^{The information below has been supplied by dairy marketers and other industry organizations. It has not been edited, verified or endorsed by Hoard’s Dairyman.}

By increasing the average productive life of cows in the herd from 2.5 lactations per cow to 3.33 lactations per cow, dairy owners can expect to generate an average of $45 in extra profit per cow per year, according to research from dairy genetics and economics researchers Dr. Chad Dechow and Dr. Albert DeVries. With this research and other industry practices in mind, Select Sires Inc. is focusing on health and wellness traits that make the greatest economic impact on dairy farms. Herds can rely on Select Sires, Accelerated Genetics and GenerVations sire lineups to create healthy, productive daughters. Fourteen Holsteins, two Jerseys and one Brown Swiss sire graduated to daughter-proven status and joined these lineups following the April sire summaries.

Holstein Highlights

• Herd Health Profit Dollars™ (HHP$™) is designed to achieve greater longevity in the herd. The new class of graduates includes five sires above +900 HHP$, with 7HO14578 FOXCATCHER (+1,044), 14HO14636 TRY ME (+1,028) and 7HO14436 BIG DOLLARS (+985) leading the list. BIG DOLLARS (+1,208 DWP$®), 7HO14329 EMINENT (+1,113) and 14HO14587 HARLOW (+1,026) rank among the industry’s best for Zoetis’ Dairy Wellness Profit Index®, another tool for herds focused on health and wellness.

• Because mastitis is the most common clinical disease reported in dairy cows and cited as the third most prevalent reason for culling in commercial dairy herds, Select Sires developed the innovative Mastitis ResistantPRO™ designation. The green Mastitis ResistantPRO icon in Select Sires’ directories and on the website identifies sires that excel in multiple indicators of mastitis resistance. FOXCATCHER, TRY ME, BIG DOLLARS, EMINENT, HARLOW, 14HO14464 REEVE-RED and 250HO14605 TROPIC are included in the group of 11 new Holstein graduates that qualify for the designation.

• New daughter-proven leaders for Sire Conception Rate include 7HO14132 LIBERTY-P (+3.7 SCR), EMINENT (+3.0) and HARLOW (+2.7). Daughter Pregnancy Rate (DPR) leaders are EMINENT (+2.8), TRY ME (+2.4) and FOXCATCHER (+1.6).

• Four of the new graduates rank within the industry’s top-50 sires for GTPI® with FOXCATCHER making his debut in the top-10 at +2902. Other GTPI leaders include 7HO14732 MERIDIAN (+2869), HARLOW (+2856) and TRY ME (+2852).

• LIBERTY-P debuts as a proven Polled sire and an SCR superstar (+3.7), with balanced Type, A2A2 Beta-Casein and BB Kappa-Casein.

• The massively popular 7HO14477 WARRIOR-RED graduated and ranks as the No. 1 proven PTAT Red sire at +3.59. Field reports say his milking daughters are standouts in the barn and the showring. 250HO14579 HANCOCK earned his graduation cap with 254 daughters in 125 herds confirming his customer satisfaction status. As the first 250HO12961 DOC son with milking daughters, HANCOCK offers elite Type (+3.60 PTAT) and milk production (+1,275 PTAM). These two Showcase™ sires also carry the Mastitis ResistantPRO designation and are available with gender SELECTED™ semen.

• For production power and high components, farmers should look to BIG DOLLARS (+2,182 PTAM, +127 CFP), 7HO14316 MARKSMAN (+1,690, +134) and FOXCATCHER (+1,481, +142).

• In addition to WARRIOR-RED, farmers interested in the Red market will be excited for new graduates 250HO14465 RONALD, 7HO14460 CROWN-RED and REEVE-RED. Previously a popular young sire, RONALD is a unique addition as a Red Carrier backed by 12 Excellent dams. CROWN-RED is from a different branch of the Apple tree and one of the highest new Red & Whites for GTPI at +2562. REEVE-RED hails from the Roxy family and combines positive components with a pleasing linear profile and positive fertility.

Jersey Highlights

• 7JE1726 STARLORD graduates as the No. 1 Craze son in the world. He offers balanced production with +1.8 DPR, +2.0 Livability, A2A2 Beta-Casein and BB Kappa-Casein. He qualifies for Mastitis ResistantPRO, RobotPRO® and FeedPRO® designations.

• 14JE1712 JX BUTKUS {4} has a unique pedigree and combines valuable daughter fertility (+0.9 DPR) and Productive Life (+4.0) with A2A2 Beta-Casein and BB Kappa-Casein.

• Both Jersey graduates are available with gender SELECTED semen.

Brown Swiss Highlights

• Showcase favorite, 7BS905 RAMPAGE, is creating stylish heifers that calve with outstanding mammary systems. He is tremendous for sire fertility and qualifies for the Elite Sexed Fertility™ designation based on the field performance of his gender SELECTED semen.

For more information about individual sires, please visit www.selectsires.com and use the new Advanced Sire Search to locate and sort sires that match your genetic goals. To access sires from the palm of your hand, download Select Sires Mobile from your app store today!

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.