Select Sires offers early access to the industry’s most elite genetics through the NxGEN® program. These sires hail from the best pedigrees and boast powerful health, wellness and fitness traits to create the next generation of profitable cattle. Following the December sire summaries, the breed’s No. 1 available Net Merit sire, 7HO15821 FROST BITE (+1,191 NM$), joined the NxGEN lineup. The most recent portfolio includes 11 sires that average +2930 GTPI®, +982 NM$, +995 Cheese Merit (CM$) and +991 Herd Health Profit Dollars™ (HHP$™).
“As dairies double-down on genetics, they are more critical of the females selected to produce replacements. This strategy, combined with an intense focus on sire selection, is expected to move the dial on genetic advancement,” said Lyle Kruse, vice president of U.S. market development at Select Sires Inc. “A more aggressive approach to sire selection will deliver returns on your investment and this lineup of NxGEN sires provides dairies with the most competitive genetic advantage.”
New addition FROST BITE (+3013 GTPI) offers a unique pedigree: 7HO15097 GRANADA x 7HO14454 LIONEL x 7HO12897 SAMURI. His NM$ leadership combines with phenomenal health and wellness (+1,090 HHP$, +1,221 Dairy Wellness Profit Index®, +133 Wellness Trait Index®) plus outstanding production (+1,531 Milk, +164 Combined Fat and Protein) and A2A2 Beta-Casein.
Overall, the current lineup equips herds with the genetic power to combat the dairy industry’s most common ailments and culling risks. Seven of the sires are more than +1,000 on Select Sires’ new HHP$ index. HHP$ places strong emphasis on health traits, particularly mastitis resistance. When compared to TPI and NM$, mastitis resistance and Somatic Cell Score (SCS) PTAs represent only 5 percent of the formula whereas these traits receive a relative emphasis of 19 percent in Select Sires’ HHP$ formula. Sires 7HO15583 KASHTON (+1,103), FROST BITE (+1,090), 7HO15167 GAMEDAY (+1,082) and 250HO15662 RIX (+1,055) rank as the top four sires for this innovative index.
In addition to HHP$, Select Sires also uses the green Mastitis ResistantPRO™ designation to identify sires that possess traits necessary to combat costly mastitis cases. Eight of the NxGEN sires qualify for the Mastitis ResistantPRO designation, including KASHTON, GAMEDAY, RIX and 14HO15582 MASHAK.
All NxGEN sires are available in Select Sires’ high-quality gender SELECTED™ SexedULTRA™ semen to create your next generation of healthy and profitable herd replacements.
To experience next level genetic gains, join Select Sires’ NxGEN program and add these sires to your lineup. For more information about NxGEN, or to apply for membership, visit www.selectsires.com/NxGEN.
Based in Plain City, Ohio, Select Sires Inc., is the largest global A.I. cooperative and is comprised of six farmer-owned and -controlled local organizations in the United States. As the industry leader, it provides highly fertile semen, as well as excellence in service and programs to supply dairy and beef producers with the world’s best genetics.
