January 2016 Customer Newsletter

A Year for the Record Books

2015 will go down in history as a record year for both NorthStar Cooperative and Select Sires. No matter where you look new performance records were set which will be the bar to reach in the future.

All of the achievements are the culmination of a team effort of great employees, outstanding products and services; but most important, you. Thank you for the confidence and trust you placed in NorthStar Cooperative this past year!

NorthStar surpassed $30 million in total revenues in 2015. For the second year in a row we surpassed 1 million units of semen sold in our service area. Achieving record levels could not have happened without the quality products we receive from our partners, delivered by an on-farm employee base that is second to none. Their commitment to bringing value to your operations is evident in all they do.

Our partnership with Select Sires allows NorthStar to bring you the

best genetic offerings in the industry hands down! Select Sires again dominated the Holstein Association’s TPI list this past December with seven of the Top 10 proven sires. In the High Protein Breeds, Select Sires is home to more of the Top NM$ Jersey sires than any other organization. Our genetic strength doesn’t end there, it extends into beef lineups with bulls that answer the demands of the beef industry for traits that improve profitability from pasture to plate.

As powerful as our genetic offerings are, we continue to make moves to strengthen our position. This fall Select Sires entered an exciting partnership with Jerseyland Sires to further expand Jersey offerings. At the same time, NorthStar began a partnership with LIC of New Zealand to be the exclusive supplier of grazing genetics in our service area. We are excited about our expanded genetic offerings for the coming year.

4.6 MillionCows tested through

NorthStar DHI Service. 22% increase over 2014.

Mark Adam, General Manager

1.04 MillionSemen units purchased by dairy

and beef producers, a 20,000 unit increase over 2014.

4.4 MillionMilk samples analyzed for SCC,

components, pregnancy, Johne's, mastitis and more.

We have seen rapid success with CowManager since its availability 12 short months ago. CowManager has proven to be extremely successful for monitoring heat detection, health and rumination on dairy and beef farms. Currently more than 12,000 CowManager SensOor ear tags have been installed in our service area. The simplicity of the easy-to-install ear-tag system makes it fitting for herds of all sizes. Less than 12 months on the market, CowManager was voted the ‘People’s Choice’ Dairy Herd Management Innovation Award winner for 2015.

Another Top 10 Dairy Herd Management Innovation Award recipient was the Heifer Genetics Monitor (DHI-429). This new report is available to NorthStar DHI Herds through DRMS, and is designed for herds that genotype heifers. The report assists producers in making informed decisions about current

Continued on next page.

2 Comprehensive solutions for producer profitability.

Continued from Page 1 and expected heifers from a genomics perspective to help increase and rank the value of genetics within your herd.

Growth in DHI testing and health and diagnostic testing maxed out our current lab facilities this past year, creating the need to explore new lab options. In September we opened the doors of the new NorthStar Michigan Laboratory, which combines the services of DHI milk analysis with health and diagnostic testing all under one roof. We are in the process of exploring new facilities for the NorthStar Wisconsin Laboratory as well, as sample volume has more than doubled in the past three years at that facility.

The increased interest in NorthStar’s products and services has created new employment opportunities in the field for both the A.I. and DHI areas. We are continually looking for highly motivated, responsible individuals that are passionate about service. We understand our employees are among our greatest assets and in return we are committed to promoting a work environment that enhances knowledge, creativity, innovation, and personal growth for all.

As you can see, 2015 was an exciting year for NorthStar Cooperative, and I’m pleased to report that fiscal year 2016 is starting out strong. More detail regarding audited financial numbers and patronage earned by members will be shared at the upcoming district and annual meetings, as well as in the next issue of The Point.

Our commitment to “enhance producer profitability through integrated services” continues to drive our organization and employees to new heights. Thank you for a fantastic 2015. We wish you all the very best in 2016 and look forward to the opportunity to continue to work with you.

A new partnership between NorthStar Cooperative, Inc. and New Zealand based Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) means dairy producers now have easy and local access to some of the best Grazing Genetics in the world.

“We are excited to offer LIC Grazing Genetics through our current on-farm distribution system,” said Jim Sipiorski, Director of A.I. Services for NorthStar Cooperative, Inc. “We feel strongly that the addition of LIC sires will enhance the services we provide while driving genetic gain for our producers.”

Founded in 1909, LIC is one of New Zealand’s oldest and most trusted farming cooperatives, supplying three-quarters of the country’s dairy bull semen. LIC continues to gain world-wide recognition following the recent New Zealand animal evaluation update and is currently home to 14 of the top 15 bulls across all breeds, and 18 of the top 20 Holstein-Friesian bulls. LIC credits their solid breeding program to an outstanding sire proving scheme and careful selection criteria for the cooperative’s

success in these areas. LIC invests in research and development to deliver on future producer needs, using DNA technology to genetically identify elite sires and short gestation bulls that deliver offspring an average of 10 days earlier.

