Meet the Breeders...of 7HO11314 MOGUL  

Start strong, finish stronger! That must be the theme behind the #1 GTPI sire, 7HO11314 Mountfield SSI Dcy MOGUL-ET. Mogul debuted as the second highest ranking young sire in the breed in December 2011. With a genomic proof then of +1469M +87F +52P and +3.55T, his numbers over the past four years have remained quite impressive at +1376M +78F +43P and +2.84T, especially considering the recent rollback and the addition of 274 daughters for production and 78 daughters for type.

So how did this young Dorcy son rise to the top of the list not once, but twice? Where did he come from and what makes him so special? We decided to get an inside look at how Mogul became Mogul...before he stole the spotlight!

 

Starting Strong
One hundred fifty cows and 180 head of young stock call Mountfield Holsteins, Marcellus, NY, home. The dairy is situated in one of central New York's most beautiful areas, the Finger Lakes. With rolling hills, pristine lakes and four distinct seasons, the area is a "postcard picture" year round. Five generations of the Marshfield family have worked the 330 acres of ground there, growing silage corn and hay. The Centennial Farm is owned and operated by Roger and Phil Marshfield and Phil's daughter, Amanda Fitzsimmons. Phil's other daughter, Janette, feeds heifers at a second farm in nearby Skaneateles while Amanda's husband, Jeff, helps with machinery and everyday farm maintenance. This hardworking group not only takes pride in the farm and a maintaining a profitable herd, but they enjoy studying pedigrees and breeding a better "next" generation. Amanda explains it all in her own words: Click Here to Read More
 

Daughter Gallery - MOGUL-STRONG
 

Bacon-Hill Mogul Paige-ET (VG-86-DOM)
David King, Waddington, NY

Sandy-Valley Mogl Sunset-ET (VG-88)
David, Patrick, Frank, Jr. & Gregory Bauer, Scandinavia, WI

 S-S-I Mogul Saturday8013-ET (VG-86-DOM)
Buschur Dairy Farms, Inc., New Weston, OH

Bacon-Hill Mogul Melynda-ET (VG-85)
Bacon-Hill Holsteins LLC, Schuylerville, NY

 
Fustead Mogul Lana-ET
 Rock Hill Dairy LLC, Dexter, NM

 
Kings-Ransom Mg Cleavage-ET (VG-88)
Kings-Ransom Farm LLC, Schuylerville, NY

 
Springhill-OH Mogul Cassidy
Spring Hill Farm, Inc., Big Prairie, OH

 
Farnear Lite Morning-ET (VG-86)
Rick & Tom Simon, Farley, IA

The ART of Fine Breeding  

 If you're intrigued by breeding philosophies and studied the "art" of programs such as Hanover-Hill, Ocean-View, Paclamar, Pabst, Dunloggin and other legendary greats, you know that developing exceptional cows and bulls rarely happens just by luck. While many claim they have a "hunch" when it comes to breeding cows or they rely purely on daughter performance, there's actually a science to it as well.

That's where Select Sires comes in. In June of 2008, the Select Sires Board of Directors (farmer-owned and controlled) met to talk about ways to help with the ever-increasing problem of inbreeding, while developing breed leading bulls with truly unique pedigrees. In essence, it was a group of breeders still intrigued by the art of breeding better cattle. 
 
 

Jeff Ziegler, Genomics Program Manager, Select Sires, Inc.

The Aggressive Reproductive Technology (ART) program became a concept and then a reality just seven months later in January 2009. "We felt compelled to broaden our range of bloodlines to give dairy producers more options when making genetics selections," said Jeff Ziegler, Genomics Program Manager at Select Sires. "We wanted to create additional genetic variation and also utilize genomic tools to slow the inbreeding growth facing the Holstein breed. Creating line-bred sires and using them on unrelated lines in the field will further ensure capturing each sire's genetic superiority without the added weight of inbreeding depression."  Click Here to Read More
 

What's In YOUR Ear?  

 CowManager prize to be awarded at World Ag Expo by Select Sires

Ever wish there were more versions of "you" to watch over your dairy herd? It's nearly impossible to monitor every single cow, every single day, isn't it? Not anymore! Select Sires is proud to be the exclusive distributor for CowManager, a system developed BY a dairy producer FOR dairy producers with these exact concerns in mind.

 Gerard Griffioen, a Holstein breeder from the Netherlands, created CowManager ear tag system to monitor activity levels relating to estrus, health and rumination measurements 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. CowManager sends alerts based on changes in any or all of the three measurement modules, enabling producers to catch cows exactly when they need to bred, find sick cows before they show signs of being ill, or locate cows that are off-feed for some reason. Imagine the peace of mind if you knew a system was watching your herd when you weren't able to. And even more, imagine the peace of mind and financial impact to your operation if you can receive early notification of sick or off-feed cows before visual signs are available. Click Here to Read More