Company News

Red & White Holstein breeders worldwide have been anxiously awaiting a true Red son of the internationally popular Master Series™ sire Pursuit September Storm *RC, and with the addition of 0200HO05337 La Presentation Picolo Red, their wait is over.

Picolo Red arrives with his first official evaluation at +13 Conf and double digits for Mammary Systems, Feet & Legs and Dairy Strength, matching comments in the field.

“This sire excels in dairy strength,” says Carl Barclay, Westgen Progeny Analyst. “Picolo daughters are big with lots of rib and openess. They show hard tops and fanciness throughout, tracking nicely on a solid foot and leg.”

This style and balance is bred into Picolo Red as his dam is a VG-85-3YR-CAN 1* Lentini with 1 Superior Lactation Award, then a VG-85-2YR-CAN 2* Steven from a VG-85-2YR-CAN 2* Milestone from Canada’s 32* brood cow, the EX-3E-CAN La Presentation Digne.

“We expect high demand worldwide for Picolo,” says Brad Sayles, Semex Alliance Vice President, Global Marketing. “As one of our top type sires in the USA, he will create a lot of interest worldwide very soon.”

Ranking extremely high for type in the USA, Picolo Red posted an impressive +3.56 PTAT, +2.51 UDC and +3.26 FLC on his debut run, with low 2.90 SCS. Picolo’s +3.56 PTAT ranks him as Semex’s #3 PTAT sire and one of the top Red sires in the world.

... Read More...

By the extremely popular Semex Master Series™ sire, Pursuit September Storm *RC, 0200HO05379 Kerndt Stallion’s unique pedigree is certain to make him popular worldwide. His dam is an EX-91-2E-USA Mtoto with over 133,000 lbs lifetime, then four more EX-USA dams with big records.

Ranking #6 LPI, Stallion is the #1 new release sire in Canada. Stallion excels for desirable type traits at +14 Conf, +14 Feet & Legs, +15 Dairy Strength with an impressive +86 Fat, +43 Protein with +0.52F and +0.13P and a low 2.89 SCS with pleasing production. Adding to his credits, Stallion is a high fertility Repromax™ sire.

In the field, CIAQ Progeny Analyst Chris Studer describes Stallion daughters as very stylish cows. “These are tall, angular cows with great dairy strength. We like their shallow udders and strong ligaments with very well-attached fore udders. Dairymen will be very pleased with these daughters.”

“Stallions are cows that are open, angular and dairy with a nice rump and foot and a fine bone,” says Mike West, Semex Sire Analyst & Product Support Specialist. “Their udders show lots of rear udder crease telling us they’ll last through many lactations.”

A USA bred bull from the Kerndt family of Lansing, Iowa, Stallion scores well on the TPI listing at +3.42 PTAT, +1.68 UDC and +2.49 FLC with 2.97 SCS.

Ask your local Semex representative today about adding this exciting September Storm son to your breeding program.

... Read More...

August 2009 LPI proofs are now online at www.semex.com



Once again dominating the LPI listing, Semex Holstein sires capture 72 of the top 100!



