Where We Came From
In the early 1960s, David Burket began transitioning Burket Falls Farm to a purebred Holstein herd. In doing so, he purchased a group of Registered Holsteins from Wisconsin. Within that group of animals was Princess Fayne Houwtje (GP-80), known as Princess, a heifer who was later found to be naturally Polled and who would go on to make 11 consecutive records over 1,100 pounds of fat and become the dam of the first Polled sire available in A.I., Burket Falls ABC.
“Dad didn’t pay a lot of attention to the fact that Princess was hornless, until she turned out to be the best cow in the herd,” recalls John. “Dad hated to dehorn calves, and he was enough of a visionary to put a high value on the Polled gene back then. He always said, ‘Don’t ever throw that gene away. Some day there will be a need and demand for Polled genetics.’" Today, roughly one third of Polled Holsteins in the United States can be traced back to Princess.
The Burket’s primary goal has always been to breed a profitable cow. “Polled was secondary to breeding a good cow,” says John. “We didn’t breed Polled for the sake of breeding Polled. We wanted a correct mating for the animal, then second priority was Polled, but we certainly didn’t want to lose that gene if we could avoid it.”
John believes the future for Polled Holstein genetics is bright and continues to incorporate the gene into the farm’s breeding philosophy. “We don’t look at horned or Polled sires any differently. We have our set of criteria and utilize sires that fit our needs. We rarely end up using horned bulls though, because Polled genetics continue to advance so rapidly. The old excuse that Polled sires are inferior to horned is irrelevant. What Select Sires has released is evidence of that.”
Compared to available Polled sires across the industry, Select Sires’ lineup has a hefty genetic advantage, with greater lineup averages for GTPI®, NM$ and CM$. Continuing the mission to emphasize health and wellness traits, the 61-sire lineup averages +971 HHP$® with 250HO17298 HABULOUS-P (+1,311 HHP$) topping the list. HHP$ is a true economic index that offers the right balance of production components and health traits to drive profitability back to the dairy.
"We have the tools to do something really positive in the dairy industry,” says John Burket, the current president of Holstein Association USA. “I have no doubt, in time, the Holstein breed is going to be 100% Polled. There’s money to be made in Polled genetics. Back in the day, Polled wasn’t as enticing compared to Red genetics, and as a result the industry embraced Red first. It’s time to embrace the Polled gene and eliminate the consumer and welfare concerns while continuing to breed a highly profitable cow."