Select Sires

Select Sires Adds Bar Codes to Semen Straws

PLAIN CITY, Ohio, Dec. 13, 2006 — Select Sires prides itself on leading the industry in technological advances that improve efficiency and increase dairy and beef producers’ bottom line. Select was the first to offer gender SELECTed™ sexed semen from a comprehensive lineup of proven bulls. In addition, Select Sires partnered with Merial to make IGENITY® genetic testing a useful tool for predicting economically valuable genetic traits. Now, Select is fostering another advancement in dairy and beef production with no additional cost to the customer. Having straws from one bull already currently bar-coded, Select Sires plans to include bar codes on all semen straws by the end of 2007.

"Herds are getting bigger and sire identification is getting increasingly more complicated," said Clif Marshall, vice president of production for Select Sires. "Utilizing bar codes on semen straws will help to get data transmitted in a much more efficient manner in the future."

Select Sires is developing the straw bar codes with the expectation that other companies will come forward with bar code reading technologies in the future. "We’re taking the ‘if you build it, they will come’ approach. We’re providing the bar codes now and the reading technology will follow," Marshall said.

Many A.I. technicians are already using Personal Digital Assistants, or PDAs, to keep breeding records. Information from the PDA can be uploaded automatically to the dairy producer’s computer so that both parties always have the same, accurate records. If PDAs have the ability to also read the bar code on a semen straw, sire identification would be much more streamlined. In time, Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID tags, on cows will also be read by the PDA, which will simplify the process even more.

"In larger herds, the accuracy and speed of data entry is extremely important and bar coding semen straws will improve both of these aspects with integrated data transfer," Marshall said.

The Program for Genetic Advancement™ (PGA™) young sire sampling system will also benefit. "A potential source of error in our young sire herds is the accurate recording of the service sire," said Chuck Sattler, vice president and manager of genetic programs for Select Sires. "This project would reduce the possibility for error and make record keeping more convenient for our PGA herd owners."

7HO7872 KHW Kite ADVENT-RED-ET is currently the only bull at Select Sires whose semen straw carries a bar code. Bar-coded Holstein straws will be a lighter shade of green than is currently used because more contrast between the bars and the background is needed for the bar code to be read quickly and accurately. The stud code number, the freeze code and a single-digit miscellaneous number will be included on the bar code to provide adequate information to meet the needs of all dairy and beef producers.

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.

®IGENITY is a registered trademark of Merial, Duluth, GA
™gender SELECTed, Program for Genetic Advancement and PGA 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