One-Third of Top 25 Holstein Sires Now at Select Sires PLAIN CITY, Ohio, Aug. 22, 2002 — In August, Holstein Association USA introduced its Top 100 list for Type-Production Index (TPI™), with eight of the highest 25 bulls found at Select Sires. This follows the quarterly publishing of official dairy sire evaluations by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, InterBull and breed associations. The 89 Holsteins now in Select’s active-A.I. lineup include not only these high-TPI sires, but also 13 bulls with Predicted Transmitting Abilities (PTAs) greater than +2,000 for milk, 25 that exceed +2.00 for PTA Type and 30 individuals that rate 7 or less for calving ease. "Since various management situations drive different breeding preferences, not every producer is looking for the same genetics," says Ron Long, vice president, dairy sire procurement, Select Sires. "That’s why it’s so important for Select Sires, as North America’s largest A.I. organization, to offer some of the breed’s very best sires for a wide variety of traits. What this means for producers is that whether they prefer to design matings themselves or to use a mating service like the Select Mating Service™ (SMS™), they can trust that our lineup will continue to have excellent genetic options to meet their needs." Thirteen Now Higher Than +2,000M Producers who want to maximize milk production while improving type will appreciate the 13 Select sires that literally transmit tons of milk and average +1.55 for PTAT. 7HO5708 Fustead Emory BLITZ-ET*TV leads this group for the sixth consecutive quarter with +2,283 PTAM and +2.37 PTAT. Joining him at these extreme levels for production and type is 7HO5375 Mara-Thon BW MARSHALL-ET*TV, a SUPERIOR SETTLER™ with +2,029 PTAM and +2.59 PTAT. Four Select sires graduating into active service in August have PTAMs higher than +2,000. 7HO6042 Crest-View-Acres BW SIR*TV (+2,243M +51F +55P +1.20T), 7HO6053 Lenkaitis FANTASTIC-RED-ET (+2,054M +23F +45P +1.09T) and 7HO6025 De-Matt Rudolph TEAMSTER-ET*TV (+2,012M +60F +64P +1.70T) are graduates of Select’s Program for Genetic Advancement™ (PGA™) sampling system. 9HO2538 Regancrest GEARR-ET*TV (+2,202M +61F +62P +1.55T) is a graduate of the former Genetic Opportunities for Leading Dairymen (GOLD) progeny-testing program with 80 percent yield reliability. Rounding out this elite group of high-production sires are high-reliability individuals like 7HO4937 Wa-Del BUBBA-ET*TV (+2,078 PTAM-M, 99 percent reliability, +1.54 PTAT), protein specialists (7HO5891 Ricecrest DILLON-ET*TV: PTA +2,007M +.00%P +58P +1.64T), and type improvers such as 7HO5491 Lutz-Meadows MB MOZER-ET*TV (+2,096 PTAM, +1.59 PTAT, +1.49 feet-and-leg composite) and 7HO8416 Nunesdale Bellwood ABE-ET*TV (+2,073 PTAM, +1.93 PTAT, +2.00 FLC). 25 Type Specialists Higher Than +2.00 PTAT Twenty-five Select sires have PTATs higher than +2.00 and provide the ultimate balance of extraordinary type and improved production by also averaging +1,286 for PTAM. In addition, 10 of these are on Holstein Association USA’s Top 100 TPI list, representing almost half of the 22 sires that meet this PTA standard. Once again, 7HO6352 Four-Of-A-Kind ELAND-ET*TV leads Select’s lineup and the industry with a PTAT of +3.38. This 7HO3948 MJR Blackstar EMORY-ET*TV son also is rated higher than +2.00 for all four type composites. Second for PTAT is 7HO5841 Sikkema-Star-W HI METRO-ET*CV, a 7HO3257 HIGHLIGHT Mr Mark Cinder-ET son that has been the breed’s No. 1 sire for udder composite ever since graduating into active-A.I. service. With a PTAT of +3.33, HI METRO also exceeds +2.00 for all type composites. When adding 1,372 daughters to his official summary, 7HO5157 Regancrest Elton DURHAM-ET*CV moved up to +3.15 PTAT and +1590 TPI (No. 34 in the breed). Select’s third sire to earn type-composite ratings that all are higher than +2.00, DURHAM is a SUPERIOR SETTLER and a calving-ease sire. Four additional type specialists have PTAs higher than +2.00 for type as well as udder composite and feet-and-leg composite. 