kind of fun cheering on the pet cow, willing her to give just a little more.

I am not really sure why I didn't push a little harder to encourage testing on our farm. A little research on the topic revealed this gem from the AgSource website, “Just comparing average non-DHI production to the average AgSource member's production shows AgSource members gross over $1,000 per cow more annually than non-DHI producers through higher levels of productivity and superior milk quality.” You can bet I will be sharing that fact with everyone this evening!

Perhaps it was the small size of our herd that made us think milk testing wasn’t necessary for us, but it can certainly benefit farms of all sizes. We thought we had an idea about how well each and every one of our ladies was producing, but now there are no questions. Plus, we will receive all kinds of additional information including somatic cell count, butterfat and protein. In addition, reproductive information will be conveniently located on the reports to assist us in culling and breeding decisions. What’s even more ideal is test results can be sent via mail, email or fax. Or with a little additional set-up can be uploaded for use in on-farm software programs. AgSource also recently released MyAgSource, an online database and benchmarking program that gives a producer access to all of the report options that they offer via the internet.  This program allows the user to benchmark their herd against peer herds, sort and filter data, and have access anywhere they get internet access, instead of, or in addition to traditional paper reports.

Stay tuned for my next post on receiving and interpreting our results! – My Father-in-law may not admit it, but he was the first one to ask me last night when we would get them in the mail!
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Author Brenda Brady is our Communications Specialist.  Brenda graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a degree in Agricultural Education.  She went on to teach high school agriculture for 13 years. Brenda grew up on a small Registered Holstein farm in central Wisconsin and now farms with her husband and in-laws.

Beef Sire Fertility Rankings - Now a Reality!

Very near the top of the wish list of most cattleman that I have talked to the last couple of years has been fertility rankings on beef bulls.  I am thrilled to tell you that it is no longer a dream, but a REALITY!  On Monday, December 15th, Genex released the industry's first beef sire fertility ranking model and data collection process.

PregCheck is not a check or stars system, it is real numbers based on real AI breedings and their subsequent pregnancy checks.  For a bull to reach a 70% reliability it takes about 500 breedings!  For a list of bulls that currently have PregCheck rankings click here.  There is also a Q&A to help answer all your questions about this state of art sire selection tool.

The 2015 Genex Beef Genetic Management Guide will be in your mailbox in about a month.  Included in it will be the PregCheck rankings for all the bulls that are currently at least 70% reliability.  As we move into the spring we will continue to update our website and future print publications with updates on PregCheck and new bulls that receive a ranking.

Genex is pleased to be your profit partner by helping you create Profits through Pregnancies with PregCheck!

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Author, Sarah Thorson, is our Beef Education Specialist. Sarah grew up in Eastern Montana on her family's ranch. She is a graduate of Montana State University and has been a member of the Genex team since 2004. Sarah works closely with the Genex Beef Marketing Staff, providing training to the cooperative's nearly 200 Independent Contractors. She also provides Artificial Insemination training for Genex members and customers and reproductive consulting.