On Friday, June 29, Adam Griffin, Holstein Association USA Dairy ID Programs Manager, will be presenting the Early Bird session, starting at 7:30 a.m. Griffin will give an in-depth demonstration on the Association’s new Dairy Rhythms Herd Management software. Friday afternoon, John Andersen, Manager of Dairy Operations for the Aardema Group, Jerome, Idaho, will talk about how genomic technology is being utilized on their dairy operations.

Four seats are up for election on the Holstein Association USA board of directors, with elections being held on Saturday morning, June 30. Candidates include R. Paul Buhr, Wis., for Region 5; Bill Wright, Utah, Region 8; Patrick Maddox, Calif., Region 9; and Dale Drendel, Ill., and Jonathan Lamb, N.Y., for the At-Large Director seat.

Delegates will vote on one bylaw amendment, which has been brought forth by President Chuck Worden, on behalf of the Holstein Association USA board of directors. In short, the proposal would amend the bylaws to state, if there are less than two declared candidates for a regional director election by March 1 of the election year, that regional director position would become an At-Large director position for two terms, unless the position is held by an incumbent. The reasoning behind the proposed amendment is that regional directors are intended to be nominated from their respective regions, and then voted on by all delegates. If a region puts forth only one candidate, that region is essentially appointing their director. This amendment would not apply to incumbent directors, and, if approved, would go into effect in 2013.