Select Sires

Select Sires Introduces FeedPRO: More Income – Less Feed

PLAIN CITY, Ohio, August 18, 2009 — With today's dairy producers experiencing higher feed costs and lower milk prices, income over feed cost is more important than ever. That's why Select Sires took a closer look at key indicator traits which lead to improved income over feed cost to identify the new FeedPRO™ category of sires. The sires that carry this designation will be labeled as such in the August sire directory.

"Every dairy producer in the country today would love to know which bulls sire daughters with lower feed costs," said Chuck Sattler, vice president of genetic programs for Select Sires, who was instrumental in developing FeedPRO. "And that's exactly what we set out to discover – we took a close look at current research to identify the genetic traits that correlate to improved feed efficiency." With the support of a variety of current research, including an income over feed supplement cost calculator developed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Select Sires learned that selecting for a balance of production and body size was more cost effective than simply selecting for more production. Select's FeedPRO index includes production and body size traits along with additional information to assure that the resulting cows are metabolically healthy.

"Select Sires is always working to offer solutions and FeedPRO is a solution that is very much needed in today's dairy environment," Sattler said. "Bulls carrying the FeedPRO designation have the ability to make a higher-producing, moderate-sized animal that will provide customers with greater income over feed cost."

Using the April 2009 Holstein lineup, the sires that would qualify for the FeedPRO designation are, on average, nearly double the active-A.I. Holstein average for pounds of Milk, Fat and Protein.

FeedPRO can be used alongside existing designations like HealthMark™, Calving Ease, Herdlife Builder™ and Superior Settler™ to easily find sires to meet any breeding goal. FeedPRO may also be included as part of a custom-selection index that can be created by Select Mating Service™ (SMS™) genetic consultants. A listing of FeedPRO sires will be available at www.selectsires.com soon after the August sire summary.

Based in Plain City, Ohio, Select Sires Inc., is North America's largest A.I. organization and is comprised of 10 farmer-owned and -controlled cooperatives. As the industry leader, it provides highly fertile semen as well as excellence in service and programs to achieve its basic objective of supplying dairy and beef producers with North America's best genetics at a reasonable price.

™FeedPRO, HealthMark, Herdlife Builder, Superior Settler, Select Mating Service and SMS are trademarks of Select Sires Inc.

To order product contact:
Select Sires Inc., 11740 U.S. 42 North, Plain City, Ohio 43064 / Phone: (614) 873-4683 Fax: (614) 873-5751