7HO8419 Mr Jed APPROVAL-ET*TV (+2.65T +2.14 UDC +3.04 FLC) is Select’s highest individual for FLC, a SUPERIOR SETTLER and a components specialist. Rounding out this group are 7HO5211 Ran-Rue Highlite BLACKBART*TV (+2.09T +2.35 UDC +2.30 FLC), another HIGHLIGHT son; 7HO8425 MICHeal Storm Avalanche*TV (+2.49T +2.39 UDC +2.16 FLC), a new graduate that transmits extreme fat with PTAs of +.15%F +63F; and 9HO2704 Coyne-Farms Patron BEAVER*TV (+2.28T +2.19 UDC +2.70 FLC), a new 9HO1729 Brabant Star PATRON-ET*TV son that has the highest TPI (+1749) at Select Sires. Just missing the +2.00 benchmark for all three traits is another August graduate, 7HO8428 Nor-Som STORMY*TV (+2.10T, +1.89 UDC, +2.28 FLC), a high-components 528 Etazon CELSIUS-ET son that has PTAs of +1,652M +.08%F +79F +.02%P +55P +604 CM$, +1718 TPI. Eight Select Sires Surpass +1600 TPI Holstein breeders looking for a balance of high production and sound type often use the TPI index as a selection tool. Close behind BEAVER (breed’s No. 5 at +1749) and STORMY (breed’s No. 7 at +1718) is 7HO5851 Sikkema-Star Air MAGNA-ET*TV with the breed’s ninth-highest TPI of +1699. His extremely balanced PTAs are +1,748M +.09%F +86F +.03%P +59P +557 NM$ +2.21T +.86 UDC +1.55 FLC. This SUPERIOR SETTLER provides a unique breeding option, being a 7HO3938 Ellbank AIRLINER son with a low +4.6 inbreeding coefficient. In his active-A.I. debut, 7HO6025 De-Matt Rudolph TEAMSTER-ET*TV became Select’s fourth-highest TPI sire with +1643. Now the breed’s 17th-highest TPI sire at +1639-M, 7HO5710 Pagen-Ernwood DANE-ET*TV leads the Select lineup for Net Merit Dollars with +597. 9HO2517 Glen-D-Haven Rudolph JETTA*CV has moved up the TPI list to rank 23rd with +1611 and now leads the lineup for Productive Life with +3.1 (55 percent reliability). Rounding out the breed’s top 25 for TPI with +1608 are 7HO5687 Sandy-Valley FORBIDDEN-ET*TV, an extremely balanced calving-ease sire, and 7HO5992 Holstein-Forum LANDLORD-ET*TV, a May graduate. 30 of the Lowest Calving-Ease Sires In August the National Association of Animal Breeders introduced semi-annual calving-ease data using new calculations that are designed to improve accuracy of identifying sire contributions to this trait. Thirty bulls at Select Sires earned August service-sire calving-ease values of 7 percent difficult births in heifers or less. Collectively, these sires average +1,394 PTAM and +1.42 PTAT, with 14 of these sires higher than +1,500 PTAM and 20 higher than +1.00 PTAT. Four Select sires are listed at a low 5 percent for calving ease, including 9HO2246 Henkeseen HILTON-TW*CV (+1,305 PTAM, +1.57T), 7HO5300 Catalina Mathie MAGNUM*CV (+1,633 PTAM, +76 PTAF), 7HO5234 Ricecrest BRANDON-ET*CV (+1,463 PTAM +419 Fluid Merit Dollars) and 9HO1708 Windcrest Leadman JUDGE-ET*TV (+316 PTAM +42 PTAF). "Since NAAB research documents that first-lactation animals are two to three times more likely to experience a difficult calving than older cows, efforts to minimize calving problems need to focus on heifers," says Long. "These new industry calving-ease evaluations provide us with more accurate genetic information to help manage calving difficulty. With more than one-third of our lineup coded seven or less for this trait, Select Sires gives producers a wide array of genetic choices to meet priorities for production, udders, and feet and legs, while alleviating some of the calving stress through their heifer-A.I. programs." 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 America’s best genetics at a reasonable price. ™TPI is a trademark of Holstein Association USA ™Select Mating Service, SMS, Program for Genetic Advancement, PGA and SUPERIOR SETTLER are trademarks of Select Sires Inc. Copyright 1996-2002 Select Sires Inc. Last updated 29-Aug-2002.