Holstein Association USA Board Convenes In Dubuque
The Holstein Association USA board of directors met June 24-25, 2014 in Dubuque, Iowa. President Glen Brown chaired the board meeting held during the 129th National Holstein Convention and Annual Meeting at the Grand River Center in downtown Dubuque. The board honored retiring Directors Jim Burdette of Pennsylvania and Boyd Schaufelberger of Illinois. Both were formally acknowledged for their contributions and service to the Association during a recognition dinner on June 25th.
Update on 2014 Business Plan
During the board meeting, staff presented updates on the 2014 Management-by-Objective Business Plan and year-to-date financials. Reporting on activity through the end of May, 290,893 animals and 1,832 herds were enrolled in Holstein COMPLETE®. While herd enrollments remain similar to the same time last year, the number of animals has increased 5 percent.
Staff announced the completion of a business plan objective that created a new Elite Performer Award, which is based solely on a cow's actual performance and conformation. This new, permanent award honors long-living, productive U.S. Registered Holstein® cows and, similar to the Dam of MeritSM and Gold Medal DamSM recognitions, this award will appear on Official Holstein PedigreesTM. Names of the 400 National Elite PerformersTM and 402 Regional Elite PerformersTM were unveiled during the annual meeting on June 27th. More information will be available soon in the upcoming issue of the Holstein Pulse, and on the Holstein Association USA web site.
The board heard an update on the Association-funded and directed research project that began last year. This unique research is intended to find haplotypes of long-lived, high producing Holstein females that are associated with their valuable and unique phenotypes. There is much interest about this ongoing project because it is the first time the Association has done research on genomics focusing on the cow side.
2014 Financial Update
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Barbara Casna presented the Association's consolidated financial statements through the end of May, 2014 and reviewed the reserve fund report for the same period. The Association and its subsidiaries show year-to-date net operating income of $526,000.
AgriTech Analytics (ATA)
AgriTech Analytics (ATA) General Manager Bill VerBoort reported the dairy records processing center continues to grow its business in more states. Through the end of May, 905,054 animal records were processed, representing a 4.4 percent increase in the number of cows enrolled.
Other Board Action
The board again reviewed the upcoming base and formula changes that are planned for the Association's TPI® (Total Performance Index) formula. The recommendations for the changes had been approved previously by the board at its March 2014 meeting in Vermont. The updated TPI formula will be implemented with the December 2014 evaluation.
President Brown presided over the reorganization meeting of the board on June 28th. The board welcomed returning Directors Roy Buessing of Axtell, Kansas and Mike Jones of Marshall, Ind., along with incoming Directors John Burket of East Freedom, Pa. and Dale Drendel of Hampshire, Ill. Each will serve a three-year term.
7.2.2014