My new obsession- growing hair

[NHR]

job security

i know barrelracer can defend herself, but, this is not about job security.  the test basically covers costs, including overhead of probably about 30% which must be paid by the grantee to  the university to cover things like overhead including electricity, maintenance on the building, maintenance costs on the machinery, health benefits, etc etc.  the lab is not getting rich.  they could have VERY easily just sold the test to a company and let them decide a price, perhaps even doing it as a package deal for some of the other genetics testing.  granted, it does allow some financial benefit to the lab, but they are definately writing grants to stay viable.  job security for student members of the lab is not a real concern as most go on to industry or some other road.  the percentage of people working as a non-student employees in smaller labs is not that high.  as someone who has worked both sides of the coin in the genomics field, both for private industry and at a university setting, both have their advantages and disadvantages.  a professor ususally has about 7 years to get tenure, which is granted on a few things including the ability to write and attract grants, as well as teach, graduate students at a decent clip.

tax deductions.  i'm against most tax deductions, including the ones for property tax and interest on homes, the child tax credit beyond 2 kids, special deductions for big boxes in commercial zones, stock grants, etc.  the american public has no idea how markets work.  with deductions removed, prices go down, as they are out of balance when not supported, and if a product doesn't cover costs, it goes up.  there should be means testing on a graded scale for the deductions that are left, such as social security beyond a certain income, starting at say $75,000, where beyond that the scale you get goes down rapidly.  same with farm subsidies.  we should be supporting a distributed economy, and not concentrating it with fictititous claims of efficiencies.

Well I gave you a positive Karma Point for this post just because it was so out there when compared to the topic!

 

[red]

That's our Knabe!

Red

 

[JbarL]

AFHM- actually I see no difference in the hair between my heifers out of a carrier bull than a non-carrier. I do think genetics play a huge role in it.

Thanks Chambero for the suggestion. I've read previous posts about the stuff & think it's something I want to stand clear of! 

I'll just keep playing w/ them & hope for cooler weather. That should help more than anything.

Red

what are the genetics that play a hugh role in hair?.... ))  jbarl

 

[red]

Jbarl- some cattle put hair on better than others. Certain breeds or lines too. I know my beloved foreplay's have usually terrible hair. Many Mainies & Shorthorns when crossed w/ other breeds produce better hair in my opinion. Some hair is very fine, others is rather curly. I like hair that can pop or stand up. I have a Habanero heifer that is getting a lot of hair all at once but it is very fine & doesn't look it will pop real well. My Cherry Bomb though has hair that stands up on it's owns. It's almost like wool. working w/ it 7 brushing it forwad or using the rotobrush all helps in training it.

hope this answered you question.

Red

 

[farmboy]

the two galloway clubbies are survivor and hairy crumb

 

[afhm]

Farmboy, Who also has some Galloway in him, it is not widely known.

 

[afhm]

Knabe I was being sarcastic with the whole post from using the thc,phac bull even though most of them will add alot of hairI know there is a minority of people on here who would actually use one, to the job security, I know they are makng a killing at it and it is kind of a thankless job in a way and the tax deductions which I plan on taking for my testing expenses.  I don't know how to type in sarcastic , next time I will mention that I am being sarcastic ahead of time so there is no confusion.

 

[farmboy]

I think we did have a discussion about who and galloway a few weeks ago...

afhm, sarcasm should be used with an * foot note 

 

[knabe]

no offense taken afhm, i know you were being sarcastic. ;D

i'm an attention hound, so when people ignore me i get offended.

i cost these things out for a living,  part of the cost of the test is in the development of it in the first place, not just running the tests.  looking at costs for sequencing cDNA's, which we do in our lab, that cost has come down for what we charge by about 60%.  some of this was setup charges, capital expenses to run the grant, etc. we have gotten a lot more efficient, and just for grins, we have given money back every year and received no cost extensions, all at a massive savings to you the taxpayer.  so in effect, i have subsidized these tests by not finding things to spend money on, such as other grants, equipment we don't need so we can apply for other grants and reduce startup costs reducing our captial expenditures compared to other people who are applying for the same grant.    ;D

the best example i can give you about costs and their manipulation is the cost of a hammer or toilet for the military.  factored into that cost, is the fully loaded testing of the hammer to hammer it on something to "validate" it for government requirements and to document it.  that's what costs money.  the toilets were in P3 orion subchasers my dad flew in and because of the bulk of equipment and different configurations and improvements, the interior of those planes were configured differently.  each toilet had to be essentially custom designed to fit after the fact, and so stuck out like a sore thumb on a balance sheet because congressmen can't get elected based on the cost of a piece of equipment they don't understand, such as all the electronics.

i'm also not commenting directly to anyone about deductions, just the general concept. ;D  

and yes, finally, as i have indicated before, i would use a PHAC animal if it had something i wanted, say perhaps like a plethora of tenderness and carcass traits, especially in the homozygous state,  for tenderness genes, there are 4 markers, two in each gene.

one of my heifers i think has the hair you guys are after, straight and thick, without fuzzy ears.  they are not cooled and brushed.  she's also the one with all the tenderness genes and a potential PHA carrier.  i'll post a pic of the hair later.  she's outside all day, every day.  as usual, this post is too long.

 

[JbarL]

the two galloway clubbies are survivor and hairy crumb

thanks farmboy...and red....neat post...things got a bit hairy there for a bit    O0... ;D    ..but i got some good info......upon inspection 2 of 3 heifers seem to have an abundance of face and ear hair...gotta git out some old pics out now and compare...my first year on a schedule s......so thanks for the  tax info......(  maybe i'll have a question or two next april you can help me with  ;D).....neat post..........  thanks red  ............jbarl

 

[farmboy]

i am seriously considering getting some galloway semen

 

[Turkey Creek Ranch]

Im the same way red. Alls we have is a barn with 2 sullivan turbo fans....we hose the calves down everyday and brush them with wet brushes. We've tried alot of stuff, coming the hair everyday for atleast 1hour, the sullivan roto fluffer. It just gets so hot and we cant get it to grow.