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Resources - Testimonials
June 2008:
Featured Testimonial...Eskdale Dairy - Eskdale, Utah
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John Conrad, DVM | EskDale started in 1955 as a Christian community in this high mountain desert of western Utah. John Conrad has been involved with the dairy from the beginning and works alongside of his two sons, Ben and David, who serve as herdsman and feed administrator respectively. Also closely involved is Ron Eldridge who is the herd manager. John proudly states, “We don’t subscribe to the idea that we want a uniform herd by only using a few bulls. We would like to use the best mating possible on every breeding.”
"There is no perfect mating system but we believe that aAa has greatly contributed to the balance and overall performance of our animals. It helps protect the farmer from the extremes of poor type that create unusable or nearly unusable animals. The other great thing is having an opinion that is not someone trying to sell semen but who is looking at the cow for the type of animal she is not how good or bad. As much as possible, we use aAa in mating our cows and try to stick with bulls over +2.5 on type. aAa has given our cows balance and longevity in our minds."
John Conrad, DVM
August 2008:
Featured Testimonial...Joseph Berchtold - Munich, Germany
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Johannes Berchtold with the winning Denver heifer. | Josef and his family run a small dairy farm, known as Wieserehof, in the south part of Germany, close to Munich.
They work with a small but quality herd of Brown Swiss Cattle. At the European Brown Swiss show in April 2008 they won the Intermediate class with JB Ace Baerchen 72. Her daughter, JB Denver Brownrose 72 won in June 08 at the German Open Dairy Show under judge Hank Van Exel, California. Judge Van Exel called her "The most balanced heifer at this show."
Josef calls on Christoph Loser to analyze his small herd of elite Brown Swiss. Josef commented that the Ace daughter was analyzed 513 by Guido simon and Denver has aAa numbers of 135. He states, "Without aAa, he probably wouldn't have used Denver on this cow." He also believes that one of the most difficult parts of breeding cattle is to get really good offspring from a really good cow. "And that is one of the reasons why I like to work with the aAa numbers," adds Josef.
Josef is also a journalist for the "Brown Swiss" publication in Germany. This publication often features articles on aAa about analyzing cows.
Josef Berchtold, Munich, Germany
October 2008:
Featured Testimonial...Marcello Soldi- Cremona, Italy
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Soldi Family of Italy | My family has been involved in the management of our farm in the Cremona countryside (Po Valley) for more than 60 years. Today, our team is made up of myself, (I care the herd), my father who cares for the fields, and the business administration, my mother Luciana and my sisters Stefania and Francesca cooperate in the management but overall they feed and take care of the calves. We improved the management of our herd generation by generation and finally we started to raise and milk the animals “made” by aAa analysis in our farm.
Unexpectedly these animals got an average score of 82 points comparing with the 79 points of the other cows, higher production (all the first calving cows achieved 40 kg of milk a day) and a better health. In particular stress and heat resistance and shorter recovery period after a disease.
Today we have a lot of variability in our herd: we have Holsteins, Red Holsteins, Anglers, and some cross-breeding among different dairy breeds (Ayrshires, Red Danish, Swedish Red, Guernsey and Reggiana).
All the animals in the farm are analyzed and mated by aAa analysis (cows, heifers from 13 months, and home farm bulls). More than 95% of the calves born at the farm are the result of an aAa mating in different percentages: from 60 to 100 per cent. Today we are very satisfied that 75% of the herd is pregnant, have a very low stillbirth rate, and show a uniform development of the cattle and a lower first insemination age for the heifers.
Also the semen tank is now “full of life” and colour as I keep at least 30 different bulls with different aAa numbers, characteristics and breed. The management of the herd is easier with aAa analysis making the job more fun but higher in the quality. And the animal handling is now easier too! aAa analysis is the engine which moves our barn.
Marcello Soldi, Cremona, Italy
December 2008:
Featured Testimonial... Peter Clausen, Vejen, Denmark
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Peter & Anton Clausen, Vejen, Denmark | Peter operates a 300 cow dairy in the south of Denmark. aAa has been used in the herd since 2001 with positive results. Peter says, “The use of aAa may not protect cows from getting sick or having a bad day, but I notice that cows get on track quicker and easier than before aAa.” The cull rate in Peter’s herd has been dropping over the years and is now stabile around 25%. This is almost 20% lower cull-rate than 7 years ago.
