From the Road

Recently I returned from a trip to South Dakota and had the opportunity to stop at Genex Dakota Sire Service in Mitchell, S.D. 1AN01242 FULL POWER looks amazing after running with cows at Brockmere Angus in Missouri this summer. He looks like he’s been on feed for exhibition! He’s a tremendously correct, square, clean bull with awesome muscle shape and rib.
His feet are impeccable with a deep heel, no curl in his toes and standing perfectly square. This summer he bred his last cow and will be a permanent resident at one of our studs. I’m very excited about his potential to break the stereotype that great number bulls are poor phenotype bulls.

1AN01240 EFFECTIVE continues to develop and look amazing. He’s so deep, wide based and sound featured with the look of a cow maker.







One of my visits was to Mohnen Angus and the 1AN01165 SUBSTANCE bulls there are amazing. Tremendous thickness, ruggedness and power for a lower BW sire group. I think you will be impressed by them as well as the 1AN01230 EXCITEMENT bulls.

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Author, Jon Janssen, is the Beef Sire Procurement Manager. Jon's responsibilities include evaluating prospective beef sires and acquiring sires or semen marketing rights to provide Genex members and customers with a solid beef sire lineup. From 1999 to 2009, he served as the Genex beef programs development manager. Prior to that, he was a Genex sales representative in Nebraska. 

Little Brown Cow, Big Profit

They breed back fast! I have no calving problems. They eat less. Easier to work with. I can calve them in sooner. Nutrient dense milk. Feed efficiency. These are just some of the things I hear across the country when customers share why they milk Jerseys. The growth of the Jersey breed has been on a rapid and steady increase for the past decade for one basic reason = EFFICIENCY. In a study published in the Journal of Dairy Science, A comparison of the environmental impact of Jersey compared with Holstein milk for cheese production, it was found that the Jersey cow has a 20% reduction in total carbon footprint when compared to their Holstein counterpart. This is huge. This topic was one of many covered at the American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA) annual meeting this past summer. Breed updates included AJCA recording an all-time record high for 2012 Jersey registrations (103,345), and they are now on track to have an even better year in 2013. Genomic females evaluated in 2013 are currently 56% higher than this point last year. In addition, Jersey breed growth nation-wide is at an all-time high and growing at a rapid pace. It is estimated the current Jersey population is over 850,000 head which is about 9.25% of the total U.S. cow population. This growth is expected to accelerate over the next few years. One of the biggest indicators of breed growth comes from domestic semen sales. Based on NAAB numbers, domestic Jersey semen sales have also seen a drastic increase in the last couple years. With the 2012 numbers in, Jersey semen now accounts for 10.8% of the U.S. market share. With this kind of breed growth, comes big breed goals. AJCA has announced they have a goal for Jerseys to become 25% of the U.S. dairy population by the year 2020. The bottom-line, take-away message from Neal Smith, Executive Secretary of the AJCA, was, “Efficiency drives profitability. Profitability leads to breed growth. Breed growth leads to opportunity.” Genex is committed to our Jersey lineup and serving our customers needs in this exciting time of Jersey breed growth. Remember, little brown cow = big profit! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author Leah James is our U.S. Jersey Marketing Manager.  James grew up on a family dairy farm and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture education. She has since worked within the artificial insemination industry and for the American Jersey Cattle Association. Today, she and her husband also operate a 125-cow dairy consisting of registered Holsteins, Jerseys and Milking Shorthorns

On the road with Genex Independent Contractors

A big part of my role at Genex/CRI is providing training and support to the nearly 200 Independent Contractors that sell beef semen and breed cows for Genex all over the U.S. and Canada.  Last week was our annual Genex Progeny Tour/IC Graduate School.  This event is the result of a lot of hard work and planning.  It's always fun to see it come together, but also a relief when you can look back and say it was successful event.  This year I was lucky to have a lot of help planning the tour, as two of our Genex Territory Sales Managers, Darcy Warren and Ryan Ollerich, took charge of planning the tour stops.  The truly helped make this one of our best events ever!

On October 1-3, 2013, nearly 75 Genex Independent Contractors and Beef Marketing and Genetics staff gathered in Sioux Falls, S.D.  This group represented 22 different states and one Canadian province.  I can't tell you how exciting it is when you get on a bus filled with cattle enthusiasts to spend a couple of days looking at Genex progeny and learning more about what our beef line-up has to offer.

On the first day of our tour we were privileged to have the opportunity to view Genex progeny on display at Mohnen Angus, Varilek Angus and Koupal Angus.   We stopped at Genex Dakota Sire Service in Mitchell, SD to view Genex bulls that are there on collections.  Two bulls that I was extremely impressed with were 1AN01240  Schiefelbein EFFECTIVE 61 and 1AN01302 Connealy WESTERN CUT.  While we were at Genex Dakota Sire Service we also had the opportunity to take in the Genex Progeny Showcase, as several producers brought progeny for us to view.

Genex Independent Contractors, Duke Warren and Clarence Schumcher, catch a ride while viewing cattle at Mohnen Angus.

View of the Genex Progeny Showcase at Genex Dakota Sire Service.

On our second tour day we made stops at Eugene Rapp's, Ogren Brother's, Penrhos Farms and Goodwin Heritage Feedlot.  Penrhos Farms, Britton, S.D., is owned by the Owen Jones family.  They have been a progeny test herd for Genex for nearly two decades!  This was a favorite stop for nearly everyone on the tour.  It was really exciting to see generations of Genex A.I. sired cattle stacked on top of each other.  While we were there we had an opportunity to view some of the first progeny on several of Genex's up and coming bulls such as 1AN01238 SAV RESOURCE 1441 and 1AN01214 WRA WALKER X3.  

ICs, Steve Lund and Donovan Dirks, study the 1AN01233 Flag CROSS COUNTRY 90052, progeny on display at Varilek Angus.

 

The group taking in the view at Koupal Angus.

After two exciting days of viewing Genex sired progeny we settled in for a day of learning.  Dr. George Perry from South Dakota State University was kind enough to meet with our group and discuss management considerations for getting the most out of our reproduction programs.  Dr. Tonya Amen from Angus Genetics, Inc. lead us in a discussion on Angus 50k, the incorporation of DNA into EPDs and what' s new on the horizon.

I would like to thank all of our tour stop hosts for their extreme hospitality!  Your willingness to open your farms and ranches to our group is invaluable.  Your enthusiasm for good cattle is electrifying. The experience that we were able to gain will help us to continue to give sound genetic and reproductive advice to Genex members and customers all over North America.

October 1-3, 2013 nearly 75 Genex Independent Contractors, Beef Marketing and Genetics staff gathered in Sioux Falls, S.D. for the annual Genex Beef Progeny Tour/IC Graduate School.

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Author, Sarah Thorson, is our Beef Education Manager. Sarah grew up in Eastern Montana on her family's ranch. She is a graduate of Montana State University and has been a member of the Genex team since 2004. Sarah works closely with the Genex Beef Marketing Staff, providing training to the cooperative's nearly 200 Independent Contractors. She also provides Artificial Insemination training for Genex members and customers and reproductive consulting.