For more information on the LIC sire lineup, to request a catalog or to place an order, contact your local NorthStar Cooperative specialist or call 800.631.3510.

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Zoromski Family Farms, LLC Progressive Dairy Producer of the Year

LIC Grazing Genetics Available from NorthStar

Fourth generation dairy producers Jim and Jody Zoromski recognize how far their family’s dairy farm has come since they were young. “When my brother Jody and I began operating our family’s farm, we had only 125 head,” recalled Jim. “Since then we’ve added another 125 head, a free stall barn, and updated our double eight milking parlor. Many of the advancements we’ve made are due to the consistent management support we receive from our NorthStar specialists, nutritionists and veterinarian.”

Zoromski Family Farms, LLC began using NorthStar Cooperative, Inc. services over 15 years ago when reproduction specialist Gary Schultz moved from a competitor to NorthStar. “We started using NorthStar’s services because we loved Gary,” recalled Jody’s wife Jorja. “However, we stayed with NorthStar because they have consistently done the right things well.”

Today, Zoromski Family Farms, LLC is being awarded the NorthStar Progressive Dairy Producer of the Year Award for their consistent production improvements. Established in 1975, the Progressive Dairy Producer of the Year Award recognizes the herd that has shown the greatest total increase in dollar value over the past five years.

Focusing on high quality cows that produce quality milk, the dairy has increased their Rolling Herd Average (RHA) by over 7,500 pounds of milk in the last five years while increasing herd size by 59 head for a total of 390 Holstein cows. In five years, the dairy’s total dollar value has increased $1,809.

“Consistent management in reproduction, feeding and animal health is what makes our farm a success,” said Jim. “We’re happy to have many members of NorthStar on our farm because they are another set

of valuable eyes monitoring our herd’s health.”

The entire genetic and reproduction program at Zoromski Family Farms, LLC is placed in the trustworthy hands of Dan Quimby, NorthStar Cooperative reproduction specialist, and the farm’s new Select Mating Service (SMS) evaluator, Scott Schugel.

“All of our breeding and reproduction decisions are delegated between Dan and Scott. I don’t like to micromanage my NorthStar specialists - they’re professionals and I let them do what they’ve been trained to do.”

Zoromski Family Farms, LCC uses Select Sires genetics exclusively for heifers and cows, and all A.I. services are performed by Dan. “Dan stays on top of all of our breeding needs,” stated Jody. With Scott’s mating recommendations, the Zoromskis are beginning to breed the top third of their animals with gender SELECTed® semen. “As our production increases, we are interested in spending the extra money for sexed semen to ensure future growth,” said Jim.

Improvements in milk production are not solely due to reproduction as Jody pointed out. “It all starts with what our cows eat,” he said. “When the cows are eating quality feed, they feel comfortable and produce more.”

Reflecting back, Jody recalls a real change in production after the dairy purchased a new self-propelled chopper and invested in a hammer mill to properly process high moisture corn. “When we started producing higher quality feed, our cows produced higher quality milk,” noted Jody. “You reap what you sew.”

Following the standard of high quality, the dairy’s cows are also held to high standards throughout

their lactations. Using NorthStar’s DHI Services since 2009, the dairy utilizes DHI data and PCDART herd management software to help guide management decisions. “The number one resource we use from our DHI testing is the Somatic Cell Count (SCC) Hotsheet,” Jim noted.

Each month after NorthStar DHI specialist Ashley DeBauch completes testing, the Zoromskis receive a SCC Hotsheet via email, which Jim and his daughter Chelsie track in PCDART. “PCDART and PocketDairy are really helpful when an animal is not performing well,” said Chelsie. “I can just pull that cow up on PCDART and quickly see what we’re dealing with.”

With increasing production, Zoromski Family Farms, LLC is looking forward to future growth. Currently, the dairy is completing a much-needed addition to their existing freestall barn. With an additional 250 feet, the Zoromskis are excited to have freestall space for all of their animals.

“This addition will help a lot with cow comfort,” noted Jim. “We were 75 percent over capacity before the addition.” With this change, the dairy is hoping to create growth within their herd and ultimately reduce their current culling rate of 42 percent. Jim added, “With quality feed, improved cow comfort and a strong genetic base, the future looks promising with our consistent managerial team leading the way.”

Jim, Jorja and Jody Zoromski


Pregnancy Detection: How Low Can You Go?

How early is too early to check for pregnancy? This question arises each time a new technology promises earlier pregnancy detection such as tests for early conception factor (ECF) at seven days bred or interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) products at 15 days bred.

