BLITZ Surpasses 1.5 Million Units
PLAIN CITY, Ohio, November 9, 2009 — Select Sires is proud to announce that Millionaire Club member 7HO5708 Fustead Emory BLITZ-ET has produced and sold more than 1.5 million units of semen, a milestone achieved by very few sires. BLITZ becomes the third sire in Select Sires' federation history to achieve the mark. He is preceded by 7HO3707 Paradise-R Cleitus MATHIE*CV with 1,507,204 units and 7HO4213 Robthom INTEGRITY-ET with lifetime sales of 1,502,524 units. At 13 years of age and on weekly collection, it is likely that BLITZ will surpass MATHIE soon to become the number one production bull of all time for Select Sires. This achievement can be credited to BLITZ's high semen production ability and extreme customer satisfaction throughout the world. It is also a testament to the exceptional care that bulls receive at Select Sires.
"BLITZ has strengthened his position as a truly elite sire because of this milestone," said Blaine Crosser, vice president dairy sire product line and sales management for Select Sires. "For a bull to sell a million units of semen, he must be long-lived and a superior semen producer. Most importantly, he must transmit performance traits that are in high demand by dairy producers around the globe."
BLITZ certainly meets these criteria. He is the special kind of bull that transmits traits that never go out of style. He is an Excellent (95) Gold Medal sire and a true milk master. BLITZ continues to rank among Select's top-10 lineup sires for Milk at +2,231, and he holds the No. 1 spot for Milk in Canada at 99% Rel. Part of BLITZ's appeal is that he is not only a superior production sire - his +2.26 PTAT makes daughters who have achieved success on classification day and on the tanbark for their owners.
In October 2006, Select Sires released gender SELECTed™ semen for BLITZ, and he has remained in constant demand from breeders who desire high-quality replacement heifers in every market.
 Five BLITZ sons with five different grandsires are currently making waves in the genetic pool at Select Sires. 7HO7560 Zimmerview BLITZ JINTX-ET, Excellent (92) Gold Medal, a calving-ease sire (7% CE) has surpassed BLITZ for milk production at +2,406M. 7HO7712 Velvet-View-KJ SOCRATES-ET, Excellent (94) Gold Medal, ranks No. 51 on Holstein's Top 100 TPI™ list at +1857 GTPI and is +529NM$ and +4.6PL. Another calving-ease sire (7% CE), 7HO7735 By-My Blitz CADET-ET, Excellent (91), also improves Productive Life at +4.5PL. 7HO7744 Palmcrest Blitz BLADE-ET, Excellent (93) Gold Medal, is a result of the magic cross of BLITZ on 7HO5157 Regancrest Elton DURHAM-ET*CV and excels in type traits. At +2.80 PTAT, he improves overall stature, strength, and body depth. In addition, his daughters have exceptional udders - no surprise with his +2.53 Udder Composite. Last but by no means least, 7HO7762 Diamond-Oak FLINT-ET, Excellent (90), also offers outstanding type at +2.44 PTAT and improves feet and legs at +2.39FLC. FLINT is also a calving-ease sire (7% CE). Like their sire, CADET, BLADE and FLINT are all available in gender SELECTed semen.
"BLITZ has transcended every market throughout the world and has made a positive impact in each one," said Charlie Will, manager, Holstein sire selection for Select Sires. He purchased BLITZ for Select Sires as part of the premier progeny test program, the Program for Genetic Advancement™ (PGA™) and BLITZ graduated into Select's active lineup in 2001.
Will began a close working relationship with Brian and Wendy Fust, the breeders of BLITZ, when Nectarlin Billie Bob Mark caught his eye. He suggested Fust consider using 7HO1897 To-Mar BLACKSTAR-ET, who at the time was not yet released, on Billie Bob, a 7HO980 Walkway CHIEF MARK daughter and BLITZ's great grandam. Fust agreed and Will supplied the pre-released BLACKSTAR semen for the mating. That breeding produced 11 calves including Fustead B-Star Blossum-ET (EX-90-EX-MS-GMD-DOM). Five bull calves also resulted, all of which went on to graduate into A.I. service as proven sires. Will then mated Blossum's best daughter, Fustead Tesk Bev (EX-90-EX-MS-GMD-DOM), to 7HO3948 MJR Blackstar EMORY-ET. The result of this mating was BLITZ, now considered EMORY's greatest son. Tesk Bev was a great milk producer, making nearly 46,000 pounds in one year. "At the time, EMORY was siring great conformation so it's no surprise that BLITZ turned out to be a high type and high milk sire," adds Will.
Brian Fust has been extremely pleased with the success of BLITZ and the entire cow family. "Charlie deserves the credit for the whole family," Fust said. "We had a jump on the BLACKSTARs and that's where it all started." Fust also doesn't mind the attention they receive because of BLITZ. "It's very rewarding. It's so fun talking to people about him; the whole experience has been very positive."
Producing such a popular bull is an accomplishment some breeders only dream about. "A lot of breeders spend a lifetime trying to breed an animal that will make a difference," Will said. "BLITZ has made a difference in tens of thousands of herds throughout the world."
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.
Source: 08/09 USDA Genomic Evaluation, USDA/HA Genomic Type Evaluation and Interbull; M=USA/IB-Mace, Canadian Dairy Network and Holstein Association USA. BLITZ USDA 99%M, Type 99%M; BLITZ JINTX USDA 98%, CE 97%; SOCRATES USDA 94%, NM 91%, PL 83%, CE 99%; CADET PL 86%, CE 97%; BLADE Type 94%; FLINT CE 97%, Type 89%. ™Program for Genetic Advancement, PGA and gender SELECTed are trademarks of Select Sires Inc. TPI is a trademark of Holstein Association USA.
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