CONSISTENT RESULTS
You Can Trust
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The Select Advantage |
SELECTIONS
Summer 2003
High-Reliability,
High-TPI Sires
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SELECTIONS
Winter 2003
Reliable Genetic Superiority, Time After Time
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SELECTIONS
Fall 2002
Holstein Association Identifies Select's Contribution
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Consistent
Results
PDF 2/03
HTML 2/03
PDF 8/04 |
The Facts
For more than 35 years dairy producers have turned
to Select Sires for semen and services. Through time,
they have come to trust the genetics, the programs and
the people that are Select Sires. Today, as cattle
breeders around the world reach into their tanks for
straws with a code of 7 or 9, they have confidence they
are getting genetically superior, highly fertile semen
that will result in offspring they'll be happy
milking - time and time again.
So what is it that has created such a preference for
products and services from North America's largest A.I.
company? Let's look at the facts behind what dairy producers
know from their experience with Select Sires.
7HO3707 Paradise-R Cleitus MATHIE*CV is
the world leader in lifetime production
of frozen semen, with more than 1.5
million units produced to date ... and still going.
Rather than depending on a one-size-fits-all
reproductive system, highly trained Select
Sires professionals offer a portfolio of
reproductive solutions that can be tailored
to meet your herd's needs.
Select-sired offspring have type that shows,
including four consecutive World Dairy Expo
supreme championships and many milking-age
winners at exhibitions throughout the world.
More Than Just A Pregnancy
Discriminating producers want more than just a pregnancy.
They recognize the value of calves by genetically superior
sires. So what genetics do these producers use?
About half of the genes represented in the U.S. Holstein
active-A.I. sire population today come from Select Sires
(see Figure 1). The same is true in the U.S. Jersey active-A.I.
population. The trend
continues when looking at Canada's top 100 LPI Holstein sires.
U.S. genetics represent 64 percent of the common genes within
that group, with Select-sired genetics making up 51 percent
of the total1.
Figure 1. Percent genes-in-common among active-A.I.
Holstein sires (20 sires with highest percentage of
common genes in active population).
What this means is that both producers and other A.I. companies
have chosen Select-sired genetics for their mating programs in
the past. So what genetics are preferred today?
Breed associations regularly track registry activity showing the
bulls used most for matings. Since 1997 at least half of the top
10 Holsteins for registry activity have been Select sires
(see Table 1). In 2003, the top five sires of registered
offspring included 7HO5157 DURHAM*CV, 7HO6250 EMERSON*BL,TV,
7HO5375 BW MARSHALL*TV and 7HO5851 MAGNA*TV.
History and current sire usage show the facts: Select-sired genetics
have influenced the Holstein and Jersey breeds more positively than
the genetics of any other A.I. organization.
The Best is Yet to Come
Each year Select Sires samples more than 350 highly selected bulls
of six dairy breeds through the Program for Genetic Advancement™ (PGA™),
the world's leading progeny-testing program. This means you can
trust that semen from Select Sires will continue to provide reliable
genetic superiority in your herd for years to come.
Table 1. Select Sires' percentage of the top 10
Holstein sires for U.S. registry activity.
Type That Shows
Many A.I. organizations talk about their lineups’ ability to transmit show-ring type,
but Select Sires has delivered against this promise — generation after generation.
In 2003, DURHAM2 was named premier sire at World Dairy Expo and many
Select-sired offspring were class winners. For seven out of 10 years, a Select
bull has been named Premier Performance Sire at the All American Jersey show.
In addition to performing in the show ring, offspring of Select Sires have the kind
of type that shows a difference in commercial environments.
Rgncrst-RH Durham Bliss-ET (VG-89-EX-MS)
is representative of DURHAM’s show-winning success.
Sampling more DURHAM sons than any other A.I. stud,
Select has the DURHAM son that is right for you today
and in the future. Photo by John Erbsen.
Recent research by the University of Wisconsin and Holstein Association
USA documents that type conformation (in particular linear udder traits
and feet-and-leg composite) is an important factor in long-lived cows.
Geneticists at Select Sires have developed a practical new breeding
tool called Herdlife Builders™ that's designed to identify bulls that
are best able to sire longevity. This designation includes only the
top 50 percent of active-A.I. sires for udder composite and for
feet-and-leg composite, and excludes the highest 10 percent for dairy
form (which has a negative correlation to longevity). For more information about Herdlife Builders,
click here.
7HO3948 EMORY*TV (EX-97-GM), a customer-satisfaction sire,
has returned more sons to active-A.I. than any other bull in recent years.
Now, his proven sons are becoming second-crop success sires like
7HO5687 FORBIDDEN*TV, 7HO5708 BLITZ*TV, 7HO5742
HILLCREST*TV, 7HO5592 LOUIE*TV and 7HO5581 EQUITY*TV. Photo by Julie DeLavergne.
Reliability Breeds Consistent Results
Reliability breeds consistent results and customer satisfaction.
Producers like milking daughters of top new active-A.I. sires,
but they especially appreciate bulls that continue to sire the
good ones once their second-crop results are in. Year-in, year-out
you'll find 30 percent or more of the Top 100 bulls for TPI™ with
97 percent reliabilities at Select Sires (see Table 2). Now
that's reliability and consistency you can trust!
Table 2. Number of Select sires among the Top 100 TPI sires
with at least 97 percent U.S. reliabilities for milk and type.
Looking at Cows from Your Point of View
Busy producers know the future of their herds rests on making
the right mating decisions today. That's why they turn to SMS
for matings that will meet their own specific genetic goals,
as well as help with avoiding recessives and high levels of
inbreeding. Now in its 31st year, SMS is implemented by highly
trained, experienced evaluators who use computer technology
and good old-fashioned cow sense to help herds maximize
their genetic potential.
Each year Select Mating Service™ professionals visit more
than 14,000 herd throughout the world to make in-person
evaluations. That's one of the reasons why thousands of
herd owners trust the more than 3.5 million matings made
through SMS™ annually.
Quality Backed by Extensive Research
Each unit of Select Sires semen undergoes extensive
quality-control checks before it is approved to go out
the door. These checks meet and exceed industry standards,
and are audited by third-party experts. But, we don't stop
there. At all times we're investing resources in more than
20 research projects that study fertility, breeding protocols
and other reproductive issues that are important to producers.
Select also brings together leading researchers for reproduction
think-tank sessions each year. That's why producers can trust
each unit of highly fertile Select Sires semen, as well as the
SUPERIOR SETTLER™ designation awarded to sires that excel in
laboratory analysis and field-based non-return data.
For decades, producers have trusted Select Sires to provide
highly fertile semen from bulls that transmit both production
and type. Today, leading producers involve Select Sires
representatives as trusted members of their team.
Leading producers need the facts to make well-informed
decisions about the products and services that are best
for their herds. While the data in this brochure speaks
for itself, we encourage you to ask your representative
for more details about how Select Sires can help provide
consistent results you can trust.
Cover Photos: MATHIE photo by Frank Robinson; show ring photo
by Randy Blodgett.
™Consistent Results, You Can Trust, Herdlife Builder,
Program for Genetic Advancement, PGA, Reproductive Solutions,
Select Mating Service, SMS and SUPERIOR SETTLER are trademarks
of Select Sires Inc., Plain City, Ohio.
™TPI is a trademark of the Holstein Association USA Inc.
1Data from August 2004
2Tied with Lystel Leduc*TV
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