These tests have yet to come to market, but recent data from research conducted by AntelBio at Masselink Dairy suggest that an existing blood pregnancy test begs this question once again. The IDEXX Bovine Pregnancy Test, which is available through NorthStar Cooperative, detects pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAG) as early as 21 days bred. The question is whether or not this brings value to dairy producers.

It appears this capability may have value for heifers. One of the greatest challenges to early pregnancy detection is high rates of embryonic loss. In cows, up to 20 percent of pregnancies are lost early and pregnancy confirmation to detect these aborted cows is required for timely rebreeding.

However, embryonic loss is much lower in virgin heifers. Rather than waiting for confirmation, heifers in the breeding pen that are detected pregnant one week earlier (21-27 days bred) could be exchanged with un-bred heifers.

“Overcrowding is counterproductive to nearly every aspect of cattle management. In heifers it affects skeletal growth, weight gain and reproduction - all essential to lifetime profitability,” stated Dave Laansma, Reproductive Training Specialist, NorthStar Cooperative. “Especially for an intensively managed heifer A.I. program like Masselink’s, a week’s worth of heifer inventory is significant in managing correct stocking numbers.”

Why does early blood testing work in heifers? The accuracy and application of blood testing for the early detection of pregnancy is affected by the long half-life, or stability, of PAGs. In cows, blood PAG levels are highest at parturition and detectable levels are still possible after the voluntary waiting period when cows are being bred.

However, for heifers there is no known reason PAGs would be present in their blood except for recent conception and implantation. Therefore, for earlier pregnancy testing in heifers, the cutoff value for PAG levels can be reduced without significantly compromising accuracy.

So how low can we go? Figure 1 shows the frequency of blood PAG levels in pregnant and open heifers between 21 and 27 days after breeding.

Blood PAG levels below 0.02 were only associated with open heifers, whereas PAG levels above 1.00 indicated a pregnancy. However, in between these two values, no matter where the cutoff value is set, incorrect diagnoses will occur.

Accuracies along with correct and incorrect classifications for various cutoffs are shown in Table 1. Using the recommended 28-day post A.I. cutoff of 0.30 yielded an accuracy of only 92 percent and incorrectly diagnosed 19 of 201 pregnant heifers as open.

However, simply dropping the cutoff value to 0.08 yielded an accuracy of 98 percent. After applying this cutoff, only three of the 205 pregnant heifers would

20

15

10

5

0

<0.02 0.02 - 0.04 0.04-0.08 0.08-0.10 0.10-0.30 0.30-1.00 >1.00

0 0

Figure 1. Blood PAG Values Between 21 - 27 Days Bred in Open and Bred Heifers

Blood PAG Values

Num

ber o

f Heif

ers


have been misdiagnosed open and potentially lost to a resynch program. Furthermore, of the total 256 heifers in the field trial, only three would have been misdiagnosed as pregnant and transferred out of the breeding pen not bred. That’s only 1.2 percent of the heifers left to be cleaned up, a number that does not significantly threaten the performance of the breeding and genetic programs. Inevitably, some heifers will abort their calves after their exchange out of the breeding pen, but that is always the case.

Is there value in earlier pregnancy detection for heifers? According to Willem Deinum, a NorthStar Repro-duction Specialist working on the project, “In addition to reduced breed-ing costs by moving heifers through the breeding pen with greater effi-ciency, heifers which get checked open can be synchronized sooner, so we can shorten the breeding interval.”

The monetary impor-tance of getting heif-ers bred at the right age, weight and frame size to the correct sire and calving at the optimum age and weight cannot be overstated. “Heifers which are checked open and won’t be re-bred can be raised for beef or sold,” said Deinum. “For some-body who has several hundred or a thousand head, a week’s difference in pregnancy detection can add up.”

Table 1. Accuracy of pregnant diagnosis at various cutoff values for early (21-27 days A.I.) versus recommended † blood pregnancy testing in virgin heifers ‡.

PAG Cutoff Incorrectly Diagnosed as: Correctly Diagnosed as: Accuracy

Open Pregnant Open Pregnant0.02 0 8 43 205 96.90.04 2 5 46 203 97.30.08 3 3 48 202 97.70.10 5 2 49 200 97.3

0.30* 19 1 50 186 92.2† IDEXX Bovine Pregnancy Test has overall accuracy >98% when used as recommended 28 days post A.I.‡ Total of 256 heifers were A.I. bred and tested for blood PAG levels between 21 - 27 days post A.I. and again 7 days later between 28 - 34 days post A.I.

*The recommended cutoff of the BPT for blood samples taken after 28 days post A.I.

If you have ever wished for an earlier pregnancy test, consider the difference one week would make in your heifer breeding program. To learn more about this topic contact NorthStar Cooperative at 800.631.3510.