# 3 LPI Holstein Sire: 0200HO05049 Morningview Ashlar

# 4 LPI Holstein Sire: 0200HO03205 Braedale Goldwyn (#4 Conformation Sire & #1 2nd Crop Sire)

# 5 LPI Holstein Sire: 0200HO09804 Crockett-Acres Eight

# 6 LPI Holstein Sire: 0200HO05379 Kerndt Stallion (#1 New Release Holstein: September Storm x Mtoto)

# 7 LPI Holstein Sire: 0200HO05024 Dudoc Mr Burns *RC

# 9 LPI Holstein Sire: 0200HO03427 Springway Cleveland (#2 New Release Holstein: Titanic x Addison)



# 4 LPI Ayrshire Sire: 0200AY00328 Kellcrest Humour (#1 New Release Ayrshire: Peterslund x BBB Kellogg)

# 5 LPI Ayrshire Sire: 0200AY00594 Duo Star Normandin

# 6 LPI Ayshire Sire: 0200AY00597 Kildare Jupiter

# 7 LPI Ayrshire Sire: 0200AY00596 St Clement Edmour

# 8 LPI Ayrshire Sire: 0200AY00311 Visserdale Etro

# 9 LPI Ayrshire Sire: 0200AY00601 Lagace Ristourn



# 3 LPI Brown Swiss Sire: 0073BS00018 R-Hart Cartoon



# 2 LPI Guernsey Sire: 0200GU00109 Pine Ridge Double L

# 3 LPI Guernsey Sire: 0200GU00111 Myown Poker Bingo

# 4 LPI Guernsey Sire: 0200GU00001 Rozelyn Enhancer Jordan

# 5 LPI Guernsey Sire: 0200GU00400 Knapps Enhancer Krunch

# 9 LPI Guernsey Sire: 0200GU00401 Millborne Bolero

#10 LPI Guernsey Sire: 0200GU00102 Knapps Mr America



# 1 LPI Jersey Sire: 0200JE00430 Lencrest On Time (#1 New Release Sire: Sultan x Declo Belle)

# 2 LPI Jersey Sire: 0200JE00946 Sunset Canyon Dice (#2 New Release Sire: Jace x ... Read More...

Holstein Canada and Semex Alliance are pleased to announce that Sandy Cole of Middle Musquodoboit, Nova Scotia has been chosen to represent Canada in the 2010 Canada - Australia Young Adult Exchange program.



Sandy is a 2006 graduate of Olds College in Alberta with a diploma in Agriculture.  Since 2006 Sandy has been employed full time at the home farm, Colstein.  Sandy, along with his father Dean and uncle David milk 60 cows. 



Over the years, Sandy has been very active showing dairy cattle at both the county and regional level.  As a member of the Central Nova Scotia Holstein Club, Sandy helped put on a clipping, showing and judging workshop.  Sandy has also worked at shows and conventions for a number of breeders including: Cobequid, Bernardale, and T&L Cattle Company. 



Easy-going, personable and knowledgeable in all aspects of dairy cattle management, Sandy indicates that his future plans are to join the family farm business.  Sandy is well on his way by having ownership of 18 cows under the farm prefix. 



“I'm extremely excited to be selected for this trip” states Sandy. “It is a great privilege and certainly a huge honor to be representing Canada on this exchange to Australia. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I know I will never forget."



Semex Alliance and Holstein Canada encourage all interested young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 to apply in 2010 for the following year’s program.





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SEMEN CARE: PROPER SEMEN HANDLING = MORE PGS

Don’t let semen handling be a “forgotten link” in your herd. Below are 12 steps herd owners and managers, herdsmen, inseminators and professional AI technicians can put in to practice to help get more cows pregnant.







Locate all items necessary to thaw semen and perform AI, including tweezers, water bath and thermometer, AI gun, sheaths, scissors, paper towels, plastic sleeves, and lubricant. Work close to the liquid nitrogen tank, preferably in a clean and dry location.



Check the water bath temperature using a thermometer. Most semen packaged in .5-mL or .25-mL straws should be thawed in water 95˚F/35˚C.



Keep an accurate semen inventory including storage location.



Work at or below the frost line in the neck of the tank to minimize the possibility of premature thawing of semen straws. After locating and grasping the desired cane, remove the straw with tweezers. Quickly transfer the straw to the water bath, while gently lowering the cane back into the canister, and the canister back into storage position. When thawing more than 1 straw simultaneously, do not allow straws to touch in the water bath.



Semen should be thawed for a minimum of 45 seconds. Use a watch or clock to monitor the time.



Remove the straw from the water bath and dry thoroughly with a paper towel. Water will kill sperm. Cut the crimped end of the straw at a right angle, keeping the straw covered by paper towels during the process.



As you load the straw into the gun, very quickly check to make sure you have selected the right bull.



Pull the sheath over the gun and secure it with an o-ring or by twisting the sheath on the raised spiral. Be certain the straw is seated ... Read More...

