As we approach the second sire summary in our “new normal” industry since the outbreak of Coronavirus earlier this year, the Select Sires Sire Department team has persevered with the goal of developing genetics for tomorrow’s profit-minded dairy producers. Select Sires Inc. Holstein Sire Analyst, Kevin Jorgensen, has adapted quickly to change by taking advantage of technology to continue viewing daughters of our current sires. Read on to gain insight from what Kevin has been seeing lately!

Hi to all my friends in the west! I hope that things are as normal as they can be in these crazy times on your dairies and you are all healthy and safe.

From a day to day perspective, things in sire development are as normal as they can be.  We continue to make matings on a daily basis to create sires that meet the needs of all of our customer owners.  Fortunately, I was able to make several trips to All West Territory before COVID-19 changed travel and look forward to being able to get back to see many of you when things return to normal.

Normally during the summer, there would be many international tours in the Midwest that would be touring to see daughters and would give me an opportunity to see a lot of cows. This year, my schedule has instead included visiting dairies to video these daughters in more of a virtual experience. This has allowed me to see many cows recently and I want to share what my travels have taught me. The following bulls are some of the highlights of these travels.

250HO12961 DOC

Few bulls have been more impressive in recent history than this April 2020 graduate. 250HO12961 DOC is meeting the needs of both commercial producers, as well as the most discriminating type breeders. He stamps a consistent type pattern that reminds me of 7HO5157 DURHAM and is a one generation type improver. He works particularly well on 7HO13250 JEDI daughters. Perhaps the more impressive part of Doc daughters is how well they are milking. Producers are noticing this and letting us know that they are more than just pretty, but also pay the bills! He will add considerable data in August 2020 and our expectations are high!

250HO12975 PHARO

The most pleasant surprise in my travels this summer have been how many good 250HO12975 PHARO daughters are out there. He has been a very popular young sire both domestically and internationally and has a very good chance of being a proven graduate in August 2020. He is a 7HO13250 JEDI son from arguably the best cow at Sandy-Valley Farms in Wisconsin being an EX-93 Balisto, so he will work well on 7HO12788 FRAZZLED bloodlines, as well as daughters of bulls like 250HO12961 KING DOC. They have beautiful udders and are complete cows from end to end. Additionally, Pharo is A2A2 and BB Kappa Casein, so he meets multiple needs.

7HO13771 KENNEDY

7HO13771 KENNEDY is a maternal brother to proven sire 7HO12997 SAMURI and again his daughters have been very consistent. For those looking to moderate stature, Kennedy daughters are average sized cows, but are extremely correct and their udders are outstanding. He also adds component percentage improvement and works well in heifer breeding programs. He has been very popular as a genomic young sire for many reasons, but mainly as he is a fertility specialist at +3.1 SCR. Kennedy could also be added to the proven ranks in August 2020.

7HO12978 HOUSE

The 7HO12978 HOUSE daughters have also stood out in corrals. He sires what many producers are looking for; trouble free cows with great udders and feet and legs. He is stamping a very consistent pattern and also excels in fitness traits, particularly in mastitis resistance traits of Somatic Cell Score (2.75), Zoetis Mastitis (107) and CDCB Mast (+2.9).  He also has a bit of an alternative pedigree being a Hang-Time son from a VG-88 Jacey from a VG Numero Uno. Again, this will make him easy to use on daughters of 7HO12788 FRAZZLED, 7HO12418 SPARK, 7HO11351 SUPERSIRE and 14HO770 HELIX. If he doesn’t have enough data in August 2020, look for him in the December 2020 summaries to be a proven graduate.

7HO13734 HODEDOE

The family that 7HO13734 HODEDOE hails from has been one of the most successful cow families in the breed for generations. It is the same maternal line that has given us bulls like 14HO7770 HELIX, but also traces to the same family that gave us 7HO5157 DURHAM two decades ago. The Hodedoe daughters will meet the needs of the discriminating type breeder, but commercial producers will appreciate that he excels in DPR and breeds back very efficiently. His dam is an EX-92 Epic daughter and then 2020 Global cow of the year, Cookiecutter Mom Halo VG-88.  He again is off to a good start with his progeny data, but may take until December 2020 to get sufficient data to move to the proven ranks along with his maternal brother 7HO12993 HUMBLENKIND.

7HO12942 RESOLVE

Another sire that graduated to the proven lineup in April 2020 is 7HO12942 RESOLVE. His daughters have been very impressive in my travels and they are thriving in commercial dairies. He adds loads of milk (+1381M) from very correct udders. His unique bottom side pedigree has always made me a fan of him.  He was bred in a large commercial robotic dairy in northern Minnesota. I had the pleasure of being up there in June and this cow family always stands out. They are averaged sized cows that milk like crazy, but thrive in their environment. His daughters have been a highlight of my summer travels.

We will have new information on August 11th and everyone in the Select Sires federation is looking forward to another successful sire summary.  From everyone at Select Sires Inc., thank you for your dedication during these difficult circumstances. We will continue to do everything we can to meet your genetic needs as safely as we can. I look forward to when I can get back to your area.

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