Ethan Haywood
Hello and welcome back to The Select Sires Podcast for some Holstein genomic young sire features. In this episode Senior Holstein Sire Analysts Kevin Jorgensen and Rick VerBeek will talk us through some of the young sires that stick out to them in the NxGEN® and GForce™ lineups after the April 2025 sire summary proofs. Hearing commentary about some of the key traits and foundational cow families behind these young sires who will sire the genetic leaders of tomorrow is my favorite way to digest this new proof data. With that, Kevin and Rick take it away!
Kevin Jorgensen
We've always talked to you guys about NxGEN, and I'm going to continue to talk about the praises and several of those bulls we just talked about started their careers in the NxGEN program, and it continues to grow. It continues to gain momentum. It's six years ago today that we brought this program into existence, with 250HO14134 RENEGADE and 7HO15167 GAMEDAY. It's a great way to get a jump start genetically in your herds, and we're really excited about what's happening. Before I talk about some bulls, I'm gonna cycle back to mastitis resistance again. There's a reason that we talk about it all the time, because we practice what we preach, and we go after this target, and we try to find it. And when you look at it, you reap what you sow, and we go after it, and you can see that we've got a big, big advantage in the industry in that regard. The first bull that I get to talk about in NxGEN is 7HO17200 GOLLEY, a 7HO16276 SHEEPSTER son that I actually still have on my mating sire list, Rick, because I don't think we used him enough. And I want to go back and get some planned matings. These SHEEPSTER sons now are such a great cross to all the 7HO16485 SUNDANCE blood that's out there. So he's been a mating sire, and I'm continuing to use him as a mating sire for that reason. Because his mother, Siemers have had three Global Cows of the Year that are convinced that this cow is just as good as those other three. AOT Deluxe Hi-Lighted-ET (EX-91-EX-MS-DOM), just got classified last week. She went Excellent (91) in her second lactation with a 94 point mammary system. So she is not only a great genetic contributor, she's a great cow in her own right. GOLLEY, there are several sons, but he's one of my favorites because he hits so many designations like you talked on some of those other bulls. He's Mastitis ResistantPRO®, he's RobotPRO®. He's got all the right, ticks in all those boxes. And in today's world, after the base change, a bull that's a +181 pounds of CFP, that's a major league opportunity there. His Type proof is solid, his mastitis resistance, the calf wellness traits, and his Sire Conception Rate. So he's settling cows extremely well in the program. I know folks are not only looking at teat length, they're looking at where the front and rear teats are, and this bull gets them right in the center, and that's something that we continue to hear from folks and we're really trying to hit that market, too, in terms of when we make matings, we're trying to find these bulls that can get the teat in the center. And he's certainly one of the great, great bulls in the NxGEN program. Along with another SHEEPSTER son, 7HO17478 STURGEON. Another SHEEPSTER son we've used as a sire father, another RobotPRO bull, a bull again, at +180 pounds of CFP. You know, that's elite in the population today because of the fact that we've pulled about +64 pounds off. So when you see that +180, that's a big number, along with +69 pounds of Protein. He's got the right caseins. Again, the calf wellness, he checks all of those boxes. What I really like about this bull is that his mother's a young cow that's going to move up and score. The second dam's the Very Good S-S-I Legacy Alex 11231-ET (VG-86-VG-MS). And then the cow, in my mind, is one of the greatest purchases that the SSI ART™ (Aggressive Reproductive Technology™) program has ever got. And that's Seagull-Bay AN Alexandra-ET (VG-88-VG-MS-DOM). This cow's in her fifth lactation. She's still alive. She was pictured last summer. She's the mother of 7HO15348 PAYLOAD. She's the mother of 7HO14985 RUPERT. So this cow family continues to develop and continues to make great sons. And so when I look at this bull, I think he's got an awful lot going for him. Another NxGEN bull that has been used very effectively, we like to use this bull as a sire father, 7HO17369 FRANKTHETANK. He's a 7HO16176 WAR GEAR son. He'll be getting his data here in August. He's a brother to 7HO15913 KAHN that we just talked about as a new proven graduate. But this bull, in terms of all those SHEEPSTER daughters that we've been mating through the last several months, this bull has been a magic glove on a lot of those matings of the SHEEPSTER daughters. His mother's a Very Good 7HO15523 PARSLY that's out at a robotic herd in Iowa that Jordan works with. She's Good Plus (82) was just fresh when she got scored earlier this winter. The next dam is Adaway Try Me 2541-ET (VG-85-VG-MS). Different bloodlines, again, different cow families. And that's going to be one of the themes we talk about today is getting bulls that have something just a little bit different. Diversity is still what Select Sires hangs their hat on. We may have a lot of SHEEPSTER sons or a lot of GAMEDAY sons, but we try to mix it up in these different maternal lines. And I think it's part of the secret of our success. So in the case of FRANKTHETANK, he's +3406 GTPI®, ranks him incredibly high in terms of the rankings. He's got solid Type, again, Mastitis ResistantPRO. Just in my mind, a really, really easy bull to use.