One of the biggest upfront expenses dairy producers face is rearing heifer calves to maturity.

In Australia, on average, it costs a producer $1500 to rear a heifer from birth until she is two years of age, when she historically calves and joins the milking herd. The longer she then remains a viable part of the milking herd, gives her logically longer to repay the initial investment.

With the industry having a naturally sharp focus on opening dairy prices in recent weeks, longevity undoubtedly has a subtle but vital role to play to play in the bigger picture of bottom line costs.

Research recently revealed that Canada leads the world for offering traits that support longevity, ahead of the US, Germany, the Netherlands and France respectively.

Canada’s Dairy Network’s (CDN) Brian Van Doormaal confirmed that Canada had deliberately responded to the global longevity challenge.

“In the minds of many people, especially producers, longevity is understandably the most important trait associated with dairy production,” Brian said.

He said longevity was a reflection of a successful combination of many traits and from a genetic perspective the ideal was to breed dairy cows that had the genetic potential to withstand voluntary culling.

“And, given that voluntary culling does occur in all dairy herds, which prevents cows from staying in the herd as long as they are physically able to, perhaps the best measure of longevity in a population is the average age of cows that die of natural causes such as old age,” Brian said.

Using the measure of old age, the average Holstein cow in Canada has the potential to live to 9.1 years of age, with 6.8 years of productive life (just shy of six productive lactations).

“The length of time that a cow remains in the herd reflects her ability ... Read More...

Regancrest-Mr Samuelo (Durham x Emory) Regancrest-MR Samuelo (HOSamuelo) arrived in Australia backed by iron-clad second-crop success and high reliability. The Durham x Emory son is described as a true all-round sire which improves yields, type and functional traits. With high fat and protein percentages for a higher milk price and extra income Samuelo is hole-proof - suitable for almost any cow and easy to use across the herd. He is also described as the best Durham son to improve type and components and he comes with the Repromax guarantee (see below). Born December 9, 1999 to Sher-est Emory Swanny EX-90, Mr Samuelo now has 1482 daughters in 1066 herds and he is backed by six generations of Excellent dams. Emory Swanny, produced (in three lactations) 41,604 litres, 1797kgs of fat (4.3%) and 1448kgs of protein (3.5%). Behind Swanny is an EX-91 Prelude x EX-90 Southwind x EX-91 Chief Mark x EX-91 Elevation Tony and an EX Marquis King. Semex’s Vaughn Johnston saw a number of Mr Samuelo daughters during a recent farmer tour in Canada, giving an Australian stamp of approval to this international glamour sire. “There is no doubt in my mind that Mr Samuelo fits into second-crop success now,” Vaughn said. “He offers many benefits and breeding options with his well-balanced proof and a pedigree to match, which is what today's dairy producers are looking for.” Mr Samuelo also features high fat and protein percentages that make him an easy choice to preference across any cow or herd. He is also a Repromax (high fertility) sire. “We were able to see a large number of second-crop daughters throughout Quebec and Ontario,” Vaughn said. “His consistency was one of his best points, siring the type of cow that you can see maturing into large-framed dairy cows that are going to last the distance with scores of 109 for herd life. “Mr Samuelo daughters had good overall size and scale to them with plenty of width throughout. His rump structure is most definitely ... Read More...

Sicy Knowledge
(Braedale Freelance x Shoremar James)

Once daughter photographs of the freshly proven sire Sicy Knowledge hit the streets interest in this Braedale Freelance son is expected to explode.

Knowledge entered Australia after receiving his first proof in April. His arrival was preceded by emails from excited Canadian Semex sire analysts as they summarised their latest daughter tours.

Their message was consistent – Knowledge is delivering and big things are expected from this sire with the valuable outcross pedigree.

Knowledge is a Braedale Freelance son from a VG88 Shoremar James dam, Ferre James Kelly. James Kelly won a Holstein Canada production award in her second lactation after producing (in 305 days) 14769Kg milk. She is, in turn, from a VG87 Storm x VG87 Mandel x EX90 Blackstar x EX92 Chief Mark x EX92 Bell.

