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I wonder how many more dairy farms we would have today if more guys worried as much about their cows as they do the banker? That's not holstein, dhia, USDA, big ai's, etc.fault. That's your problem. Bankers are bad. Divorce attorneys are worse. I stay away from both.

Wisconsin breeeder. I have heard this story for 60 years. How is that the Holstein Assoc fault?.If they offered their services to you for FREE ..you say even then they are not good enough. Maybe you should find another kind of work..thousands have.

Ron Things are not OK. With the lack of cash flow over the last five (5) years and the debt level dairyman are caring. The first question from the bankers is how are you going to lower cost. Holstein. How has Holstein lower costs so they can pass these cost on to the breeders example do we need three (3) field reps. in Wisconsin. Delete classification because of cost and it is now a PR program. The range of scores is to narrow good cows to low and bad cows to high I see cow that at 70 points and should be 50 points. DHIA still test to get SCC and level of components fat and protein. Dairy and Beef Check Off we do not get a return on our investment the board of these organization do not have the guts to bring it to referendum because it would get voted down. AI coops using our money to breed the own bull competing the breeders. Dairy Market for Surplus Cattle. The market place is the commercial dairyman and they want good cattle at a cheap price. Dairy Show. The train has stopped and it will be hard to start it up again. Participation in shows cost too much money and there is a limited number of buyers for show cattle and these value have dropped over the last few years. Before virus heard Expo lost one of its big sponsors. The dairy industry is not OK.

Things are going along OK. The only problem is that dairymen did not get enough credit for the production and type info they PAID for... when BIG AI took control of Genomics. Big deal..they threw some old, 20 cent per dose(taxable value) semen into the pot to produce the initial database...that was produced by taxpayer funded USDA/AIPL. Now of the members of CDCB, AI calls the shots. The concern about the future is less interest in ACTUAL production and ACTUAL classification on the top +3000 TPI sires. Flush those calves and beef them. TWO gen. of unproven animals on both sides of the pedigree.....will yield less reliable info in the future.

Tony, I agree with you. Hindsight is 20/20 and if anyone in this world would have known 20 years ago what we know now, we all would have done some things differently. It's always super easy for people to say "I woulda done this or that"....then run for whatever respective board you're complaining about and try to contribute.

Wisconsin breeder get the car key out of your ear. If it hadn't been for the associations of these breeds we wouldn't be where we are now. Good or bad. What information they gleaned from our records over the years has been paid back in spades. As far as holstein thinking outside the box, those guys are looking way farther down the line than this dumb hillbilly. John Meyer has some to do with that. There are some damn sharp people on that board. Now and in the past.

National Director. It will not matter breed assoc. have out lived there use. When we started dairying in the 50 years ago as breeders we should had an agreement with DHIA & Holstein Assoc. if they used OUR information we should have got paid for it. Today we only reg. potential show animals and high genomic animals. If we miss one we update reg. papers after they freshen. The rest of herd is just ID because the paper adds no value. If the Holstein board would think outside the box (when the last time they did that) they would buy DairyComp because when you go to the bank they want to see herd charts etc. off DairyComp information because they is no financial information off a Holstein pedigree.

I have 900 grade jerseys in milk and have some registered Guernseys and registered ayrshrires for 4h projects. I think the Guernsey and Ayrshire asssociations are already working together but still promoting thier breeeds when breeders should be doing that. There was a sale in Ohio with both breeds this spring and the people having the sale promoted the good ones and they sold well. The Ayrshire and Guernsey breeds don't have that ability or any money to do it. A lot of the resistance to consolidation is the office personnel wanting to keep their jobs, which is reasonable, and the officers wanting to keep their offices, which is human nature. Almost all of the full time dairies have Jerseys or Holsteins, with procross in our area.

Its inevitable. I hate to see it. Zane Akins banked a ton of money for holstein years ago. First time I was in Brattleboro was in 1984? Parking lot was full. Offices were full. People everywhere. Second time, part of the building was rented out. Third time you could throw a cat through the place and not hit anything. Breed identity/individuality needs to be respected no matter what happens.

It has already happened.The only one making money is the US Holstein Assoc. Then only because the have a great CEO. Before him they also lost money EVERY year!

It will NEED to happen in the next few years, maybe sooner. And I have sat on a board in the past. I know there will be pushback because all breeds say their breed is the best.

Absolutely!

I don't see how breed associations can have enough numbers to continue even as a show ring group. Also your Cows and markets story is the very first one I've seen about the beyond meat burger being stopped at Mcdonalds. This was in the news just yesterday.

Yes in the future breeds will consolidate or at the minimum share staff and resources. We will have to do it to remain viable. Things are changing whether we like it or not. RIP Ron