Select Sires SMS team

More than 90 Select Sires professional Select Mating Service genetic consultants and staff
attended the 2012 SMS Consultant Conference, hosted by Select Sires MidAmerica, Inc.
and Prairie State/Select Sires in South Dakota and Iowa.


More than 90 professional Select Mating Service™ (SMS™) genetic consultants from Select Sires' member organizations across the country met at the 37th annual SMS Consultant Conference, hosted by Select Sires MidAmerica, Inc., and Prairie State/Select Sires in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, May 6-9, 2012.

To kick off the conference, genetic consultants participated in a day of continuing education to ensure that they remain a valuable resource for their customers. The group discussed the latest developments in the Program for Genetic Advancement™ (PGA™) and the many strengths of Select Sires' current sire lineup as well as exciting genomic young sires that are waiting in the wings. They learned about enhancements to the SMS program, innovative technologies and recent trends and were introduced to StrataGEN™, a unique, sequential breeding system developed by Select Sires.

The role of the consultant is ever changing as are the needs of their customers. SMS allows consultants to help dairy producers control genetic recessives, haplotypes, inbreeding levels and provides a means to create custom selection indexes based on customer goals. SMS genetic consultants are trained to help their customers identify the highest ranking genetics in their herds for future development.

The most widely accepted mating program in the world, SMS continues to have persistent growth that is unmatched in the industry. SMS genetic consultants took the program to record-breaking heights in customer service in 2011. More than 5.48 million corrective matings were generated with more than one million cow-side evaluations, over 875,000 pedigree matings and more than 1.9 million new animals mated. For more than 35 years, SMS has been building better cows throughout the world with 80 committed genetic consultants whose dedication and passion are to improve the herds of Select Sires' customer-owners.

To round out the conference, consultants spent three days viewing progeny of Select Sires' current lineup and potential graduates in South Dakota and Iowa. "This year's conference was an outstanding display of Select Sires genetics on each and every dairy farm we visited," stated Lon Peters, vice president of dairy sire product services and international for Select Sires. "The herds were perfect testimonials to the value of SMS and Select Sires' genetics."

Select Sires thanks the following herds for opening their doors and welcoming Select Sires' staff and genetic consultants: Howe Dairy, Sherman, S.D.; Prairie Gold Dairy, Elkton, S.D.; KC Dairy, LLP, Elkton, S.D; Harringa Dairy, Brandt, S.D.; Watertown Holsteins and Schweer Dairy, Watertown, S.D; Dean and Jean Bos Family, Maurice, Iowa; RSC-CH Holsteins and Stoutjesdyk Dairy, Maurice, Iowa; Maassen Dairy, Maurice, Iowa; Roorda Dairy, Paulina, Iowa; Nyhof-Meyer Dairy, Sioux Center, Iowa; Dyk-Vue Holsteins, Orange City, Iowa; Trans Ova Genetics, Sioux Center, Iowa; Multi-Rose Jerseys, Inc., Rock Rapids, Iowa; and Summit Farm Jerseys, Lester, Iowa.

Based in Plain City, Ohio, Select Sires Inc., is North America's largest A.I. organization and is comprised of nine farmer-owned and -controlled cooperatives. As the industry leader, it provides highly fertile semen as well as excellence in service and programs to achieve its basic objective of supplying dairy and beef producers with North America's best genetics at a reasonable price.

5.24.2012