Rick VerBeek
Yeah, he was definitely one of our favorite mating sires. And this bull, 7HO17419 Pen-Col CATEYE-ET is another of those favorites. I like the fact that we're still talking about cow families today. It is a very important part of what we do. And this Pen-Col Gameday Baily-ET (VG-85-VG-MS-DOM). Her dam is Pen-Col Legacy Best-ET (EX-90-EX-MS). Baily herself is up at Cookiecutter Holsteins, LLC now making a really nice first lactation. A big, wide, deep wide-bodied young cow with a great leg extremely mobile in and making a big, big record. In CATEYE himself you've got one of her highest SHEEPSTER sons, a bull that does qualify for all global markets from a health test and marketing standpoint, so as this bull matures he's going to be introduced around the world. Introduced now in NxGEN, a big Fat bull, one of the highest CFP bulls in the lineup, one of the highest overall index and ranking bulls. He is our No. 1 HHP$® (Herd Health Profit Dollars®) bull overall currently being offered. He's a top 10 TPI bull at Select Sires and a top five Cheese Merit, Net Merit bull. A bull that checks all the boxes from a selection index standpoint, good DPR, good Fertility Index. Another bull from a linear standpoint, going to moderate the size and the frame, not hurt you anywhere else. Keeps those teats centrally placed under the quarters as well. So he is that continuing legacy of SHEEPSTER sons. As in particular SHEEPSTER times GAMEDAY, that's been so successful for us, in CATEYE, a very young bull already introduced here and available through NxGEN.
Kevin Jorgensen
And a bull that I still have on my mating sire list as well, because I don't think we used enough of them.
Rick VerBeek
A bull we definitely used a lot of, and probably the reason that some others got overlooked, was 250HO17404 EEYORE. So here we've got a SHEEPSTER son from a Very Good GAMEDAY, OCD Gameday Eroy 65430-ET (VG-85-VG-MS-DOM). Next dam was a Very Good 250HO14633 BIGGELO, OCD Biggelo Superb 61096-ET (VG-86-VG-MS) from a cow family that's been around for a long, long time up at Oakfield Corners Dairy. EEYORE continues his outstanding rank as a NxGEN sire. High mastitis resistance, great CW$, +3.0 on Mastitis Resistance. He is one of our high HHP$ bulls. He is A2A2, you see that linear. I haven't seen a linear like this one in quite some time. You talk about being to the right and right along the center. This bull is just going to inch you along nicely in every single combination from a conformation standpoint. And then probably the new groundbreaking news is that +3.2 SCR. The bull was popular before. That generally tends to make you really, really popular. So nice to see that new addition, new piece of information. Our first EEYORE sons are just hitting the ground, just getting some early genomic tests on those. So we look forward to what his contribution is going to continue to be to our overall program moving forward.
