General Managers Message
Genetic Selection? - You Choose How
By Wayne Dudley, General Manager, Select Sire Power, Inc.
A lot of things are changing in the genetic business and the breeding industry. There is one philosophy that sets Select Sires apart from the rest of the industry in regards to genetic selection for your herd. We listen. We believe that one doctrine that does not need to change is your ability to design your breeding program like you want to, in order to accomplish your individual wants, needs and goals. For you to be able to do that, Select Sires must maintain the balance and diversity of genetics that gives you that opportunity.
Today there are so many traits for which to select, it's very difficult to combine them all in one package. Indexes have long been a good way to identify a few important traits, combine them into one evaluation, and make choices based on the rankings. Indexes are changing. Unfortunately, they are all becoming very similar in content, using the same traits and the same percentage selection pressure. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it very much limits your ability to use an index and maintain your individuality in breeding programs. In order to put pressure on traits that are important to "you", it is necessary to isolate those traits and rank bulls on that specific trait. Selecting for type and its individual components is a good example of that necessity today. Devising one's own index is becoming more popular with many breeders and that ability has been incorporated into our Select Mating Service TM (SMSTM). Even though "milk" and "type" are being virtually excluded from the popular indexes today, I believe you will still find a large selection of very high bulls in these traits in the Select Sires lineup that will allow you to satisfy your goals in these areas.
Genomic testing is changing the accuracy of genetic evaluations, especially on sires that do not have progeny testing. This technology allows us to have considerably more confidence in our genetic predictions than we had with only parent averages. Every breeder must decide how to use this new genetic selection tool. We know that the accuracy of the genomic predictions will continue to grow, however, today reliabilities have not reached the levels with which we feel comfortable compared to our progeny tested sires. Select Sires is confident that we need to continue progeny-testing our bulls. That premise alone probably should indicate to you that the larger percentage of your herd should still be bred to progeny-tested sires in order to be comfortable that genetic predictions will not eventually deviate beyond your acceptable standards.
Bottom line...we are still committed to listening to you and trying to fill your individual genetic needs. It is still okay to have different goals and ideas than your neighbor or even the popular majority. Select Sires will try to position our genetic offering to include the choices and diversity that you need to accomplish your breeding goals. Please let us hear from you.