May Holstein Lineup Gives Producers Choices for Summer Breeding PLAIN CITY, Ohio, May 24, 2002 — Backed by the May 13 quarterly publishing of official dairy sire evaluations by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, InterBull and Holstein Association USA, Select Sires has announced that 89 Holsteins are in its current active-A.I. lineup. The size and scope of the lineup provides dairy producers a wide variety of proven sires with high Predicted Transmitting Abilities (PTAs) for both production and type from which they can choose to design their summer breeding programs. "In addition to focusing on the highly fertile, balanced genetics offered by the entire Holstein lineup, Select Sires has designated 36 of these sires as SUPERIOR SETTLERs™," says Charles Sattler, vice president, dairy progeny testing and genetic research, Select Sires. "As the heat of summer approaches, herd managers become especially focused on fertility. While they know that environment and management are the primary factors affecting conception rates, producers trust the SUPERIOR SETTLER designation as a secondary selection criterion. Not only are these sires awarded this trademark of the highest fertility, but as a group they also average +1,296 pounds for Predicted Transmitting Ability for Milk (PTAM) and +1.51 for PTA Type - giving producers more than just a pregnancy." Tons of Milk from High-Conception Sires Two individuals giving herds a reproductive edge are SUPERIOR SETTLERs that are among the 10 Select sires higher than +2,000 PTAM. For the fifth, consecutive sire summary 7HO5708 Fustead Emory BLITZ-ET*TV has Select’s highest value for PTAM at +2,363, and also is one of Select’s top 10 for type (+2.36 PTAT). 7HO5891 Ricecrest DILLON-ET*TV has climbed to his highest PTA levels (+2,033 PTAM, +1.62 PTAT) since graduating from the Program for Genetic Advancement™ (PGA™) sire-sampling system as a fertility specialist last November. Also in high demand in all milk markets are 7HO5630 Nors C Emory CALVIN-ET*CV (+2,257 PTAM, +1.49 PTAT), a highly reliable 7HO3948 MJR Blackstar EMORY-ET son with 95% yield reliability; 7HO8416 Nunesdale Bellwood ABE-ET*TV (+2,212 PTAM, +1.95 PTAT), a calving-ease sire; 7HO5442 Muranda Mandel MOE-ET*TV (+2,187 PTAM, +1.09 PTAT), a consistently high +546 Net Merit Dollars (NM$) sire and Select’s highest-yielding protein sire at +63 PTAP; 7HO5375 Mara-Thon BW MARSHALL-ET*TV (+2,119 PTAM, +2.60 PTAT), a top 25 Type-Production Index (TPI™) sire at +1630; 7HO5491 Lutz-Meadows MB MOZER-ET*TV (+2,077 PTAM, +1.63 PTAT), a high-components (+44 PTAP, +69 PTAF) sire that improves feet and legs with a +1.50 feet-and-leg composite (FLC); and 7HO5752 Sullys Bellwood SUPREME-ET*TV (+2,059 PTAM, +1.07 PTAT), another November 2001 PGA graduate with yield values of +56 PTAP +60 PTAF +530 NM$. Reliable Performance Instills Customer Satisfaction Rounding out Select Sires’ top 10 that are higher than +2,000 PTAM are 7HO4937 Wa-Del BUBBA-ET*TV (+2,099 PTAM-M, +1.57 PTAT), who received more second-crop data in May with the addition of 1,275 new daughters to his proof, and 7HO4637 Ladys-Manor WINCHESTER-ET*TV (+2,194 PTAM-M, +0.47 PTAT-M), who added production information from 3,518 new daughters this summary. At 99 percent reliability for production, each consistently sires high-producing, profitable results, which lead to customer satisfaction. It’s this level of reliable performance that places these two in the tried-and-true category with production stalwarts like 7HO4525 Lenzway Tesk RUBYTOM-ET*TV (+1,871 PTAM), 7HO4638 Ricecrest Tesk TERRY*TV (+1,763 PTAM) and 7HO4324 Ridge-Heights BENDIX-ET*TV (+1,605 PTAM). Perennial favorites 9HO1729 Brabant Star PATRON-ET*TV, 7HO3707 Paradise-R Cleitus MATHIE*CV, 7HO4213 Robthom INTEGRITY-ET*TV and EMORY*TV reinforced their positions in the Holstein population by adding significant numbers of daughters again this summary. Sound Type Impacts Longevity According