CONSISTENT RESULTS
You Can Trust
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The Select Advantage |
High-Reliability,
High-TPI Sires
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Reliable Genetic Superiority, Time After Time
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Holstein Association Identifies Select's Contribution
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Consistent Results
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The Facts
For more than 35 years dairy producers have turned
to Select Sires for semen and services. Through time,
they have come to trust the genetics, the programs and
the people that are Select Sires. Today, as cattle
breeders around the world reach into their tanks for
straws with a code of 7 or 9, they have confidence they
are getting genetically superior, highly fertile semen
that will result in offspring they'll be happy
milking - time and time again.
So what is it that has created such a preference for
products and services from North America's largest A.I.
company? Let's look at the facts behind what dairy producers
know from their experience with Select Sires.
7HO3707 Paradise-R Cleitus MATHIE*CV is
the world leader in lifetime production
of frozen semen, with more than 1.4
million units produced to date.
Rather than depending on a one-size-fits-all
reproductive system, highly trained Select
Sires professionals offer a portfolio of
reproductive solutions that can be tailored
to meet your herd's needs.
Select-sired offspring have type that shows,
including four consecutive World Dairy Expo
supreme championships and many milking-age
winners at exhibitions throughout the world.
More Than Just A Pregnancy
Discriminating producers want more than just a pregnancy.
They recognize the value of calves by genetically superior
sires. So what genetics do these producers use?
About half of the genes represented in the U.S. Holstein
active-A.I. sire population today come from Select Sires
(see Figure 1). The same is true in the U.S. Jersey active-A.I.
population (more than 50 percent genes-in-common)1. The trend
continues when looking at Canada's top 100 LPI Holstein sires.
U.S. genetics represent 57 percent of the common genes within
that group, with Select-sired genetics making up 63 percent
of that1.
Figure 1. Percent genes-in-common among active-A.I.
Holstein sires (20 sires with highest percentage of
common genes in active population).
What this means is that both producers and other A.I. companies
have chosen Select-sired genetics for their mating programs in
the past. So what genetics are preferred today?
Breed associations regularly track registry activity showing the
bulls used most for matings. Since 1997 at least half of the top
10 Holsteins for registry activity have been Select sires
(see Table 1). In 2002, four of the top five sires of registered
offspring included 7HO5157 DURHAM*CV, 7HO6250 EMERSON*BL,TV,
7HO5375 BW MARSHALL*TV and 7HO6352 ELAND*TV.
History and current sire usage show the facts: Select-sired genetics
have influenced the Holstein and Jersey breeds more positively than
the genetics of any other A.I. organization.
The Best is Yet to Come
Each year Select Sires samples more than 350 highly selected bulls
of six dairy breeds through the Program for Genetic Advancement™,
the world's leading progeny-testing program. This means you can
trust that semen from Select Sires will continue to provide reliable
genetic superiority in your herd for years to come.
Table 1. Select Sires' percentage of the top 10
Holstein sires for U.S. registry activity.
Type That Shows
Select-sired offspring made a clean sweep of the grand and reserve
grand championships at both World Dairy Expo, Madison, Wis., and the
Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, Toronto, in 2002. Last fall 7JE356
SAMBO became premier sire of the All American Jersey Show, Louisville,
Ky., for the second, consecutive year, marking the 11th time for a
Select sire. In addition to performing in the show ring, offspring
of Select Sires have the kind of type that shows a difference in
commercial environments.
Rgncrst-RH Durham Bliss-ET (VG-89-EX-MS @ 2-9),
owned by Aaron Palmer, Waukon, Iowa, is a Junior
All-American nominee that is representative of
early second-crop DURHAM daughters. Photo by John Erbsen.
Recent research by the University of Wisconsin and Holstein Association
USA documents that type conformation (in particular linear udder traits
and feet-and-leg composite) is an important factor in long-lived cows.
Geneticists at Select Sires have developed a practical new breeding
tool called Herdlife Builders™ that's designed to identify bulls that
are best able to sire longevity. This designation includes only the
top 50 percent of active-A.I. sires for udder composite and for
feet-and-leg composite, and excludes the highest 10 percent for dairy
form (which has a negative correlation to longevity). Of the 635
active-A.I. sires, only 188 meet these criteria, and 30 percent of
these are at Select Sires1. For more information about Herdlife Builders,
click here.
7HO4213 INTEGRITY*TV, VanDyk-K Integrity Paradise
(EX-96-EX-98-MS @ 6-1), owned by Kent Van Dyk and Mark Rueth,
Jefferson, Wis., is a two-time World Dairy Expo supreme
champion and multiple All-American winner. Photo by John Erbsen.
Reliability Breeds Consistent Results
Reliability breeds consistent results and customer satisfaction.
Producers like milking daughters of top new active-A.I. sires,
but they especially appreciate bulls that continue to sire the
good ones once their second-crop results are in. Year-in, year-out
you'll find a third or more of the top 50 bulls for TPI with
97 percent reliabilities at Select Sires (see Table 2). Now
that's reliability and consistency you can trust!
Table 2. Number of Select sires among the top 50 TPI™ sires
with at least 97 percent U.S. reliabilities for milk and type.
Looking at Cows from Your Point of View
Busy producers know the future of their herds rests on making
the right mating decisions today. That's why they turn to SMS
for matings that will meet their own specific genetic goals,
as well as help with avoiding recessives and high levels of
inbreeding. Now in its 30th year, SMS is implemented by highly
trained, experienced evaluators who use computer technology
and good old-fashioned cow sense to help herds maximize
their genetic potential.
Each year Select Mating Service™ professionals visit more
than 14,000 herd throughout the world to make in-person
evaluations. That's one of the reasons why thousands of
herd owners trust the more than 3 million matings made
through SMS™ annually.
Quality Backed by Extensive Research
Each unit of Select Sires semen undergoes extensive
quality-control checks before it is approved to go out
the door. These checks meet and exceed industry standards,
and are audited by third-party experts. But, we don't stop
there. At all times we're investing resources in more than
20 research projects that study fertility, breeding protocols
and other reproductive issues that are important to producers.
Select also brings together leading researchers for reproduction
think-tank sessions each year. That's why producers can trust
each unit of highly fertile Select Sires semen, as well as the
SUPERIOR SETTLER™ designation awarded to sires that excel in
laboratory analysis and field-based non-return data.
For decades, producers have trusted Select Sires to provide
highly fertile semen from bulls that transmit both production
and type. Today, leading producers involve Select Sires
representatives as trusted members of their team.
Leading producers need the facts to make well-informed
decisions about the products and services that are best
for their herds. While the data in this brochure speaks
for itself, we encourage you to ask your representative
for more details about how Select Sires can help provide
consistent results you can trust.
Cover Photos: MATHIE photo by Frank Robinson, show ring
photo by Randy Blodgett.
™ Herdlife Builder, Program
for Genetic Advancement, Reproductive Solutions, Select
Mating Service, SMS and SUPERIOR SETTLER are trademarks
of Select Sires Inc., Plain City, Ohio
1Data from November 2002
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