Kevin Jorgensen
Yeah, I threw in a bunch of those SCR bulls because I know we're moving into summer.
Rick VerBeek
Another nice bull that's been popular throughout the NxGEN program is 7HO17411 Kings-Ransom E DENYME-ET, an 14HO16391 EASTON son from Kings-Ransom Gmdy Deciet-ET (VG-85-VG-MS-DOM), from Kings-Ransom Acur Delray-ET (VG-85-VG-MS). Here's a bull that goes back to that Kings-Ransom Dorc Dextra-ET (EX-94-2E-EX-MS-DOM) cow family that has been so prolific up there at Kings-Ransom. High overall TPI bull, a good DWP$® and HHP$ bull but a fitness trait specialist for sure. High Mastitis Resistance at +3.9 and 101 at Zoetis Mastitis. Phenomenal Calf Livability at 107. Great Calf Scours Resistance at 105. So these are going to be those really healthy, aggressive young calves once they hit those hutches, and they're going to grow into very profitable cows at the end of the day. So he is another bull that we use quite extensively. We've always loved EASTON and his sons and that balance that he provides, and this is certainly one of the great EASTON sons we have in our program today.
Kevin Jorgensen
Two brothers I want to talk about and we're going to cycle into GForce sires here as we go through this 7HO17568 JC-Kow WHIPPET-ET is a recent addition to NxGEN. A bull that I've had the opportunity to work with this cow family for quite a while. New entrant into the sire development business, and he got there using NxGEN. Jarrod Kollwelter is the breeder of 7HO16520 PBJ. Our No. 1 GAMEDAY son came from a NxGEN mating. He made that mating, purchased the bull, but we've worked together very, very well for a long period of time. WHIPPET’s a SHEEPSTER son from a different cow family. Dam’s JC-Kow Upside 1724-ET. She's due later this year. The next name was JC-Kow Riveting 9002-ET that was a whale of a cow, unfortunately lost right before they went back to classification because they had been pretty commercial over the years, but was a heck of a cow. The next dam is JC-Kow Rubicon 910 (VG-86-VG-MS). And this is a herd that almost 30 years ago, I was mating cows at Jarrod's dad's stall barn herd years ago. And as I looked at that pedigree, I remembered some of those cows in there. But SHEEPSTER, Upside and 14HO14220 RIVETING, a little different on the bottom side there with Upside and RIVETING. High CFP bull, again, great on Productive Life. Again, those teat placements right where you want them. And so quite an exciting bull, bull we've used as well as the sire father. But as we move into GForce and new GForce, I want to introduce his brother, who's in GForce, readily available, but he's a little different in that he's a sexed only bull at the moment in high purity. So, 585 is our high purity line. 585HO17690 STIX is his name, he's a SUNDANCE brother to the bull that I just showed you, WHIPPET. Again, similar credentials. He's got those great fitness traits, high Productive Life, hits all those designations. Again, fits the Mastitis ResistantPRO, FeedPRO. And then you look at the teat placement that I've talked about that I wanted to highlight. We can get them right to the center because that's what we keep hearing from folks that they want that teat not only to be a little bit longer. They want it to be in the right spot. I think this bull is going to do that really, really well.
Rick VerBeek
14HO17657 Adaway Sundance OTIS-ET. A SUNDANCE out of Adaway Hayk 3337-ET from Adaway Gameday 2907-ET (GP-82). So that pedigree is going to cross over and complement so much of what we have out in our herds today with non-RENEGADE, non-SHEEPSTER pedigree. He's a bull as I talked to our friends at the East Coast and Premier Select Sires this morning, I think could be just a little bit of a sleeper. And I say that only because of one trait, and that's those caseins at A1A1. I know a lot of people around the world are going to just cross him off the list. And those of you that don't will be the beneficiaries of everything else that this bull offers. Because when you look at Productive Life, Fertility Index, DPR, CCR, Calf Wellness, Livability, +1.0 Type, +1.0 UDC, high solids, +132 CFP. And by the way, +132 CFP is the old +200. So that is a pretty darn elite CFP level to go along with everything else this bull has to offer. He is a bull we have used as a mating sire. We've got pregnancies on the way. That's what we thought of this bull. Think of this bull in the fact that he goes right straight to GForce and available around the world, I think is a great new addition to what we have available in that program.
