American Gelbvieh Junior Association Board of Directors Elected at AGJA Great Dakota Classic

The election of the American Gelbvieh Junior Association (AGJA) board of directors was held at the 2023 AGJA Great Dakota Classic in July 2023. AGJA members elected five candidates to serve a two-year term.

The AGJA board of directors is comprised of nine AGJA members. Directors serve two-year terms and are eligible to serve two full terms. Directors must be 16 but may have not yet reached their 20th birthday as of January 1 of the election year.

On the 2023-2024 board, we welcome Lincoln Martin, son of Eric and Holli Martin, Bucklin, Kansas. Re-elect- ed for their second term includes Jaycie Forbes, daughter of Troy and Pam Forbes, De Smet, South Dakota; Lily Judd, daughter of Nick and Ginger Judd, Pomona, Kansas; Sadie Morris, daughter of Jason and Susan Morris, Batesville, Mississippi; and Jaylea Pope, daughter of Jeff and Jeanna Pope, Ravenna, Nebraska.

The board spends time following the election of directors to elect an executive committee to serve in leadership positions for the 20232024 year. Jaycie Forbes, was elected president. Gentry Warner, daughter of Dan and Kate Warner, and the late Kasey Jo Warner, Arap- ahoe, Nebraska, will serve as vice president. Lily Judd will serve as vice president of leadership development.

Drew Stock, son of Mark and Stacy Stock, Waukon, Iowa, was elected to serve as treasurer. Isabel Lowe, daughter of Raymond and Melissa Lowe, Adrian, Missouri, was elected secretary. Retiring board members of the 2022-2023 AGJA board of directors included Rachelle Anderson, daughter of Robert and Charlotte Anderson, Jamestown, Kansas; as well as Madalynn Welsh, daughter of Brian and Gina Welsh, Franklin, Nebraska. We thank them both for their service and commitment to the AGJA and its membears during their time served on the AGJA board of directors.

BY BARRY DENTON

Veterinarians in New York started seeing a bizarre condition affecting Holstein calves on two different dairy farms. It is now known as, “calf recumbency”.

Normally a new born calf would stand on its legs and start feeding from its mother within a few hours of birth. Come to find out, these calves never could stand and would die within six weeks as a result.

The vets had the calves necropsied, but there was never anything wrong. The veterinarians then sent samples to renowned geneticist Chad Dechow at Penn State where he serves as associate professor of dairy cattle genetics.

In a short time Mr. Dechow learned of another similar situation on a Holstein dairy in Florida. The herd managers in Florida also sent samples to Dechow’s lab at Penn State.

The lab determined that 18 of the calves affected carried two copies of a region on chromosome 16. The researchers also found out that a common sire was present for the lineages on both sides of the 18 calves.

That particular sire had a very prolific son born in 2010 that is now one of the most popular sires in the Holstein industry. It was mentioned in the article that artificial insemination may have played a role.

For a more in depth look at this situation Mr. Dechow published his findings in the November 2022 issue of, JDS Communications, which is the official journal of the American Dairy Science Association.

It is truly fascinating how they tracked this down and the very simple way that they came up with to prevent it in the future. It would be of great interest to anyone in the cattle business and I urge you to look it up and read it.

On a different subject it is very popular to be a “victim” in today’s society. I got to thinking about it and decided that we cowboys, horseshoers, and veterinarians are also “victims” and are owed reparations by the rest of the taxpayers.

Now as absurd as this may sound we all had ancestors that should be held responsible for getting us into this mess. I bet you have talked to cowboys who had relatives that drove cattle from Texas to Dodge City or even to Montana.

You know darn well that many of today’s experienced horseshoers learned their trade from their father or grandfather. When I was a boy there were plenty of veterinarians that were unlicensed healers that helped horses and cattle get well.

The next generation was made to attend veterinary college and become licensed veterinarians. If you came from any one of those three different backgrounds you simply had no choice, but to continue along the same path.

For instance, you have seen the children of doctors become engineers, artists, politicians, preachers, etc. Many were able to go on and excel in whatever profession they chose.

Anyone that has grown up in the horse and cattle business knows that they are not afforded the other options. It simply boils down to having no choice. Cowboys, horseshoers, and veterinarians are all slaves to helping animals, therefore it’s my ancestors fault and I want reparations now!

Please send your checks quickly as we are a dying breed and prefer to spend your money as soon as possible. ▫