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≥ +1.0 SCRAll Active Holstein Sires





SUPERSIRE +3.3 SCR FANG +3.1 SCRIncludes all active Holstein proven and young sires.

Source: 12/15 Holstein Active A.I. Listing Domestic and Foreign Bulls and 12/15 Holstein Genomic Young Sire Active A.I. Listing.


Fine-Tuning Your Synchronization ProtocolsJulie Ainsworth, Coordinator Reproductive Solutions, PAS

Hormonal synchroniza-tion proto-cols have been widely incorporated into dairy herds as a way to man-age repro-

ductive performance. Obviously, the first impact timed A.I. had on dairy herds was to increase the number of cows that were serviced.

However, since their introduction, studies have been done allowing for a deeper understanding of the physiology underlying a synchronization protocol, which has allowed for an increase in fertility. Here are a few of the findings presented at the 2015 Dairy Cattle Reproductive Conference which may be helpful in evaluating your synchronization program.

1. The key factor affecting fertility in a timed A.I. program is the response to each of the sequential hormone treatments. Cows must ovulate to a treatment of GnRH and have a functional Corpus Luteum (CL) that should regress completely to a treatment of prostaglandin. The following graph shows the difference in pregnancies for cows that are ovulating at the first shot of GnRH vs. the cows that are not.

2. Cows that achieve the highest conception rates to timed A.I. have mid-level progesterone rates at the first GnRH; high progesterone at the prostaglandin treatment; and low progesterone at the last treatment of GnRH. These could be defined using progesterone profiles.

Bar Chart A demonstrates the different conception rates that were achieved with different progesterone levels at the first GnRH shot. Clearly, progesterone affected the ovulation rates. Bar Chart B demonstrates the fertility achieved with differing levels of progesterone at the prostaglandin treatment.

3. Presynchronization that incorporates a combination of GnRH and prostaglandin prior to an Ovsynch protocol becomes important to tightly control ovarian function. This will optimize the progesterone levels at the first GnRH and prostaglandin shots, and should increase fertility. Tried and true synchronization protocols that would accomplish this are Double Ovsynch and G6G.

4. Cows that initiate an Ovsynch protocol in a low progesterone environment (no CL) ovulate to the

first GnRH treatment at a high rate, but fail to undergo complete luteal regression in response to the prostaglandin. This lack of luteal regression by the last GnRH treatment dramatically decreases fertility, and increases early embryonic death and chance of twinning.

Particularly for those cows that initiate Ovsynch

in a low progesterone environment, a second prostaglandin shot 12-24 hours later can help with regression of the CL and decrease progesterone concentrations. This, in turn should increase fertility. Alternatively, doing ultrasound and knowing the structures on the ovary could help determine whether you should start Ovsynch or give a shot of GnRH and follow with Ovsynch one week later. A CIDR can also be helpful for those cows.

Most often no CL’s and the resulting low progesterone are going to be picked up at pregnancy check. The following chart is an example of a effective resynch protocol. The top line applies to cows with a CL at start, and the bottom line applies to cows with no ovarian structure at pregnancy check. If you fear wasting the GnRH shot on pregnant cows you could wait until pregnancy check and initiate the same thing.

70605040302010

0Preg

nanc

ies/

A.I.

(%)

Effect of ovulatory response to G1 on P/A.I.

32 d


By implementing aggressive reproductive management strategies that incorporate some of these

concepts, herds should be able to achieve pregnancy rates of 30 percent or higher. If your herd is already achieving annualized 21-day pregnancy rates that meet your goals then I would not worry about changing anything.

It is also important to remember that many health factors will decrease fertility and cows must be healthy

to achieve good results. Health factors include, but are not limited to, incidence of mastitis between A.I. and the first pregnancy diagnosis, a decrease in body condition during the first 21 days after calving, nutrition challenges and poor uterine health.

If you have concerns about your synchronization program, talk with your veterinarian and NorthStar Reproduction Specialist. We are happy to work with you to achieve your reproduction goals.

Source: Fertility Programs to Achieve High 21-day Pregnancy Rates in High-Producing Holstein Dairy Herds Paul M. Fricke, Milo C. Wiltbank, Paulo D. Carvalho, and Julio O. Giordano; Department of Dairy Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison

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NorthStar Cooperative, its agents or employees cannot and do not guarantee the conception rate, gender, quality or productivity to be obtained in connection with the use of its products, recommended techniques or services. WE MAKE NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, WHICH EXTEND BEYOND THE DESCRIPTION OF ITS PRODUCTS OR SERVICES AND HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. In the unlikely event that any of our products or services shall be proven to be defective, damages resulting from their use shall exclude consequential damages and be limited to their purchase price.

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January 2016 Customer Newsletter