Kevin Jorgensen
I'm going to add one more thing on this, Rick, and that's that 7HO15977 HAYK daughter there that's really promising, already pictured, going to get scored, I'm sure, at Adaway Dairy, LLC, later this year. The other side of HAYK is he would be a top 20 TPI bull. He has progeny. He had a pretty nice day. But the challenge is he doesn't want to cooperate in the semen production realm right now. So we've sold one boatload of HAYK semen over his career. But unfortunately, we're working on trying to get him back to production again. So a bull that has a progeny proven dam on the bottom side.
Rick VerBeek
So the other bull that goes right into GForce, another bull we've used as a contract mating sire, a 7HO17686 Plain-Knoll S COMMANDER-ET. Plain-Knoll is certainly one of our favorites. So when you get a chance to get into that herd and see the quality and the genetic contributions, keep in mind this is the same cow family that produced 14HO15179 TROOPER, the same cow family that produced 7HO15465 CRUSHER, two bulls that are right at the top of the proven sire list and what they have done. So deep, deep cow family. COMMANDER is out of an 250HO15513 ELON. ELON is one of my customer satisfaction bulls, my barn favorites. I love what ELON himself has sired and what I see in his daughters. Next dam was Plain-Knoll Maya 3137-ET (VG-86-VG-MS). And then behind that is Plain-Knoll Resolve 1893-ET (EX-91-2E-EX-MS-DOM) that just was an incredible cow walking the freestyles there at Plain-Knoll. COMMANDER himself is going to be right at the top end of our Net Merit. One of our highest Net Merit bulls, a tremendous HHP$ bull. He's an A2A2 sire. Again, down the middle of the chart from a linear standpoint, but again, even with a rollback, +182 CFP, +1,800 pounds of Milk and +72 pounds of Protein. In case you haven't adjusted to everything, those numbers are high. And this bull is right at the top end of the chart. So an exciting new GForce, another SHEEPSTER son, but a little different maternal side with that ELON, Acura in the Excellent (91) 7HO12942 RESOLVE. Touched on the Aurora Ridge herd already and its popularity for us in 250HO17387 POPLAR, from a different cow family that's doing really well up there at Aurora Ridge as well. Here's a bull, high solids bull, high percent Fat, high percent Protein, certainly a wellness trait specialist +222 WT$®, 107 Zoetis Mastitis. This cow family is representing fitness traits to the extreme. Big DPR bull +2.1 and good Cow Conception Rate as well. And then still a +1.0 on Type. Let's call them +1.0 UDC with a very, very easy to use user friendly linear profile, whether it be for frame traits, feet and leg traits or overall udder improvement. So POPLAR has been a popular bull and will continue to be so with what he is offering to us from a fitness, health, A2A2 in linear profile.
