INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — At the 128th Annual Meeting of the Holstein Assoc. USA (HAUSA) July 10-11 in downtown Indianapolis, CEO John Meyer highlighted some key areas of the organization’s performance in 2012.

“The momentum of steady increases in registrations continues,” he reported. “Registrations totaled 362,669, up 2,520 over 2011 totals. It is interesting to note that 10 years ago, in 2002, we registered 315,488 head. Because of you and the world’s most profitable cow, the U.S. Registered Holstein, registrations have increased 47,181 in the last 10 years.”

Two contested races for the election of officers kept the meeting interesting. One was for the office of vice president; the slated candidates were John Bierbaum of Burnsville, Minn., Gordie Cook of Hadley, Mass., John Kalmey of Shelbyville, Ky., Robert Nigh of Viroqa, Wis., and Hank Van Exel of Lodi, Calif.

The other was for the position of Region 6 director; those candidates were Gale Hoese of Glenco, Minn., Mark Kerndt of Waukon, Iowa (the only candidate not endorsed by HAUSA because of a conflict of interest), Phil Specht of McGregor, Iowa, and Chuck Will of Underwood, Minn.

After three voting processes, Cook was elected vice president. Voting for the Region 6 position followed suit and again, after three voting processes, Kerndt, though not backed by the association, was elected to the board.

The uncontested races were for president, in which Glen Brown of Utah was elected along with Region 1 Director Peter Waterman of Sabattus, Maine, Region 4 Director Gayle Carson of Gray, Tenn., and At-Large Director Corey Geiger of Mukwonago, Wis.

Several committees offered yearly reports. In the Legislative Affairs Committee report from Glen Brown of Utah, he stated its disappointment a farm bill had not yet passed in the U.S. House, and that the committee was monitoring activity in Washington, D.C., as it pertains to dairy farming.

Roger Shank of Minnesota gave the Elit Cow Research Project report about a new venture that has piqued the interest of many breeders. To qualify, the elite cow would have produced 150,000 pounds of milk, lifetime, and classified VG or EX. The first research goal was to add the genotypes of elite Holstein females to the genomic database, thus increasing the accuracy of genomic evaluations.

The second goal was to discover genetic markers that are associated with the valuable and unique phenotypes of these elite Holstein females. Shank reported response to the project has been positive and they expect the elite cow samples will contribute to August genetic evaluations. He added that productive life continues as a great genetic tool.

The presidential gavel was passed from Chuck Worden of New York, to Brown. The 2014 National Holstein Convention will be June 25-28, in Dubuque, Iowa.