Henry Zapalac grew up on a dairy in Texas, where they milked 100 Holsteins and Brown Swiss and worked with SMS consultant Wildon Petty for mating decisions. The family showed at local fairs and Zapalac enjoyed participating in dairy judging events.
Fast forward to May 1994, Zapalac was a newly graduated Texas A&M Aggie and Petty was preparing to retire. Zapalac applied to be Petty’s successor upon urging from his college professor. And, as they say, the rest is history.
For more than 30 years, Zapalac has been evaluating cows and helping dairy producers achieve their genetic goals. In his role, Zapalac stresses the importance of listening to the customer and addressing their needs. “Whether it’s the first
time or the hundredth time meeting with them, always listen to understand their goals. Develop a plan to give them what they want and remember that everyone is different and goals change.”
Zapalac recalls a producer who has been a client for more than 25 years, “When I first started working with him, it was all about milk and good udders, today it’s health traits and cows that last. He never came right out and said, ‘we’re
not doing this anymore,’ but through listening and watching the farm evolve we came up with a plan that checked the boxes.”
The numerous genetic advancements over the years created a need for Zapalac to evolve the way he mates cows. “Looking at where we came from to where we are today, the number of traits and indexes we have to look at are a huge change. We’ve
grown from just focusing on milk and type to now utilizing health traits and the Herd Health Profit Dollars® (HHP$®) index to breed fertile, long-lasting, productive cows.”
In a career spanning three decades, Zapalac’s accomplishments are many. One particular moment stands out as a high note though. “A couple years ago one of my clients decided to downsize. He sold 600 cows to a dairy in the area that was exclusively
using competitor semen. After getting those 600 cows, the buyer noted they looked better and were more productive than his original herd. Within three months of him finding out those cows were all Select-sired animals, he started using Select Sires
genetics and asked me to start mating his cows. I took that as a big win for us, for the SMS program and for the genetics Select Sires offers.”
Looking back on his career, Zapalac recalls being the “young guy” in the room and now embraces his role as a senior SMS evaluator, continuing to lean into his passion for dairy cattle and helping dairy producers reach their genetic goals.
“I enjoyed working with and looking at cows on a daily basis as a young man and I was just lucky enough that it has turned into a rewarding career.”
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