SELECTIONS - Fall 2006
Health and Fertility: Select Sires Has a Large
Tool Box of Solutions
By David Thorbahn, general manager, Select Sires Inc.
 During my recent trips around our great country and other parts of the world, it has become clear to me there is a concern among dairy producers to improve the health and fertility of cattle. Breeders are always asking me, "What is the industry and Select Sires doing to improve animal health and fertility?"
First, as an industry, USDA is to be commended for taking a leading position in developing health trait evaluations like Somatic Cell Score, Daughter Calving Ease, Productive Life and Daughter Pregnancy Rate. While some improvements may still need to be made in the computations, the present direction is correct. Somatic Cell Score (SCS) identifies cows that are more predisposed or susceptible to mastitis. According to USDA, the average breeding value for SCS for U.S. Holstein cows has improved every year since 2001. Average actual Productive Life values for U.S. Holsteins have been gradually increasing since 1990. The recent improvements in the Productive Life calculations, by allowing credit for days of lactation greater than 305 days, will improve the usefulness of this trait even more. This use of Productive Life and its tie to Daughter Pregnancy Rates (DPR), have delivered actual improvements in DPR breeding values since 2002. The development and publishing of DPR has provided a tool, although low in heritability, to improve the ability of cows to become pregnant. Stillbirth evaluations recently introduced will provide another tool to improve cattle to successfully deliver live heifer calves. Select Sires supports the USDA breeding values and is using these in our selection goals for the young sires that are entering the Program for Genetic Advancement™ (PGA™).
Select Sires is proud of its industry-leading health and fertility sires like 9HO2575 Peckenstein Form BRET-ET*CV, 7HO6417 O-Bee MANfred Justice-ET and 7HO5157 Regancrest Elton DURHAM-ET*CV. We are committed to investing in the future.
Select Sires, in cooperation with Merial, is developing IGENITY® DNA testing tools to enhance the accuracy of health to help us make faster progress. DuraMAX™ is the forerunner to new and exciting tools that will allow us to develop cattle that are healthier and reproductively sound.
Select Sires is the only North American A.I. company that can utilize IGENITY profiles for use in selecting its bulls. These are readily available for your use to increase the frequency of favorable genes in your females.
Select Sires, along with partner Merial, will be making two exciting announcements concerning breakthroughs in the improvement of health and fertility in the coming months.
Finally, Select Sires has made the very best in crossbreeding genetics in the world available should you decide to use European breeds to bring some improved health and fertility traits into your herd. Crossbreeding is another alternative to improve your herd’s health and reproductive performance. Select Sires has positioned itself with the industry's leading balanced breeds for crossbreeding. The Swedish-Red is the premium Scandinavian breed for production and conformation. In addition, your cooperative represents the largest progeny test program of the Montebeliarde breed in the world.
Select Sires also offers industry-leading Jersey and Brown Swiss for your consideration. The use of a three-breed rotational cross is our recommendation if you decide to use this tool in your breeding program.
In closing, health and fertility are at the forefront of the investments that Select Sires is making for you, our customer. Select Sires continues to use the best tools from USDA to improve our young sire program. We are also providing breed-leading bulls in health and fertility, developing our own exclusive molecular tools with Merial and providing the industry’s best crossbreeding sires. These tools can be implemented in your herd by the industry’s finest sales and service team. This team is backed by our Select Reproductive Solutions™ (SRS™) program. If you need assistance from our service professionals in using these tools, please contact your local farmer-owned Select Sires cooperative.
™Program for Genetic Advancement, PGA, Select Reproductive Solutions and SRS are trademarks of Select Sires Inc.
™DuraMAX is a trademark of Merial, Duluth, Ga
®IGENITY is a registered trademark of Merial, Duluth, Ga
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