Likely the World’s Most Popular Sire of All Time: “Black Beauty” To-Mar Blackstar
Has a bull ever been more popular in global breeding than To-Mar Blackstar from Select Sires? Likely not. During his long life, the semen of the Chairman son from the American state of Iowa was nearly consistently “sold out”, so tremendous was the demand. And that despite the relatively high price of his semen – sometimes hundreds of dollars were paid for just one straw. At the same time, Blackstar is likely the most used sire of sons of all time – so much so that he became a classic example: AI companies would never again sample as many sons from one bull as they did from Blackstar. Not that his harvest was insufficient, but with the wholesale use of his sons, many other bulls received insufficient opportunities. Here follows the fascinating life story of the deeply loved “black beauty”.
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