Kevin Jorgensen
But there's some bulls that, as I looked at this and you sort through the data and how things will look different, or maybe these are some bulls that deserved a second look. And so there was a few bulls I picked out. The first one is 7HO17514 Blumenfeld LIGHTHOUSE-ET. You just talked about that great RESOLVE daughter at Plain-Knoll that's Excellent (91). This is the same cow family as 7HO12941 REASON and RESOLVE up at Blumenfeld in Minnesota. One of my favorite herds to work with. Not a surprise that this bull is a RobotPRO bull. They milk in eight robots and every decision they make genetically is about making a cow that's robot friendly. But LIGHTHOUSE is one of those SHEEPSTER sons. He’s got a little different pedigree, his dam is an 83-point Lightner daughter. I saw her when I was up there in January, off to a good start. The next dam is Blumenfeld Acura 7149-ET (GP-84), and then it traces back into the same maternal line as REASON and RESOLVE. He's got huge components. As you said before, Rick, +161 on a CFP is a pretty high number. He also excels in Livability traits, Calf Wellness traits, hits it right down the center. But he was a bull that of these SHEEPSTER sons, there's a lot of them, but sometimes it's finding that one that's very unique. And I thought with that combination of Livability, CFP, and Calf Wellness, he's a bull that deserves a second look. A couple other bulls from a production respect. I know everybody likes to have a certain threshold of pounds of Milk and pounds of Protein. And because numbers were getting so big and everybody was like, well, maybe these bulls stick out a little different. And there's two here from the Have It All syndicate that I've always liked extremely well. The first one is 7HO17424 Haveitall Lionel HAZED. He’s a 7HO14454 LIONEL son out of Duckett Parfect Heidi-ET (EX-90-EX-MS) and then S-S-I Doc Have Not 8784-ET (EX-96-EX-MS-DOM), the $1.925 million dollar cow. A bull when you look at the combination of Milk, Type, caseins at +1,500 Milk, +53 Protein, +1.41 on Type a good linear profile, big rear udders which I'm pretty sure they're going to have because this 7HO15085 PARFECT times 250HO12961 DOC cross was magical. You'll hear me talk about it more as we go through the presentation and then 7HO16295 HAS IT ALL being a full brother. It was a magical, magical flush. And so he's the one that I thought warrants another look as well as another bull. I'm saying this differently, not HAZED. This is 7HO17163 HAYES, like Willie Mays Hayes. And he is an 7HO15937 ESQUIRE son, 7HO17163 HAYES. Again, +1,800 pounds of Milk, +55 Protein, +1.72 on Type, longer teats, and A2A2, and more importantly, +3.0 on Sire Conception Rate as we move into the summer. Duckett Parfect Hallie-ET (EX-90-EX-MS) also just went excellent this winter. And so this magical cross, like I say, has been really, really good with that high elite fertility. The other thing that I'm really excited about in this bull is he's an ESQUIRE son. And ESQUIRE, he would be my grand champion of all the new daughters that I've seen calved in the last several months. Their udders are outstanding, probably a homer, because I've always loved the Sandy-Valley Escanaba-ET (EX-92-EX-MS-GMD-DOM) cow from the Sandy-Valley breeding program, and ESQUIRE is one of her first sons. But look for him in August to maybe make a big splash, because he's maybe one of the most exciting daughter fathers I've seen.
Rick VerBeek
Yeah, definitely another sleeper bull 14HO17260 HOEDOWN from Cookiecutter Holsteins. The 14HO15926 VAN GOGH son out of Cookiecutter Gdy Homeden-ET (GP-83-VG-MS-DOM). He's a bull we had on our mating sire list, quite honestly, didn't probably get a lot of use on him. He came through NxGEN into the GForce program and just has been under the radar. But I think when you see this new information and how it's recalibrated itself, a bull that is definitely worth a second look. Big Milk bull at +1,500 pounds of Milk. That is in the top 10 at Select Sires. Low Somatic Cell Score, good mastitis resistance once again. And again, those Calf Wellness traits right where you'd like to see them. He is an A2A2 sire, moderate frame, and then certainly really nice rear udder improvement expected with good solid fore udders and then those centrally placed teats. So a little different bull with new information that certainly deserves a second look. Another bull that deserves a second look is 14HO17392 Kenyon-Hill Sheep PAXTON-ET. Kevin, you alluded to some success from NxGEN with the JC-Kow prefix and what Jarrod and his family have done and accomplished by utilizing NxGEN and the Kenyon-Hill bulls are the same thing. They utilize GAMEDAY as a NxGEN sire. On an Excellent (90) Pursuit, had tremendous success in Kenyon-Hill Gameday Play-ET (VG-86-VG-MS) that has provided us with this PAXTON bull. So +1,000 pound Milk bull, +148 CFP, +1.30 Type, +1.20 UDC, flawless linear profile, 107 Calf Livability, A1A2. A really, really solid all around bull that I just think is an easy to use bull. Very, very few flaws, if any, in this bull. And amongst all of the SHEEPSTER sons, and you do have to sort through them because there are a lot of them, this bull kind of finds his way to the top end of a lot of charts because he just simply doesn't have any holes in him.
