Superior genetics will be rewarded at the World Dairy Expo, as Duane Conant accepts the 2009 Distinguished Dairy Cattle Breeder Award. Beth Quimby with the Kennebec Journal wrote an article featuring Duane Conant’s cow herd and his outstanding dairy cattle genetics. Her article, Genetics Puts Dairy Farmer on World Map, is one worth reading. Here is a clip of the feature…

The rows of black-and-white Holstein cows in Duane Conant’s dairy barn look unremarkable to the unpracticed eye. Standing placidly in their wood chip-lined stalls, they chew their cud, occasionally flicking a tail or lazily shifting a leg, a study in bovine contentment. These are not your run-of-the-mill milkers, however. They are the product of years of careful breeding that has made them walking lactation factories.

Some Conant cows produce 30,000 pounds of milk a year — the equivalent of 3,488 gallons a year, or just shy of 10 gallons a day per cow. To the practiced eye, they have all the requirements of Holstein excellence: strong feet and straight legs to support their bulging udders, high production and serene temperaments. One embryo from his Holsteins can fetch thousands of dollars.

The quality of his cows and his effect on the global dairy embryo export market have clinched Conant the dairy industry’s equivalent of the Oscars’ lifetime achievement award. On Monday, he and his family will fly out to North America’s premier dairy event: The World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis. There, they will attend a banquet and receive the 2009 Distinguished Dairy Cattle Breeder Award, bestowed by the National Dairy Shrine.