A traditional Holstein auction during the National Holstein Convention in Cedar Rapids July 27-30 took an untraditional turn when an unborn, cloned Holstein cow sold for $100,000.

Regancrest Farms of Waukee sold an exact genetic duplicate of its 2000 Iowa State Fair Grand Champion Holstein to Hilltop Dairy of Elkton, S.D.

The sale proved that breeding cows for quality genetics is no longer a game of chance.

"I would predict that 15 to 20 years from now, transgenics and nuclear transfer (cloning) will be considered traditional breeding practices," said Dr. Tom Bailey, a veterinarian with Monsanto.

More than 1,000 registered Holstein producers from across the United States traveled to Iowa for convention. The event was the annual meeting of the Holstein Association USA, the world's largest cattle breed organization.

Dairy producers at the conference learned about the latest technology and consumer trends changing the way they raise cows.

Bailey gave Holstein producers an introductory lesson on transgenics and cloning. Both scientific practices, when perfected, will revolutionize how Holstein cattle are bred, he said.

The most unusual possibilities for cattle breeding lie in transgenics-the transfer of genes from one organism to another. Bailey said the new technology will someday allow producers to raise "designer cows" bred for specific human health purposes.

Scientists have already begun to imbed certain human genes into the genetics of dairy cows. These human genes trigger cows to produce much-needed human proteins in their milk.

One recently born cow was bred to produce milk that closely resembled human milk, Bailey said. Other cows are being bred to produce the proteins for human blood plasma in their milk.

But the technology that will provide the most immediate benefits to cattle breeders is cloning. Bailey said scientists have already cloned cattle that are disease resistant or are superior in body condition.

Before cloning becomes a typical cattle breeding practice, the industry needs to address public fears about the technology said Brian Lowry, director of industry affairs for Monsanto.

"Products that don't have the public support, don't make it to the fork," Lowry said.

He said arguments against "messing with nature" have been tossed around since the days when milk pasteurization was adopted in 1903.

Often, these concerns aren't actually about the safety of the science, but about resistance to the changing structure of American agriculture, he said.

As an indirect result of the biotech debate, dairy farmers are under mounting pressure from environmental groups and animal rights activists to change their farming practices, Lowry said.

However, he said biotechnology offers tremendous benefits to both dairy producers and consumers, including reduced pesticide use and lower food costs. Lowry encouraged the dairy industry to tout the benefits of biotechnology to consumers.

"Many people aren't in the position to make choices about biotechnology," Lowry said. "It isn't about life and death for a lot of people, but it is for many people."

Dr. Lonnie King, past administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), urged the Holstein producers to prepare for emerging threats to their industry.

"I'm worried that as an animal industry, we focus more on handling crisis than on being proactive," King said.

He said the U.S. livestock industry is becoming more dependent on consumer acceptance.

The future success of animal agriculture may come from biotechnology and its ability to design foods that promote human health, King said.

Food safety will also be important to tomorrow's consumers. King warned producers to expect a future rise in the number of new animal diseases.

Increased global travel, the emergence of anti-biotic resistant drugs and the concentration of animals and people will create breeding grounds for new diseases. "Our future strategies have to formulated," King said.