June 2023

Beautiful red & white descendants of Tri-Day Ashlyn, Gaige Highlight Tamara, and Rancon Carla Factor-Red – they can be admired in the far northeastern part of the US, on the farm of the Morrill family. A family-run opera...

Brown Swiss, Jersey, Fleckvieh, Montbéliarde; the use of “Dairy Breeds” on Holsteins is taking place in a variety of forms in the Netherlands. The Bosgoed family in Denekamp, close to the German city of Nordhorn, has 30...

‘Many people ask me: “John, why aren’t you retiring?” But what would I do then, get out of bed late and watch TV? No, I want to get up every morning to do what I really enjoy: working with good Holstein cows!’ Speaking i...

When he was twelve years old, Mickael Coursière made his first matings. Today he is 41 years old and manages a dairy farm with 100 milking cows that for a few years already has been one of the herds with the most EX cows...

Looking through the rankings for the April proofs there is a name that appears on several lists: Co-Op Endeavor. Not only is he Nr.8 TPI (2986 TPI), he is also Nr.38 NM$ ($964) and ranks at Nr.27 LPI (3479 LPI). Great pr...

Traditionally, we present interesting red factor sires in this column two months after a breeding evaluation period. In this issue we look at RC bulls that offer a second genetic component, namely being homozygous polled...

The midnight-coloured Meridian-PP is a son of Mendel-P from a GP-83 daughter of Monument-P who goes back to Des-Y-Gen Planet Silk. His production breeding values show moderate milk yield with very good components: Especi...

‘It all started with the purchase of four Bolton embryos out of the American cow Sandy-Valley Gar Truffle EX-92, a daughter of the icon Ricecrest Terry Tory EX-93. Three heifer calves were born and two of them became tre...

He has been reported on multiple times and justifiably so. Based on the current circumstances, it is time to share the newest information. In the USA and in Canada he is the Nr.1 among daughter-proven sires and his offsp...

Sheepster, now 23 months old, is the nr. 8 sire for gTPI. ‘We began using Sheepster for contract matings in August. He was our most heavily used mating sire in 2022. Sheepster is also proving to be a very popular bull am...

Which conformation talents do a young American Holstein need to display for the maximum score of EX-92? Those looking at this photo of the second lactation Wi Fisherdale AC Extend, will receive a good impression. ‘Our da...

A short generation interval has helped to keep this Canadian cow family current, not just from a production standpoint but also for solid, functional type. With a history of over 80 years breeding Holsteins, Glengarry St...

It was the year that Holstein International started, 1994, the same year that a new name in the Brown Swiss world appeared on the scene: New Generation Genetics. That was the year that Dan Gilbert, who had worked with th...

One of the large AI companies in southern Germany is Bayern Genetik (BG). The name has become known world-wide thanks to its powerful breeding program for Fleckvieh. BG currently launches 60-75 young sires annually. ‘Tha...

With the merger of smaller organizations in Steiermark and Niederösterreich, Genostar was established in 2009, thus becoming the largest AI company in Austria. The most prominent breeds in Genostar’s working region are F...

By now you are familiar with Synetics as the successor of Evolution and Masterrind. Then you realize that here we are talking about a large program, in which a significant number of breeds receive opportunities: Holstein...

In California, a tour de force has been accomplished. An authentic tour de force, on the initiative of Ron Pietersma. At his Legend Dairy Farms in the Californian Chino, one of the world’s original dairy breeds has been...

Feel free to take a look at the interesting table that is printed here. Indeed: for all of these breeds, you can go to GGI-Spermex! And the list is not even entirely complete! ‘Precisely one of the major advantages of GG...

‘Cows that efficiently convert feed into lots of milk, that also have high longevity with strong scores for health: These are the cows that dairy farmers like to see on their farms. Feed costs are high, land is expensive...

‘Our goal is to be able to offer our farmers the most interesting sires. Especially for smaller populations, it is then necessary to work with other AI companies.’ Speaking is Helmut Gossner from the German AI company Be...

‘JPI is a total index that is receiving a lot of attention, as is CM$. Both indexes help the breed by providing direction, and we look at both when making combinations and when choosing which sires to test. But: for over...

Undoubtedly one of the best sources of the Dutch Friesian breed (which lies at the foundation of the Holstein breed) is the Dutch AI company KI Kampen. Today this organization has a wide assortment of sires from various...

‘JPI is a total index that is receiving a lot of attention, as is CM$. Both indexes help the breed by providing direction, and we look at both when making combinations and when choosing which sires to test. But: for over...

Every summer, heat stress leads to lost milk production and supressed fertility rates in the modern dairy cow. Selection for more heat tolerant animals, incorporating the slick gene, providing housing conditions with bet...

The latest genetic disorder to be identified in the Holstein breed involves calves that appear normal but can’t stand up. It has taken researchers more than a year to unravel the details behind this affliction known as R...

Here follow the most prominent dams, foundation dams, and breeding icons behind the highest DNA and progeny proven sires from the recent April release - with a special role for an O-Man daughter originating from Idaho.