Select Sires

Griggs Named Select Sires
Evaluator of the Year

PLAIN CITY, Ohio, Aug. 3, 2006 — Robert "Bobby" Griggs, Seminole, Okla., is Select Sires' 2006 Select Mating Service™ (SMS™) Evaluator of the Year. Griggs received this honor at the Select Sires annual SMS Evaluators' Conference, held in June in Green Bay, Wis.

This national award is presented to an evaluator that exemplifies the qualities that make the SMS service known world-wide as the premier mating program in the industry. The recipient must have years of superior service, a history of high-quality evaluations and the ability to build and maintain successful relationships with dairy producers.

"The strength of SMS personnel has always been a key advantage Select Sires has in serving the customer and Bobby Griggs exemplifies all the qualities that go into this recognition," says Lon Peters, vice president dairy sire product services manager for Select Sires. "Bobby is highly respected by his customers and has earned their trust in designing their breeding programs. He has exceptional communications skills, outstanding knowledge of bloodlines and a positive attitude and passionate work ethic."

While owning and operating Golden Dew Guernsey and Holstein farm for 25 years, Griggs developed a keen eye for quality cattle. He has earned 10 premier exhibitor awards at national Guernsey shows in Louisville, Ky. and Madison, Wis. and has bred numerous All-American winners and two national grand champions. He is a nationally-recognized judge with a flare for giving reasons. Griggs was recently awarded the 2006 American Guernsey Association's Distinguished Service Award.

Griggs attended University of Central Oklahoma where he earned his master's degree. He began working part-time for COBA/Select Sires in 1996. A year later, the demand for his service expanded to a full-time position in the COBA marketing area where he currently has customers in Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle, as well as the Windthorst and Stephenville areas of Texas. Griggs also enjoys baseball, football and especially high school basketball, which is always an important topic of discussion among Oklahoma dairy producers.

"Bobby loves good cows and good cow people from coast to coast. His life is the dairy industry, which comes through in his sincere desire to help dairy producers breed a better herd of cows," says Peters.

Since 1973, SMS has provided dairy producers with a labor saving, user-friendly approach to mating programs. Professional SMS evaluators work with herd managers to understand breeding objectives, evaluate each animal individually and use research and computerized analysis to develop matings.

Based in Plain City, Ohio, Select Sires Inc., is North America’s largest A.I. organization and is comprised of 10 farmer-owned and -controlled cooperatives. As the industry leader, it provides highly fertile semen as well as excellence in service and programs to achieve its basic objective of supplying dairy and beef producers with North America’s best genetics at a reasonable price.

™Select Mating Service and SMS are trademarks of Select Sires Inc.

Select Sires Inc., 11740 U.S. 42 North, Plain City, Ohio 43064 / Phone: (614) 873-4683 Fax: (614) 873-5751