Select Sires

Select Sires Teams Up with University of Minnesota to Evaluate Profitability of Crossbreeding

PLAIN CITY, Ohio, October 31, 2008 — In keeping with two of Select Sires’ core values (product and service innovation and commitment to research), an eight-year crossbreeding study of more than 4,000 dairy cows in 10 Minnesota commercial dairies has been initiated. The project will compare purebred Holsteins to crossbreds in a three-breed rotational system using elite sires from the Holstein, Swedish Red and Montbeliarde breeds.

“Core to the mission of Select Sires is to enhance the productivity and profitability of dairy producers,” said David Thorbahn, president and chief executive officer for Select Sires. “We believe a key way to fully understand the opportunity available through crossbreeding is to invest in such a study.”

The objective of the study is to compare the profitability of crossbred dairy cattle with purebred Holsteins. Throughout the 10 dairies, 4,185 pure Holstein heifers and cows have been committed to the study and will be mated using Select Mating Service™ (SMS™). Approximately 40 percent of the foundation pure Holsteins will continue to be bred to elite, proven Holstein A.I. sires in successive generations throughout the years of the study. They will be bred to sires that rank among the eightieth percentile or higher for Net Merit Dollars with emphasis on fitness traits, udders and feet and legs. Then, 30 percent of the foundation heifers and cows will be mated to high-ranking Montbeliarde A.I. sires while the remaining 30 percent will be bred to high-ranking Swedish Red A.I. sires. Minnesota Select Sires sales representatives and professional technicians will be working closely with the dairies to manage sire selection, inventories and inseminations.

"Supported by a strong group of milk processors, Minnesota’s dairy industry is rebounding in both cow numbers and production," said Chris Sigurdson, general manager for Minnesota Select Sires. "Innovative ideas looking at alternative dairying practices and collaborative efforts will be fundamental to the industry’s success in the future. This study is one such effort."

The 10 dairies are located throughout Minnesota and range in size from 250 to 1,620 cows. "These dairies are among the best in Minnesota for production and reproductive management," said Dr. Les Hansen, professor for the University of Minnesota. "The Minnesota study will emphasize the evaluation of health traits, including calving difficulty, stillbirth, fertility and survival. More importantly, a full enterprise evaluation focusing on the bottom line of these dairies will be key to understanding the effect of crossbreeding on profitability."

Lyle Kruse, vice president of U.S. market development for Select Sires, concludes, “It is important for an organization like ours to carefully examine the best genetics available as defined by our variety of customers, their production systems and their markets. This effort is additive to our industry-leading commitment to the current breeds of dairy cattle broadly used in the United States.” This study is funded by the University of Minnesota and by five internationally recognized genetics organizations: Coopex, France; Viking Genetics, Denmark and Sweden; Creative Genetics of California; Minnesota Select Sires; and Select Sires Inc.

^TMSelect 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