TROOPER
A late bloomer of sorts, TROOPER is one of the younger 250HO14134 RENEGADE sons, following in the successful footsteps of popular brothers 7HO15085 PARFECT and 7HO15112 TAOS. “TROOPER’s dam and grandam are exceptional cows, but he was initially somewhat overlooked as a GForce™ sire,” says Rick VerBeek, Select Sires dairy sire analyst. “He’s a bit of a poster child for the importance of daughter-proven sires. He absolutely thrived when his daughter data came through.”
14HO15179 PLAIN-KNOLL RENEGAD TROOPER
Backed by six generations of Very Good or Excellent dams, five of which are Dams of Merit or Gold Medal Dams, TROOPER is the No. 1 TPI
® (+3196) and No. 2 HHP$®
(+$1,208) sire in Select Sires’ proven lineup.
“TROOPER’s dam, Plain-Knoll Legndry 1551-ET (VG-86-VG-MS), and her maternal line have had a tremendous influence
on our herd,” says Steve Buschur, owner of Plain-Knoll Holsteins, New Weston, Ohio. “1551 was a herd favorite. Unfortunately, we lost her too soon, but she was the ideal kind of cow we strive to breed for. RENEGADE was an easy mating choice on her and fit our breeding program well. He offered strength, udder quality and production while correcting her rear legs when viewed from behind.
And we see those traits follow through with TROOPER being a sound feet and legs sire.”
Buschur continues to use TROOPER in his herd while incorporating his sons intensively. “I tend to use a sire and then move on to his sons if he worked well for us,” notes Buschur. “We’ve transitioned to using SHEEPSTER quite heavily. The SHEEPSTER x 7HO15167 GAMEDAY and GAMEDAY x TROOPER matings are pretty much golden crosses for us.”
Buschur notes
SHEEPSTER is an easy-to-use sire on their farm. “He complements most cows in the herd. No traits need to be
protected when using the bull. He has good balance, his production traits are exceptional and he fits my breeding philosophy of moderately sized cows with solid Type and good health traits.”
Arguably one of TROOPER’s most popular sons, SHEEPSTER hails from the prolific OCD Acura Soy 60075-ET (EX-90-EX-MS-GMD-DOM) cow family at Oakfield Corners Dairy in Oakfield, New York. “Soy 60075 was an ideal model for the
modern, working dairy cow,” says Alicia Lamb, Oakfield Corners Dairy owner. “There are two branches of the family. They aren’t flashy cows; not the type of cow you notice immediately in the herd. They’re solid, wide, strong
cows with exceptional mammary systems and sound feet and legs. Trouble-free cows that can thrive in a freestall setting, and the kind we love to breed for.”
OCD Acura Soy 60075-ET (EX-90-EX-MS-GMD-DOM), Dam of SHEEPSTER
“SHEEPSTER resulted from a mating created by Oakfield Corners as part of a herd agreement with Select Sires,” recalls VerBeek. “He is by far the headliner bull produced from the Soy 60075 family. He’s a rare bull that possesses balance and extremes at the same time. Based on his genomics he has been one of the most dominant breeding bulls of his generation thus far.” Lamb agrees, “He really is a ‘once in a lifetime’ kind of bull. He’s a franchise-type sire that we feel fortunate to have bred.”
A complete sire, SHEEPSTER ticks boxes for both indexes and balanced production, health and type, and continues to be used heavily as a mating sire at Select Sires. With 57 sons in the program, SHEEPSTER sons dominate the NxGEN® and GForce lineups. Topping the TPI (+3393) and NM$ ($1,376) lineups, 7HO17191 MICAN is a SHEEPSTER x GAMEDAY.
The Lambs continue to utilize SHEEPSTER in their breeding program as an outcross sire on non-Soy 60075 cow family members but
are leaning heavily into his maternal line to develop their next generation. “We continue to breed from his maternal sisters, focusing on high GTPI sires and diversity matings. We hope to incorporate some Red and Polled genetics as well.”
The influence these sires have had, both as sires of sons and females, and now grandsons, is having a significant positive impact on the breed. There is no denying that rock-solid maternal lines, coupled with a thoughtful sire stack, has generated
two of the most impactful sires of this generation.