StrataGEN in practice at Ponderosa Dairy At Ponderosa Dairies in Nevada, cow health and production are very important, both of which are negatively impacted by high levels of inbreeding. In February of 2012, Ponderosa Dairies began using the StrataGEN program to lower inbreeding levels and reverse their effects. StrataGEN categorizes bulls into five color-coded lines through genomic testing to determine their exact genetic profile. Within each line, the sires are closely related, while their genetic relationship with sires in other lines is very low. When matings are made between lines, a large reduction in inbreeding occurs. By rotating the lines every 21 to 24 months, lowering inbreeding in the herd becomes a reality. “StrataGEN is an innovative program that uses a task we do every day, inseminating cows, and captures what stands to be significant health and production improvements,” explains Amanda Arata, the manager at Ponderosa Dairies. “With today’s tight margins, implementation costs for new
programs can be very high, but StrataGEN has a low implementation cost and a high return on investment.” Arata is impressed with the program’s extreme simplicity and ease as well as the low cost. To get started with StrataGEN, Ponderosa had to identify a line to begin with. By analyzing several years of previous sire use they made an assumption that a majority of cows were of a certain line. “We began to breed cows using the line that was farthest from the genetic line we had in our herd,” says Arata. “We have rotated lines every two years.” To identify the line an animal belongs to, they use birth dates. They keep track of what range of birth
dates calves from each line are born. “I believe StrataGEN to be one of the best technologies available to dairies today,” says Arata, summarizing her experience with the program. Ponderosa Dairies was established by Amos DeGroot in 1994 and is now operated by Ted DeGroot. Arata manages all day-to-day decisions, finances, the calf ranch, mill operations, trucking and consultants as well as the farm’s 157 employees. The farm milks 9,250 Holsteins in three rapid-exit herringbone parlors: a double-40, double-30 and double-25. Daily milk production is 75 pounds per cow per day while their Somatic Cell Score is 165,000 and the pregnancy rate runs at 24 percent. More than 2,250 acres are
farmed with some pasture ground and alfalfa, corn, sorghum, barley and triticale being grown on the remaining land. The dairy works on a regular basis with Select Sires MidAmerica sales representative, Dayn Roseborough, and Lyle Kruse of Select Sires Inc., on putting StrataGEN into practice. “We began working with Select Sires three years ago because we were looking for a committed partner in technical training, genetics and reproductive analysis,” explains Arata. “They are an exceptional team and committed to serving us. Select Sires offers innovative technologies and has assisted with reproductive training and enriched cow health by improving feet and legs, udders and reproduction.”
Dayn Roseborough (right), Select Sires MidAmerica sales representative, provides on-farm, handson training for Ponderosa Dairies' in-house technicians and employees.
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