The new year is a common time for individuals to reflect on their past, dream about their future, and determine the resolutions needed to make positive changes right now. Your dairy should be treated no differently! Have you considered what is working well, which areas could use improvements, and if there are resources that could benefit your operation? Your All West/Select Sires cooperative is able to help by allowing you the utilization of many value-added programs and services!
We asked our Director of Dairy Programs, Angie Kennedy, which three programs she recommends most often to assist our member-owner dairy producers in navigating through the changing dairy industry. Read on to learn what they are and how they can help your dairy become as efficient and profitable as possible this year.
#1. Optimal Genetic Pathways (OGP)
Since all of these programs can work in tandem with each other, let’s start at the beginning. How would you like to be feeding less heifers right about now? Optimal Genetic Pathways is our herd inventory calculator that can help you do just that… and more! The program was developed right here in All West Territory by our very own team member, Greg Collins, and the program is continually being improved upon. This program consists of an All West/Select Sires OGP Specialist using your own herd’s data in our specially-designed program. This includes cow numbers, conception rates, cull rates, and many other data points. You then get to meet with our specialist personally to create a plan of attack for your desired time frame, whether you wish to reevaluate on a yearly, quarterly, or even monthly basis. The designed plan is very custom to each dairy herd and what you as a dairy producer are looking to accomplish. We discover information such as, but not limited to: Are you using embryos? Are they dairy or beef? Are you using sexed semen and/or beef semen? How and where would you like to use this semen? Are you wanting to increase your herd size, decrease it, or maintain it? Our OGP Specialist will walk you through all of these questions and more in order to achieve your ideal heifer flow using the OGP program.
#2. Select Mating Service (SMS)
Now you have a plan, thanks to the Optimal Genetic Pathways program, but how do you implement it? The Select Mating Service (SMS) program has many layers to help you accomplish this. Besides assisting you with mating your cows in order to corrective mate animals to build even more ideal cows, this program also protects your herd from inbreeding, watches for haplotypes, and can create animal ranks. Our professional SMS consultants use research, computerized analysis and cow knowledge to build better herds, one mating at a time. They work hard to save you time, protect your investment and assist you in reaching your genetic goals for your herd. On top of all of that, our SMS evaluators can help you find animals to fit the different categories you created within the OGP program.
#3. NxGEN Program
So, now that you have a plan for your herd and the animals are in proper groups, let’s pick some bulls to use! The sires offered through our NxGEN program are early-access, elite bulls that will help move the needle within your genetic program. One example of a recently released NxGEN bull is 7HO15821 FROST BITE. Coming in at +$1,191 Net Merit Dollars, he’s the highest available Net Merit bull in the industry! Frost Bite is also superior for the Dairy Wellness Profit Index, clocking in at +$1,232 DWP$. To access these top bulls, you simply need to fill out a quick form and pay a small contract fee. After that, you are officially part of the elite program and can order any of the sires from this lineup. The semen is delivered directly to you and arrives at your door on the dairy, sometimes even in a matter of days. It doesn’t get much simpler than that!
Using just one or a complete combination of these programs will help you build the herd you desire. So what are you waiting for? Contact your All West/Select Sires Representative to get started using these industry-leading programs in 2022!
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