DAIRY CATTLE HEALTH AND WELLBEING ARE OF CRITICAL CONCERN TO BOTH CONSUMERS AND FARMERS. TELOMERES ARE THE REPETITIVE SEQUENCE AT CHROMOSOME ENDS AND TELOMERE LENGTH (TL) IS RELATED TO DISEASE AND STRESS IN HUMANS. TL MAY SERVE AS AN INDICATOR OF WELLBEING IN LIVESTOCK SPECIES. EARLY STUDIES IN DAIRY CATTLE HAVE FOCUSED ON THE HOLSTEIN BREED. HOWEVER, DIFFERENCES MAY BE PRESENT BETWEEN DAIRY CATTLE BREEDS AND RESULTS FROM HOLSTEIN STUDIES MAY NOT BE APPLICABLE TO OTHER BREEDS. THE CURRENT PROJECT WILL ASSESS DIFFERENCES IN TELOMERE LENGTH BETWEEN HOLSTEINS, JERSEYS, MONTBELIARDE, HOLSTEIN X JERSEY CROSSES, AND HOLSTEIN X MONTBELIARDE CROSSES. IT WILL ALSO ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS WITH ON FARM COW PERFORMANCE AND WELLBEING. THE RESULTS WILL AID IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF TL AS A BIOMARKER OF ANIMAL WELLBEING.