“Dairies are growing fast in Denmark and time per cow is getting less. The use of aAa along with breeding values can help to make cows stronger and last longer,” says Peter. He continues, “I think aAa will have the best impact when other things, such as feeding and cow-comfort are already of high standard. Dairymen who are taking good care of their cows, but still are frustrated about the longevity and quality of the herd, should consider using aAa in their breeding program.”
Peter Clausen
February 2009:
Featured Testimonial... Antonius Richter, Germany
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Antonius Richter, Germany | To breed more balanced cows and to eliminate bad mating results, I decided to start analyzing my cows and heifers in 1997. In the beginning Maurice Kaul analyzed my animals and then when Guido Simon became approved he analyzed the herd. From that time my herd really started to become more uniform and we came to realize that we have less and less bad offspring. The average Lifetime production of the cows that left my herd for slaughter the last 2 years was 91,300 kg milk and today I work with the absolute top cows in my herd. Off course I spend a lot of time to find the best bulls for my cows. This is extremely important because even bad bulls have aAa numbers.
After the first visit by Maurice we decided to breed our Blackstar Benefit *RC daughter, Meggi (VG-88), with Comestar Lee because her aAa analysis matched well. The result was a heifer calf, RH Meggilee (EX-91); Grand Champion RUW-Schau, 1st best udder DHV-Schau, 81,000 kg milk lifetime production and international bull mother for several A.I. studs.
Two of her 50 progeny are here; one daughter is RH Talent Maxima-Red (VG-88) and her half-sister RH September Maryrose-Red (Ex-90). Maxima-Red classified after her first calving with maximum score of VG-88, was 2-time All-German cow, has won several other championships. In addition to being reserve champion at the DHV-Schau, Maxima-Red is an international bull mother. Maryrose-Red was classified after her second calving at EX-90, was reserve champion at RUW-Schau and international bull mother for several A.I. studs as well.
Besides these tremendous animals Meggilee has 5 Stouder Morty daughters, who all classified VG after first calving. Now the young heifers by Stormin Norman and Ladino Park Talent *RC (Full-sister from All-German Maxima-Red) are really looking great.
Since I use aAa in our breeding program all heifers that I sold on auctions have brought above average prices, and some I sold for really good money in our country and other countries as well. These results confirm that I will to continue using aAa in my herd.
Antonius Richter (Richter Holsteins, Maintinghausen, Germany).
May 2009
Featured Testimonial... Jerry Rappaport, Vermont, USA
 "When I bought the place, the cows were a mix of Holsteins, Jerseys, Brown Swiss…a little bit of everything! If I was going to make this succeed, I needed to take seriously the ‘breeding of a perfect cow’. So I got persuaded to buy a Registered Holstein herd to fill the barn and began from there.” Jerry began to study pedigrees and as he calls it, “took on the assignment very seriously and knew that I needed to buy smart. I used Bill Week’s aAa system, and went through all the processes of mating and matching the cows. This fascination of trying to design the perfect cow had a great impact on me. It required skill, an intense eye and sound judgment.” . . . more here
August 2009
Featured Testimonial... Jason Myers, Maryland, USA
 The Maryland Holstein breeder is a firm believer in aAa which he has utilized for 30 years. He has tremendous respect for the founder of aAa, Bill Weeks, who came to the farm twice to analyze Windsor Manor cattle. Jason feels that aAa is a great "common sense tool that can serve as a "tie breaker" when choosing a sire for a mating.
A great example of the power of aAa in their herd is the outstanding mating of Roy on their Durham daughters. Jason also mentioned the magic Encore X Broker cross and Dundee matings on Lee daughters.
December 2009
Featured Testimonial... Kevin Strickfaden, Wisconsin, USA
For Kevin, his dream of farming on his own and doing things his way began in 2003 with the purchase of his current farm. Kevin also credits the use of aAa. “I feel it is a major step towards the improvement in correcting the faults. It is unbiased and is the best way to know where to properly use a bull.”
Kevin has worked with aAa analyzer, Tim Baumgartner, since 2002 and comments that aAa has helped him to build a herd of cows that are lasting longer, milking more and classifying higher. He is extremely proud of having one of his cows be named Reserve Champion at the 2009 Wisconsin R&W Spring Show and believes aAa allowed her to develop into that special kind of cow.
Two years ago, Kevin and Tim wer talking about his herd of cows and farming, and got into a deep conversation about life and goals. During that conversation, Kevin spoke up and made the above statement “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey”. He truly believes aAa is helping to achieve his goals. |
