The Top 15 of 2015 – The most read articles of 2015 :: The Bullvine - The Dairy Information You Want To Know When You Need It

While we always try to be as forward thinking as we possible can, it’s at this time we take a look back. Once again we had a record year with the largest number of visitors in the dairy industry. While our innovative show coverage this year certainly attracted record setting visits with the top 10 viewed shows all receiving more views than the 2014 World Dairy Expo Holstein Show, here are the top 15 articles (non show results) from the past year.

#15 – Used Car Salesman, Ducks, and the Future of the Dairy Cattle Breeding Industry
If it quacks like a duck, looks like a duck and walks like a duck.…it is usually a goose. That is how I sometimes feel when I attend certain elite dairy cattle auctions. You attend some of these high-end auctions, and you see the top prices that some of these animals sell for, and you can’t help but be amazed. But, something just doesn’t feel right. You never see a complete buyers list from these sales. Heck, you sometimes don’t even see people actually bidding on these animals. And yet they get knocked down at $200,000+ for a 2-month-old? Sometimes it just doesn’t feel right. It feels like you have been sold a lemon by a used car salesman. It just feels dirty. (Read more)

#14 – Australia misses its quota prices
Much has been written about what goes on in the market free-zone of the southern hemisphere. The truth in 2015 is that unless the farms have no mortgage, private price contracts with niche companies or no paid staff, Australian producers are as exposed as any other nation’s to low milk prices. It is hard to generalise on the producer’s position in the world’s third-biggest milk exporting country, because of its size and diversity. The state of Victoria produces 66% of the country’s total milk production (and 86% of the country’s export milk). So it is Victoria that gives the most complete focus to what the bulk of Australia’s dairy farmers face up to every day. (Read more)

#13 – Introduction to Genomics – Zoetis Webinar #1 Video
For decades, much has been known about the bull’s side of the pedigree while little information was available for dams. Now, genomic testing helps us discover much more about females. The first webinar in the series focuses on the basics of genomics to provide producers with a better understanding of the benefits of knowing more about their heifers. (Watch video)

#12 – Donnanview – The Culmination of a Lifetime Journey in Dairy Farming
The Bullvine sat down with Donny Donnan of Donnanview Holsteins to discuss his journey in developing this amazing herd that will be offered for sale next week. Donny and his wife Bev have spent their lifetime breeding great dairy cattle. Opportunities to invest in herds like Donnanview are few and far between. Not only a Master Breeder Herd, home of the 2014 Canadian Cow of the year, sires in AI, but they are also 90% VG and EX cows. These achievements have been built over years of intuitive, selective breeding choices. Not since the likes of Hanoverhill’s complete dispersal have we seen a herd of this size and quality, sell all at once in a public auction. Join us in watching this video as Donny explains how they have achieved this success and who has helped them along the way. (Read more)

#11 – 16 Sires That Will Help Limit Inbreeding – October 2015
Genetic diversity is a critical problem in the Holstein dairy cattle breeding industry. On the one hand, the rate of genetic gain has accelerated but also has the rate of inbreeding. With $23 lifetime cost per percent inbreeding, it is easy to overreact and try to avoid inbreeding at all costs. The trick is not to use sires that are inferior, but rather to have a balance of genetic improvement and enough of an outcross not to accelerate the inbreeding. These 16 sires will do just that and help control the rate of inbreeding in your herd. (Read more)

#10 – Immunity+ Does It Actually Work?
Since we first heard about High Immune Response, now marketed as Immunity+*, the Bullvine has been a big fan of the theory behind this research. But, as with all things that are proposed in theory, there comes a time when you need to put the numbers to it to validate the theory. As the saying goes “In God we trust. All others bring data”. So here at the Bullvine we did just that. (Read more)

#9 – Are Dairy Cattle Shows Holding Us Back?
Dairy cattle shows started out as a breed awareness tool. They then became an improvement tool. More recently they primarily function as a marketing opportunity for breeders and a training process for youth. Today many breeders are thinking that shows have gone beyond their best before date and are not serving a purpose for the vast majority of dairypersons. Let’s talk about show standards and show procedures. (Read more)

#8 – Select Sires – Sire Tour 2015
In a Bullvine video exclusive join Select Sires Holstein Program Manager, Charlie Will, as he tours us through some of the top proven sires at Select Sires. Including PLANET, MOGUL, EPIC, GOLD CHIP and BRADNICK. See these amazing bulls as the parade around the Kellgren Center. (Read more)

#7 – Roybrook Revisited
Legendary Holstein breeder Roy Ormiston celebrates his 100th Birthday in a few weeks hence. Bruce Jobson and Roy recount the legacy of Roybrook in an exclusive interview. In this unique conversation, Bruce included some additional datelines for reader clarity and understanding. (Read more)

#6 – Culling for $$$ – The Six Animals You Need To Cull Immediately
Today I drove past a crew of highway maintenance workers and one was pounding in a stake, one was holding the stake, one had a white hard hat and was obviously the crew chief and three were watching. Like most Bullvine readers, my mind reacted by saying – “Now isn’t that an inefficient use of our taxpayers dollars!” Fifty percent of that crew were taking their pay check but not giving back. You could be correct if you were to say that I judged too quickly. Perhaps I did not have all the facts. Most of us are quick to judge outside situations. However when it comes to our own milk producing work force are we business like, when it comes to the number of workers required to get the job done? (Read more)

#5 – Stud Wars Episode III – The Conflict for Control
There is no question when it comes to semen sales having a great product is key to financial performance. In the Stud Wars the battle for top sires is key to maintaining market share. With that in mind The Bullvine once again takes a look at just which artificial insemination companies have the power and what ones are falling behind. (Read more)

#4 – The 12 Sires You Should Consider Breeding Your Show Winning Goldwyns To
Let’s face it there are two undeniable facts in the international show ring; One, that Goldwyn has the most show winning daughters over the past ten years, And two, that if you have been using Goldwyn you were pretty much breeding for a unique show type animal. But the questions becomes what do you breed you current Goldwyn’s to in order to breed the next generation of show winners. With this challenge in mind the Bullvine took a closer look. (Read more)

#3 – Grace Under Pressure
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in the moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Who we are as human beings presents itself more fully at times of adversity than at times of ease. I have had the pleasure of knowing the Burdette and Stiles families a long while know and always found they to be great people, but over this past year I have learned through their actions after the horrible accident that happened to them, that they are also people of extraordinary character. (Read more)

#2 – Show Ring Ethics: Cheater’s Never Prosper….Or Do They
When we were young, we were always told to be honest and never to cheat. The phrase “Cheaters never prosper” was ingrained in us from an early age. But, as we grow older, we begin to wonder about this statement. We all know people who have cheated and were not caught and they sure seem to have prospered. This phrase also baffled me when seen in the show ring. At my local county show, the exhibitor that took all the big awards might also be known as one of the greatest “cheaters” in the history of dairy cattle showing. So how can we say that cheaters never prosper? (Read more)

#1 – The 16 Sires Available in 2015 That Every Dairy Breeder Should Be Looking At
With weekly evaluations now being released, it can be hard to sort out exactly what sires are available and which ones you should be using. To help you sort through the confusion, we have compiled the 16 sires that we think all breeders should consider using. Instead of producing one generic list, we looked for the four top sires in each key breeding area. (Read more)

The Bullvine Bottom Line

We certainly appreciate all of those who have helped us make this year a record setting year in the dairy publication industry. Without your support we could not deliver the most wide reaching thought provoking articles, interviews, videos the dairy industry has ever seen.