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Article: The Dairy Boom -- Building a Better Cow -- Dairymen Push Milk Production With Genetic Leaps
- Article from:
- Yakima Herald-Republic
- Article date:
- December 14, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1998 Yakima Herald-Republic. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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In 1992, dairy farmers fell in love with a bull named Integrity.
His daughters produced milk at twice the rate of a typical cow, and
they were built like trucks. In the artificial insemination
business, Integrity was an instant success.
Today, Integrity is old news.
He's a decent bull, sure, but some cows regularly yield 60,000
pounds of milk annually - enough to supply a family of four for more
than 60 years. That's a 50 percent improvement on Integrity.
Gone are the days of letting a bull have his way with a herd.
Most milk cows are the product of sophisticated gene matching and
artificial insemination. The goals are two-fold: keep the cows
pregnant almost constantly so they'll keep ...