MOOOOVE OVER TRADITIONAL BREEDING: Genetic profiling is changing the complexion of cattle breeding.HOLSTEIN ASSOCIATION USA
A few days before the annual World Dairy Expo, bovine competitors start arriving so they can acclimate to the Wisconsin autumn after traveling, in some cases, thousands of miles. The Expo is the premier beauty pageant for the barnyard set, attracting tens of thousands of participants and spectators from around the world to ogle the cream of the crop. The animals undergo elaborate primping (blow-outs, pedicures, glitter dustings, etc.) prior to parading before the judges. Last year, the International Red & White Show at the Expo, a best-in-show competition for fawn-colored Holsteins, hosted an exquisite set of specimens. About a dozen cows, their giant udders swollen from not having been milked for half a day, posed in front of a roaring crowd of thousands, recalls ...