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HealthMark™ and Herdlife Builder™ Two Ways To Build Longer-Lasting Cows

HealthMark sires and Herdlife Builders have the same goal of building longer-lasting cows, but they do so in different ways. Here are some main points of each to help you better understand about the differences between these two categories of sires:

HealthMark(TM) Logo
  • HealthMark sires are selected based only on PTA health traits, including Daughter Pregnancy Rate (DPR), Productive Life (PL) and Somatic Cell Score (SCS).

  • DNA marker data from the IGENITY® comprehensive profile is combined with PTA data in order to designate HealthMark sires.

  • The genetic marker data from IGENITY allows for earlier identification of sires that excel in health traits since those traits are difficult to predict and low in reliability until second-crop data is available.

  • Information from the IGENITY profile carries more weight in selection criteria when the bull has lower reliability PTA data. Sires that already have high reliability for health traits carry the HealthMark designation regardless of their IGENITY profile.

  • HealthMark was developed to help producers easily identify health-trait specialists. Incorporating genetic markers helps Select Sires identify these bulls earlier and with more confidence. The following table shows how HealthMark sires compare to the average active-A.I. Holstein, using the February 2007 lineup:
Table 1


Herdlife Builder(TM) Logo

  • The Herdlife Builder designation is assigned based on PTAs for PL, Udder Composite (UDC) and Foot and Leg Composite (FLC).

  • This category includes bulls in the top half of the breed for both foot and leg and overall udder improvement.

  • These selection criteria are backed by research from the University of Wisconsin, the Holstein Association USA and Select Sires. This research indicates that these traits are positively correlated with the longevity of cows.

  • IGENITY genetic markers are not used in any way when designating Herdlife Builders.

  • Herdlife Builder excludes bulls that are too extreme for Dairy Form, which is negatively correlated with PL.

  • Herdlife Builders stand the test of time. This table shows that Herdlife Builders deliver improvement for type traits as well as improved PL:
Table 2




™HealthMark and Herdlife Builder are trademarks of Select Sires Inc.
®IGENITY is a registered trademark of Merial.
Select Sires Inc., 11740 U.S. 42 North, Plain City, Ohio 43064 / Phone: (614) 873-4683 Fax: (614) 873-5751