Happy Holidays to all my friends in the west!

Hopefully this season finds you well!  Thanks very much for support of All-West Select Sires and Select Sires Inc in 2017!  We look forward to working with all of you in the new year!

We will find if Christmas comes early next Tuesday with the December sire summaries, but there will definitely be some new stocking stuffers in the new genomic active sires and here are a few of those that will be released with the new proofs.

507HO12993 Humblenkind (Modesty x VG-88 Epic x VG-88 Man-O-Man)
Like most of our new sexed only sires, Humblenkind has been used as a sire father and at +2873 GTPI will be one of the highest sires available. He checks nearly every box, being a solid production sire as well as being over +3.00 for both PTAT and Udder Composite.  Additionally, he is an A2A2 sire and BB Kappa Casein and excels in DWP$ as well.  He hails from the great Cookiecutter MOM Halo cow family and at 6.2% SCE should be a perfect addition to your heifer breeding programs.

507HO13598 Pinnacle (Modesty x Jedi x VG-89 Supersire)
People have been asking for months when Pinnacle will be released and the wait is finally over.  At over +2900 GTPI, he could be the highest sire available with semen.  He is a Modesty son from Jedi’s full sister and then Genetic Giant; S-S-I Supersire Miri 8679-ET VG-89-DOM.  His earliest calves (from being a sire father) are born, and some are over +3000 GTPI already!  He sires huge production at over +2300M, improves all fitness traits and is 6.7% SCE.  He is in a league of his own and can be in your tank by Christmas morning.

507HO13740 Rolan (Modesty x Bombero x GP-83 Ransom)
Rolan is also a Modesty son but with a slightly different pedigree.  His Bombero dam is in Canada and the next dam is a GP-83 De-Su Ransom daughter, so he has minimal Mogul in his pedigree and should work well on a wide variety of bloodlines. He also boasts a +2900 GTPI and is one of our highest combined fat and protein sires at nearly +170 CFP.  Additionally, Rolan is also a 6.2% SCE bull, making him an appealing choice for heifer breeding programs.

507HO13907 Jared (Jedi x VG-86 Kingboy x VG-87 Supersire)
There is nothing better I like to see in a pedigree than a VG Kingboy and Jared fits that perfectly.  Another very popular sire father, he is one of Jedi’s lowest calving ease sons at 6.2% SCE.  He excels in production, health, fitness and is over +2.00 PTAT.  He is a rare offering with extreme milk at nearly +1800M and +4.4 Daughter Pregnancy Rate.

7HO14060 Simplicity-P (Modesty x VG-86 Relief-P x VG-87 Snowman)
Simplicity may not be sexed only, but he is one of the most exciting bulls being made available. He offers polled and red factored genetics with a GTPI ranking that ranks among the best in the breed.  Simplicity-P sires high production at over +1800M with the type combination of +2.72 PTAT, +2.73 UDC and +2.58 FLC.  His dam is a VG-86 young cow in a commercial dairy in Wisconsin, but the pedigree is more than 10 generations of VG and EX back to the Splendor cow family in Canada. Polled has always been something that breeders talk about but don’t want to sacrifice high genetic numbers.  With Simplicity-P, nothing has to be sacrificed to get polled, red, pedigree and great fitness all in one package!

Potential Progeny Proven Graduates

It’s never a “perfect science” predicting what will happen this close to a sire summary release date, but keep an eye on these four bulls, as what we see in the field suggests they could be great additions to the proven lineup.

7HO12418 Spark (Supersire x EX-91 Gabor x Baxter)
Spark actually returned to active service in August but without a progeny type summary, which he will add next week.  The Sparks have been some of my favorite daughters in my travels as he sires a consistent pattern.  They are medium-sized cows who have a great will to milk and there is no doubt that he will be Supersire’s best son for siring fantastic udders.  He has remained popular throughout his life as a Mogul-free sire with high fertility and calving ease and what we have seen is that he is destined to become another “Customer Satisfaction Specialist”.

7HO12422 Aicon (Shaw x VG-88 Bookem x EX-90 Shottle)
Aicon should be an extreme production sire with what his prediction told us as well as what the daughters we are seeing suggest.  For me, the most impressive thing I can tell you is that his dam, granddam and third dam are all still alive and doing well in the commercial/registered 400 cow herd that he hails from in Wisconsin.  All are true milk cows that wear like iron and his third dam is now over 12 years old and still going strong.  He also has a Mogul-free pedigree, making him a good fit on not only Mogul daughters but Montross, Reflector, Defender and Yoder daughters as well.

7HO12533 Hotshot (Shotglass x GP-80 Twist x VG-86 Shottle)
Hotshot is from a different branch of the Mindy cow family that has brought us bulls like Robust, Morgan, Modesto, Jedi, Jett, Flagship and Remington.  He will be a health and fitness specialist with extremely low Somatic Cell Score (2.65 SCS), +2.9 DPR and +7.8 Productive Life.  His daughters will be average to small cows, tailor-made for the producer looking for smaller cows with great udders and feet & legs.  We toured several herds in Wisconsin during World Dairy Expo and the Hotshots were a highlight of the daughter displays.  He also offers a Supersire and Mogul-free pedigree, adding diversity of bloodlines.

7HO13195 Profit (Partyrock x VG-88 Mogul x GP-81 Robust)
At his original release, we touted Profit as an outcross sire as he had none of the big stars from a few years ago in his pedigree, bulls like O-Man, Planet or Shottle.  He will still make a great fit on those bloodlines and there are still many cows that need that type of diversity.  However, now that two bulls that ARE in his pedigree, Mogul and Robust, are the breeds newest “big stars” he’s backed by some of the most influential sire power in recent years.  I view Profit as a fertility specialist with breed-leading health and fitness traits.  He also sires a more moderate-sized cow with a bit smoother look to their frames.  However, the udders on the Profit daughters we have seen as a sire team are phenomenal and should work extremely well in the modern free stall environment.

Stay tuned for more exciting news next week but rest assured, whether Christmas comes early or right on time, the Select Sires lineup has never been stronger and continues to deliver “a sire for every desire”, meeting the demands of every producer regardless of breeding strategy or philosophy.

Thanks again for your confidence in our cooperative and best wishes for a prosperous and healthy new year!