Ron dedicated 30 years of service to Select Sires Inc., retiring in 2003 as vice president of genetic programs. He served as director of sire procurement and type evaluation programs during his career at Select Sires and is celebrated for his dedication and development of the world-renowned Select Mating Service® (SMS®).
Ron was known as "Select Sires Evaluator No. 1." He not only built the foundation for the technical program, but he was the first on-farm, cow-side evaluator working on behalf of farmers. "The goal of the program was to focus on the genetics and mating that the customer needed, not what we thought they needed," said Ron during an interview for Select Sires' 50th anniversary history book. What once was done on paper with limited sire data has now grown and developed into the most widely used and most successful computerized mating program worldwide. Ron was truly a visionary that worked for the good of the dairy farmer, as evidenced by his submission in the 1973 Annual Report of Select Sires: "Since this segment of the dairy department is relatively new, this report will contain more of the plans for the future, rather than what happened in the year 1973," said Ron. "With the increased concern for good functional type of high-producing cattle by our dairymen, it was the feeling of management that Select Sires should put more effort in the area of herd consultation and type evaluation of daughters of bulls coming through our young sire program." Ron influenced the culture, mindset and mission of Select Sires' consultants in 1973, and his legacy continues today as consultants in year 2025 have the same goals to drive genetic progress and secure profitable futures of dairies around the world.
First SMS conference in 1978 led by Ron Long.
His expertise in dairy cattle judging took him to local county fairs as well as national and international exhibitions, namely the International Holstein Show at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. As a judge, classifier, and representative of Select Sires, he traveled to every state in the U.S. and 29 countries on six continents. Ron was a member of Holstein Association USA’s Genetic Index Committee, served as president of the National Dairy Shrine, and was recognized as a Hall of Service Honoree by The Ohio State University Department of Dairy Science.
Ron was a member of Milford Center United Methodist Church, Union County Master Gardeners, past president of the Urbana Country Club, and volunteered for 15 years with Memorial Hospital Mobile Meals. In retirement, he devoted himself to what he fondly called his “four G’s” – golfing, gardening, grandkids, and grandma. He took great pride in the care of his home and property, and above all, in his family. He was a devoted and loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, and friend.
Select Sires is grateful to have known Ron and the organization lifts his family in prayer as they celebrate his life.
Select Sires celebrated the 50th anniversary of the SMS program in 2024 and was privileged to include Ron in the feature below. Many team members interviewed spoke highly of Ron and detailed his influence.