Kevin Jorgensen
Balance is the key.
Rick VerBeek
An exciting new bull into GForce, fresh out of NxGEN, is 250HO17009 HOWLAND-P. The 7HO16103 CHEW-P son out of Aurora Ahead 6288-ET (GP-81). Then Aurora Rapid 21849-ET (VG-87-VG-MS-DOM) that I mentioned, the cow family that's so deep there at Aurora Ridge doing some great things. HOWLAND-P has been a very, very popular and prominent mating sire for us. A bull that has done well in NxGEN but is now ready for global use in the GForce program. High percent Fat bull, high percent Protein bull, high pounds of Fat and Protein as well. He's an A2A2 bull. He's 101 on Zoetis Mastitis Resistance with +1.2 on the CDCB Mastitis Resistance traits and he is Polled. This is a bull that's going to have a massive impact on the Polled world but he is also gonna have a massive impact on the entire Holstein population as well. We've got a lot of Polled sons and non-Polled sons in our program. We already have five sons of HOWLAND-P over +3400 TPI up to the highest at +3446 TPI. That bull happens to be Polled. Three of those five over +3400 are Polled. We are going to have a massive impact from HOWLAND-P. Very excited about that. Very excited that he is now part of the GForce program for everyone to take advantage of his quality genetics. And then if you believe in cow families, in the strength of the cow family behind this bull, he's got to be a must-use bull for you.
Kevin Jorgensen
Couldn't agree more. The Polled breed is going to be different because of this bull.
Rick VerBeek
Another bull that's going to move the needle from a Polled perspective is 14HO17204 TWISTED-P, Badger Siemers TWISTED-P-ET, a Polled SHEEPSTER son from S-S-I Badger Brock 17542-ET. A little different being a SHEEPSTER and Polled. +3300 TPI, high percent Fat and Protein, you see those highlights on the linear profile. Central teat placement, moderate to no change on teat length. You see the mastitis resistance once again that we continue to preach. He's an A2A2 bull. TWISTED-P has been a mating sire for us, so we will have sons hopefully down the road when those calves hit the ground. But I think a really, really powerful one-two punch in new additions in the Polled program to add to our GForce lineup.
Kevin Jorgensen
And another bull that I thought was under the radar screen, there’s a couple of reasons for that. 7HO17095 Terra-Calroy JACKHAMMER-ET. So you got a proven sire from a proven sire from Terra-Calroy Zazzl Jenny-ET (EX-90-EX-MS) and then Cal-Roy-Al Tahiti 10346-ET (GP-83-VG-MS) behind that. That's a neat, neat cow family. But here's a bull that's always done well. We use him as a sire father. He's +3306 GTPI, plus over +50 pounds of Protein and +152 CFP. So kind of hits those metrics. He's good that way. This bull is a bull that can make the high ones. And he's made some really kind of interesting, high, unique calves for us. There's been some females come into the population. So if you were looking for a bull with a little different pedigree that might have the opportunity to be used in some different situations of GAMEDAY bloodlines. And I just thought in terms of the diversity bull that still ranks high, that does things right. I think JACKHAMMER was a bull that we probably should talk about.
Ethan Haywood
Thanks Kevin and Rick for your commentary, it was great as always. To see our full lineup of Holstein bulls you can use the advanced sire search page at selectsires.com, or look at a copy of the sire directory put together by our communications team. You can find links to both resources on the Select Sires Inc. Facebook page or at selectsires.com. Thanks for listening and we will see you next time on The Select Sires Podcast!