I agree with a lot of what Mike Cox has

I agree with a lot of what Mike Cox has said. I use the best bulls available, proven or unproven, and I was always taught to get your fastest genetic gain breed your heifers to test bulls. As for genomics, it needs to be used as another piece of the puzzle. There are AI units in Canada and the USA that have gone too far. If there are 3 full brothers and the ugliest one comes up with the highest genomics guess which one they are taking. Another stud has signed a contract with a large, GRADE (no reg papers), free stall herd to genomic test bulls from their highest producing cows and sell semen from them!!!Red breeds are increasing in Canada as well but only due to cross breeding. Semex being our largest AI signed a deal to bring over Swedish Red semen. Possibly their advertising as being the top breed for health traits paid off for them. In Canada we do some breed promotion outside of our own newsletters, web site and magazine. We have 2 all breeds magazines in Canada that will give us free space to promote top records, top classifications and up coming events a couple times a year. One (Cowsmopolitan)will even print reports from our national show and annual meeting with pictures, if we send them in, for free. We have just started up a promotion committee this year as well. So far they have purchased 2 verticle banner displays that were at the conference and are soon to start making a brochure together with the American assoc. I would like to see a couple of our best Guernseys on display at some of the Holstein shows in the area and a on-farm show. Basically the same thing Digby was doing during the conference, farmers send in their enteries and then the assoc pays a judge to drive around for a couple days. Then get a report written up about the winner to provide the magazines.