NDHIA Annual Meeting Features Industry, CDCB Updates
Written by CDCB
March 08, 2022
The National Dairy Herd Information Association (NDHIA) annual convention was held February 22-24 in San Antonio, Texas, with about 100 producers, DHI officials and industry personnel in attendance and an additional 90 online.
In addition to the business meeting, the event included two full days of virtual and in-person presentations packed into eight separate sessions all about data, from a bit of history, to ID, data flow, new technologies and implications for the future of “big data.” Duane Norman kicked off the first session, sharing his perspective of “Dairy Data History for Production and Genetics.” Norman is Technical Advisor and Industry Liaison at CDCB and former Research Leader for USDA’s Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory.
João Dürr, CDCB CEO, summarized recent updates including CDCB computing power, Net Merit revision and a new initiative to enhance genomic use in breeds other than Holsteins and Jerseys. Dürr noted that three National DHIA leaders are currently on the CDCB board – Dan Sheldon, Susan Lee and Jay Mattison. The CDCB Producer Advisory Committee includes former NDHIA President Kent Buttars, along with perspective from four other U.S. dairy farmers. PhD candidate Fiona Guinan, who recently served an internship at CDCB, described “Web Connect” – the revitalized CDCB website launching in May 2022, which will make much more data routinely available to users and the public.
Go to dairybusiness.com for the full story on the NDHIA meeting.