SELECTIONS - Winter 2006
BW MARSHALL and Sons:
The Best is Yet to Come
7HO5375 Mara-Thon BW MARSHALL-ET tops Holstein Association USA’s list of Top 100 TPI™ bulls with 99 percent Reliability for Milk and Type after November 2005 proofs. Charlie Will, manager of Select’s Holstein sire program, describes the bull as the undisputable king of
production and type to ever hit the breed.
But there’s more good news for breeders who admire BW MARSHALL and all he does in the herd: He has a new crop of superior sons in the marketplace, and many more coming down the pike to give their sire a run for his money.
Will brought BW MARSHALL to Select. He first saw the bull’s dam, a 7HO2236 Emprise Bell ELTON*CV, BL daughter, on the Brad Morgan dairy in Sears, Mich.
He immediately fell in love with her exceptional feet and legs, power and width.
"She was impressive and had strength hard to come by in high-production cows," Will said.
When Will saw Morgan-Valley Elton Mara again, in her second lactation on the Brian Brunick dairy, she looked better yet, prompting the sire analyst to pick up the contract for her coming son out of Maizefield Bellwood-ET. The sire-in-waiting had not yet been released, but Brunick worked to secure semen for the flush breeding.
The result of that breeding was BW MARSHALL, one of the first Bellwoods on the ground in the U.S. Soon after, Bellwood was released and rose to No. 3 on the TPI list with Mara’s sire, ELTON, right behind.
"Things fell into place extraordinarily well. It’s gratifying when good things happen to good people like these breeders, who believed in the cow families enough to use them in their own herd," Will said of Morgan and Brunick.
Exceeded Expectations
BW MARSHALL graduated into active A.I. in February 2000 and went on to climb the TPI rankings summary after summary.
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Morgan-Valley Elton Mara, the dam of 7HO5375 Mara-Thon BW MARSHALL-ET.
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His data skyrocketed when second-crop daughters arrived for the May 2003 summary, Will said.
"His second-crop daughters exceeded expectations. They are extreme for production and conformation." Today, BW MARSHALL has more than 17,000 daughters in over 3,600 herds. His data is impressive, as well: +1,981 Milk,
+42 Fat and +45 Protein with +2.09 PTAT and +1710 TPI-M at 99 percent Reliability.
BW MARSHALL is the only sire since 7HO1897 To-Mar BLACKSTAR-ET to have more than 100 sons progeny-tested by Select Sires, according to Will. “That shows our confidence in his ability to sire desirable traits through sons,” he said.
Elite Proofs
Select Sires’ current lineup includes six BW MARSHALL sons, including the only four in active A.I. with proof data backed by more than 100 daughters in 100 herds, thanks to the exceptional sampling through Select’s Super Sampler™
program.
Charlie Will hit a goldmine when he placed the congratulatory call to breeder Brunick for his success on the BW MARSHALL match-up. Will found Brunick had used BW MARSHALL on flushes and already had two bull calves
and two heifers on the ground.
"I picked those bulls up immediately and that’s how we got 7HO6682 B-Hiddenhills Mar MARMAX-ET*RC. It was a bonus he was a red carrier, to boot," Will said.
MARMAX is very popular in commercial herds for his great strength, high milk
production (+1,864M) and exceptional feet and legs (+2.08 FLC).
The Next Crop
The November 2005 lineup introduced five new BW MARSHALL sons who give a full range of options to improve herds for milk production, components, udders, feet and legs and for heifer calving ease.
Leading the November graduates was 7HO7156 Honeycrest ELEGANT-ET, who died after sampling and has limited semen availability.
ELEGANT is the highest TPI (+1792) son in the breed over 90 percent Reliability and is being used heavily as a sire father at Select. His combination of solid milk production, components and health traits make him an exceptional choice
for creating the next generation.
7HO7193 Raggi Marshall DESIGN-ET*CV is a headliner for milk at +1,863, according to Will. This sire is out of a full sister to 7HO5841 Sikkema-Star-W HI METRO-ET*CV and is a descendant of the Elton Maycy cow family famous for excellent type transmitting abilities.
7HO7135 Creek BWMarshall DAKOTA-ET sires the desired balance of strength and dairyness and is elite as an udder and foot and leg improver (+1.42 UDC and +1.61 FLC).
7HO7192 Pride Marshall FAULK 504-ET combines all-around type traits and brings style, high milk and fat production.
7HO7180 FAR-O-La Mar Sable Shane-ET is known for excellent foot and leg improvement (+1.81 FLC) and provides a low Somatic Cell Score (2.98 SCS). Full-brother
7HO7183 Far-O-La Mar SABLE Shawn-ET maintains high milk with superior fat production (+1,340M +62F), is among BW MARSHALL’s best sons for udders (+1.72 UDC) and is an excellent choice for calving ease at a low 6% CE.
"He’s had a real impact, maybe more than any other bull in a decade," Will summarized of BW MARSHALL.
"And now we’re seeing great things in his sons," he said, proving the industry
is just beginning to feel what is sure to be his long-lasting effects.
™TPI is a trademark of Holstein Association USA
™Super Sampler is a trademark of Select Sires Inc.
11/05 Rel.: MARMAX, IB-M/USA Prod. 97% and Type 94%; ELEGANT, HA 88%; DESIGN, USDA 92%; DAKOTA, HA 83%; FAR-O, HA 77% and SCS 64%; and SABLE, USDA 89%, HA 79% and CE 88%.
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