to research conducted by Holstein Association USA on Productive Life (PL), udder depth and fore udder attachment are the two most important linear traits for explaining longevity. And, bulls that sire cows that last longer also sire cows with better feet and legs. That is why industry demand is so high for semen from sires with PTAT values of +2.00 or more and high type-composite scores. It is generally accepted that Select Sires has the broadest selection of type-improving sires that also improve production. In May, 21 Select sires are higher than +2.00 PTAT; six of which are higher that +2.50 PTAT and three that are the only ones in the breed to exceed the extreme of +3.00 PTAT. These 21 sires also have average PTAs of +1,310M +37F +34P +345 NM$, as well as +2.12 for udder composite (UDC) and +1.59 FLC. 7HO6352 Four-Of-A-Kind ELAND-ET*TV is once again the breed’s highest sire for PTAT at +3.38, with +2.56 UDC and +2.38 FLC. Second in the breed for PTAT is 7HO5841 Sikkema-Star-W HI METRO-ET*CV, a 7HO3257 HIGHLIGHT Mr Mark Cinder-ET son who climbed to +3.33 PTAT this summary. HI METRO also remains the breed’s No. 1 sire for udder composite at +3.52 and has +2.18 FLC. The third-highest Holstein for PTAT is customer-satisfaction sire 7HO5157 Regancrest Elton DURHAM-ET*CV (+3.09T, +2.94 UDC, +2.91 FLC). Two additional type specialist that are higher than +2.00 for these three composites are 7HO8419 Mr Jed APROVAL-ET*TV (+2.68T, +2.16 UDC, +2.92 FLC) and 7HO5211 Ran-Rue Highlite BLACKBART*TV (+2.09T, +2.33 UDC, +2.29 FLC) - another HIGHLIGHT son. MARSHALL (+2.60T, +1.98 UDC, +1.78 FLC) and 7HO6131 Regancrest Emory DERRY-ET*TV (+2.51T, +2.10 UDC, +1.45 FLC) also are among the breed’s elite sires with PTATs greater than +2.50. Type, Longevity and TPI Still in active-A.I. service at 13 years of age, EMORY anchors the +2.00 listing with PTAs of +2.01T, +1.73 UDC, +1.62 FLC, +1,227 PTAM-M. He transmits these balanced genetics through his 14 proven sons at Select Sires, seven of which are at the top of the type rankings, including ELAND, DERRY, 7HO5653 Halo Emory BRASS-ET*TV (+2.49T, +2.08 UDC, +1.17 FLC), 7HO5592 Wil-Hart E LOUIE-ET*TV (+2.39T, +1.98 UDC, +1.49 FLC), BLITZ (+2.36T, +2.13 UDC, +1.28 FLC), 7HO5687 Sandy-Valley FORBIDDEN-ET*TV (+2.34T, +1.71 UDC, +1.16 FLC) and 7HO5742 Henkeseen HILLCREST-ET*TV (+2.34T, +1.71 UDC, +1.56 FLC). Type also has a significant value in the Holstein Association USA’s TPI formula. Ranking third in the breed for TPI with +1784, 7HO5851 Sikkema-Star Air MAGNA-ET*TV has one of the most balanced sets of PTAs in the industry with +2.29T +.93 UDC +1.57 FLC +1,859M +.09%F +91F +.03%P +62P +614 NM$ +630 CM$. A 7HO3938 Ellbank AIRLINER son, he has a low value of +4.6 for expected inbreeding of future progeny. Also higher than +1600 TPI and +2.00 PTAT are 7HO6250 Ricecrest EMERSON-ET*BL,TV (+1663 TPI, +2.36T), FORBIDDEN (+1650 TPI, +2.35T) and MARSHALL (+1630 TPI, +2.60T). Up-To-Date Sire-Evaluation Statistics Readily Available Producers can obtain additional details about all 89 Holsteins in the Select Sires lineup from a single-source - www.selectsires.com. This information is free to producers and others interested in obtaining information about breed-leading Holstein sires. In addition, people can contact the Select Sires representative nearest them to learn more about how to best incorporate Select’s broad portfolio of genetic choices into their herds. Based in Plain City, Ohio, Select Sires Inc. is a federation of 10 farmer-owned and controlled cooperatives. It provides highly fertile semen as well as excellence in service and programs to achieve its basic objective of supplying livestock breeders with American’s best genetics at a reasonable price. ™Program for Genetic Advancement, PGA and SUPERIOR SETTLER are trademark of Select Sires Inc. ™TPI is a trademark of Holstein Association USA, Brattleboro, VT Copyright 1996-2002 Select Sires Inc. Last updated 29-May-2002.