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Editor:
 
I am writing this letter as a member of an industry involved
in illegal and criminal activity. You may ask - what
industry? Drug trafficking from South America to the streets
of U.S. cities?  No!  I am in the U.S. dairy industry.
 
I am a dairy farmer in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and am a
member of the Pennsylvania Holstein Association and
Pennsylvania DHIA, and in turn a member of Holstein USA,
Inc. and National DHIA.  I am co-owner and operator of a
Registered Holstein herd with a DHIA herd average of + or -
25,000 lbs. milk and a BAA of 106+ for several years.  We
have sold 30+ bulls to both the domestic and foreign A. I.
industry during the past 3 years, and embryos to several
European and Australian operations. Our level of involvement
in the industry has been greater than just maintaining
membership. However, I have become increasingly frustrated
and disgusted with some of the illegal activities engaged in
by some of the members of DHIA and Holstein.
 
The area of illegal activity within our industry, I want to
address is the manipulation of the USDA cow and bull
indexing system.  Being a participant in the system has
given me insight and information to address some of the
problems that are present.
 
It is grossly unfair to the DHIA and Holstein members
attempting to function legally and morally within the index
system to allow any other members to gain advantage through
either ignored illegal functions or known clandestine
activities that unfairly enhance USDA PTA's on cows in their
herds and bulls they are proving. Most of these activities
relate to the handling and treatment of herdmates used for
production deviations.
 
A practice which is illegal, yet has been, and is still used
by some herd owners is the operation of herds at two or more
locations yet grouped under one herd code for genetic
comparisons.  Due to differing feeds, housing conditions,
management treatments, etc., there is no way that the
production comparison of animals housed at different
facilities can be accurately used to measure differing
genetic abilities. Even though not allowed under NDHIA
rulings, some dairymen have knowingly used this illegal
practice to unfairly inflate production deviations.  Every
herd at every location needs a separate herd code. I
challenge NDHIA to contact all testing centers and eliminate
this occurrence across the entire nation.
 
Under clandestine activities fall the following:
 
1. Improper identification of grade animals as being daughters
of highly proven bulls, then not feeding and managing in a
like manner with the rest of the herd, for data in bull
proofs.
 
2. Incomplete milkout of herdmates on test day.
 
3. Extra milkout of herdmates prior to the official test
(milking between normal milking times).
 
4. Milking potentially high indexing animals first, under
normal procedures and then, milking them last on test day to
give them more than 24 hours milk.
 
5. Preferential use of rBST on potential high indexing
animals.
 
I am sure there are many other methods that people have used
to falsify deviations; these are just a few examples. The
main problem is that punishment for cheating like this has
been insufficient.
 
False high PTA values hurt the entire industry. Sire
analysts never quite know if the young sires they are
purchasing contain truly, theoretically superior genetics. 
Individual dairymen interested in participating at the
higher level of merchandising have no way of knowing if the
potential ability of their purchase at the highly advertised
consignment sale is 'for real' or just a big lie. The use of
highly, falsely proven bulls hurts every breeder who has
unknowingly used these frauds and forever leaves a void in
the pedigree of valuable cow families. Breeders who falsify
the PTA values of their bulls or cows are at the forefront
of the industry and leave the honest breeders in their dust
far behind the leading pack. This hurts the industry as a
whole and Holstein in particular, since it leads to
discouragement and reduced participation in Association
programs and services.
 
We, as breeders, have been led to believe the genetic
evaluations as presented to us by first, USDA production
data and then by the printing of the 'Top' 100 TPI Bull and
100 CTPI cow lists by Holstein. The inexperienced,
unsuspecting members accept these lists as truly
representing the best genetics of our Holstein breed because
they presented to us by our industry with inadequate regard
for the accuracy of the data used in their computation.
 
This is not to infer that every high indexing animal in the
breed has not earned his/her values; however, through the
years, many times when I've read ads in the breed
publications or magazines about animals that seem too good
to be true, my suspicions of falsification have been
confirmed.
 
How have these suspicions been confirmed?  Professionals
working within the industry have observed first-hand
many of these lies and manipulations. With time, PTAs that
have been falsified drop when second crop daughters don't
perform at the level originally predicted by the initial, 
manipulated proof. For cows, this usually occurs when the
PTA's of their sampled sons come nowhere close to the parent
average originally predicted by their own falsified index.
 
Holstein has tried in the past, sometimes successfully,
sometimes not, to police and punish some individuals.  Local
neighbors of some of the perpetrators know fully some of the
situations occurring. But it is difficult to prosecute
guilty parties because they can hire crafty lawyers and,
with more lies, evade the charges. However, I ask - what
good comes of a child who grows up with riles but no form of
punishment at times to enforce these rules? Of what value to
all U.S. dairymen is a system of genetic evaluation that
cannot police and meter punishment to a minority of members
who blatantly falsify records and hurt the entire industry
and the association?
 
I am not trying to demean our current indexing system. While
not perfect, I really doubt that any method of measuring
genetic ability will ever achieve 100% accuracy. Rather, I
want to make everyone aware that many breeders have skewed
data to their advantage for financial gain. Some people have
described these activities as "gray" areas. To me, there is
nothing gray whatsoever about manipulating deviations. We
are supposed to be idenifying superiority through the
production differences, and any artificial widening of the
gap between animals is falsely inflating cow and bull PTA's.
 
There are two words that I feel should be associated with
all business activities - HONESTY and INTEGRITY.  Breeders
who have knowingly altered deviations have sacrificed their
integrity for financial gain, and at the same time have done
a tremendous disservice to our entire industry.
 
If we, as members, stand behind our Holstein Association and
apply peer pressure to the minority of people who are
cheating, I don't feel Holstein would have as much concern
about legal action being brought against them. If we don't
take a stand and try to eradicate these activities, I feel
the future of our Holstein Association and the integrity of
Registered Holstein cattle will be severely compromised.
 
We need to level the playing field so that more sound,
honest cows and their owners are able to participate and
reap some of the benefits that others are now realizing
unfairly.
 
Is this letter blunt?  Perhaps. But when an industry
professional told me that he no longer reads breed
publications with their advertisements because he knows a
large percentage of the advertisers have engaged in some
form of cheating, a siren went off in my mind It is time for
the vast majority of honest Holstein and DHIA members to
take a stand and say - ENOUGH!
 
Having never engaged in any falsification of any records,
and always conducting business in an honest and forthright
manner, 1 fear no retribution from anyone for my statements
and posture in this letter.  I urge anyone with similar
concerns and convictions to join me in the effort to affect
a change and restore credibility to the published records of
our industry. Anyone with any information regarding
individual breeders they know to have been involved in any
falsifications, Please contact the Holstein Association at
1-800-952-5200.
 
Anyone wishing to contact me personally, please use the
numbers listed below. I would prefer if possible a fax
transmission.  To any breeders reading this letter who have
used any of the strategies mentioned above,  I hope your
conscience is bothering you and I would suggest watching
over your shoulder - a judgement day may be coming sooner
than you thought.
 
                              Sincerely,
                              Timothy Kissling
Phone 610/693-5971            1700 Brownsville Road
Fax   610/693-6870            Robesonia, Pennsylvania 19551