Select Mating Service (SMS)
Customer Satisfaction with SMS
Mitch Breunig, breeder of 7HO7359 LOU Mystic Valley Dairy, Sauk City, WI: "Our evaluator, Kevin Jorgensen, comes and evaluates the cows that have calved since the last time he was here. We sit down and pick out the group of bulls we want to use and then let the mating program use them the best way. Part of the success of SMS is having a good person doing a good job. The evaluator needs to understand your goals and help you get there. I have seen an improvement in type and I think SMS really helps you develop consistency and uniformity within your cows."
Rod Habel, Lolynd Farms, New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada: "With the SMS program, we enjoy the flexibility it provides. In seven years, we have seen a great improvement in our herd’s type and production. Select Sires Canada evaluator Hugh Van Hout and their technician, Paul Eby, make it easy to select the sires for our herd. We have noticed a real increase in the average score of our 2-year-olds and the cows just seem to last longer. We use a fairly large selection of sires, but the program allows us to maintain the uniformity that we look for. SMS has allowed us to improve our herd and in my opinion, is a way for any dairy producer to improve his herd.
Don and Tammy Fahey, Edgar, WI: "The biggest advantage of SMS is that it saves us time and work. The A.I. technician can just come in and look at the mating sheet and we don't have to know all the bloodlines. We always enjoy having our evaluator, Don Mullen, come out, too. He's a nice guy to work with and is really knowledgeable. SMS really gives the farmer a bit of an advantage. When we started the dairy about 11 years ago, the herd we purchased was a bunch of cows thrown together. We’ve produced quite a few good daughters by using SMS and we've really turned the herd around. We're 100 percent registered now."
Jake Dehoog, Parma, ID: "I'll pick a few bulls out that I think might work and then I'll ask our evaluator, Pete Matousek, if they'll be a good fit. It's a mutual thing working between the two of us. I trust Pete's opinion extensively. I wouldn't want to make any moves on my cows without talking with him first. The biggest advantage of SMS is preventing inbreeding. Look at 7HO1897 BLACKSTAR. He's got a tremendous amount of sons there and if you don't pay attention, you could run into inbreeding. It's just not a good situation. SMS allows us to use the sires we want, even sons of sires, and know we won't run into inbreeding problems. SMS is well worth it. It takes time, but you do see the gradual improvement of cows from generation to generation. My dad started breeding with Select Sires in 1968 and we've never changed. We've been extremely happy and pleased with Select Sires."