Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Cumming column nails it

Ian Cumming, a fellow contributor to Ontario Farmer publications, has written about how politics has kept one of the most exciting genetic advances in dairy breeding from adoption by Canada's leading artificial insemination units.

Merial has a patent on a gene that identifies cattle that have greater feed intake, and that happens to identify cattle that produce more milk.

Apparently Semex Alliance didn't appreciate learning that some of the bulls in its stud don't carry this gene.

Cumming also tells in his current column in the Jan. 10 issue of Ontario Farmer how CDN played a role in this foolish politics. I suppose it's no coincidence that the Holstein breeders called off negotiations to merge Holsteins Canada and CDN.

Cumming deserves an award for exposing the backroom politics.