In April Knowledge (who was proven in the CIAQ area) had 71 daughters in his production proof and 50 daughters for type. He is more than +1000 for milk with significantly high deviations for fat and protein. He scored 66% GP and better (in his April proof ) and at May 20 he was running at 69%.

European experts are also talking up Knowledge’s presence with Semex Holland’s, Harry Schuiling, summerising a recent daughter tour in Canada. They saw 11 first lactation daughters who had been milking for an average of 170 days.

“The key word in this daughter group was uniformity,” Harry said. “These nice medium- sized cows had adequate rib structure and spectacular mammary systems.

“Knowledge offspring are easy to recognise with their excellent front-ends and nice depth through the heart section. Their loins are, without exception, strong and their rumps were close to ideal.

“It’s also easy to see Knowledge is a breed-leading mammary ... Read More...

Mark E. Carson BSc. (Agr). MSc., Gencor Herd Reproduction Analyst

Often when a herd is having reproductive problems focus is given to what is currently happening to the cows in the herd.  Sometimes, however, looking back on our historical data we can find the root causes of many fertility issues.

The transition period, for example, is the most critical time in a cow’s lactation.  It’s during this time that cows are at a higher risk of developing disease; and, disease during the transition time can lead to reduced production and fertility throughout the entire lactation.

During a herd visit last winter, we visited a dairy with excellent disease recording and calving information.  Unfortunately, though, this herd was battling reduced conception, especially at first service.  Luckily, part of their disease recording protocol included documenting all diseases that occurred to their transition cows.  To detect problems in the herd, an accurate starting point needs to be determined.  Having recorded all disease information using a herd management program such as Dairy Comp 305, an owner, herdsman or herd advisor can more efficiently pinpoint reproduction problems and their causes. 

With this information available, we began to see that a significant percentage of the cows experiencing conception problems were the same cows that had problems at calving.  We identified that a group of cows that had Metritis during the summer months were now the same group of cows battling conception.

Metritis is a costly disease, reducing cow’s production and conception rates.  Research published by Overton and Fetrow (2008) showed that cows with Metritis were on average open for 33 days longer than cows that did not have the disease.  A 2006 University of Florida study ... Read More...

Semex’s iconic Maughlin Storm continues to make headlines more than 13 years after his initial proof as his 800th daughter scored EX this week.  Keriday Storm Sasha, like the 799 Storm daughters before her, has shown exceptional development, durability and strength netting her a score of EX-91-CAN in her fourth lactation. 

An original Semex Master Series™ sire, this most recent accomplishment sets Storm well above all other sires in Canada, as the sire with the most EX daughters ever.  By comparison, his sire Madawaska Aerostar has 53 EX daughters from 22,856 classified and his grandsire, the breed patriarch Hanoverhill Starbuck, has 418 EX daughters from his 37,960 classified. 

Storm’s statistics speak for themselves with 800 EX daughters of his 42,899 daughters classified, giving him an incredible 69% Good Plus or better ranking still today.  Among these daughters are some of the most tremendous and high impact cows of our time.  These cows have been and still are bull mothers, record milk producers, index toppers, brood cows, barn favorites and show winners.  Real cows working around the world.

As a sire of sons, Storm has proven himself again and again, siring nine Semex sires including modern day Master Series™ sires 0200HO07030 Ladino Park Talent *RC, 0200HO03067 Pursuit September Storm *RC, 0200HO04624 Brigeen Givenchy and former #1 LPI sire Hartline Titanic among many others.  On the bottom side of the pedigree, Storm’s genetics may make an even greater impact, being the maternal grandsire for 21 Semex sires, with superstar Braedale Goldwyn and his brothers included in the rankings. 

As the careers of many of these sires are just beginning at Semex, Storm’s genetics and the value that he brings to dairymen worldwide is certain to continue for many ... Read More...