SEMEX'S UNIQUE IMMUNITY+ RANGE OF SIRES CONTINUE TO GROW
A year ago this week Semex announced the first of a new and unique range of sires selected for their ability to do what no sires had ever been selected to do before - to directly improve immune status of their daughters, as well as all the conventional production, functional and type characteristics.
Since then Immunity+™ range of sires has entered the common language of many dairy farmers, and the logic of using the sires to improve the health of the next generation of cows through genetics has been widely accepted.
Semex in the UK initially started by launching eight sires and, in subsequent proof runs, others were also identified as meeting the stringent standard required to qualify as Immunity+, with the number before the December 2013 proof run growing to 16. Now, another two sires have been designated as Immunity+, taking the number available to UK farmers to 18. In Semex studs around the world there is now a pool of Immunity+ sires that exceeds 50, and this means the company will shortly be able to offer even more choice for the UK market.
The two new graduates are the Facebook sons Coyne-Farms Jabir, and Mr Lookout P Embargo. Jabir is a high ranking TPI and PLI (£228) genomic sire and comes from a maternal line with in-built health and fertility. In addition to his immunity boosting genes he also offers high daughter fertility (UK Fert. Index +4.3). good herd life, high milk (+622kgs) and low SCC (-22). His type profile indicates strong, wide, powerful daughters with very good feet, legs and udders.
Embargo is out of a Shottle from Crockett-Acres Eight's full sister and has a PLI of £225. High milk (+589kg) combined with high fat percentage (+0.11%) and low SCC (-14) means milk production of high quality and value, while good daughters fertility (+1.8) and high Lifespan (+0.4) show his daughters will breed back quickly and last well. His excellent type profile (UK TM +2.88) indicates taller cows with tremendous width and depth, that walk well, and have well-attached, shallow, high quality udders.
"We are absolutely delighted with the way that dairy farmers are embracing these sires and philosophy behind them," says Michael Dennison, National Sales Manager for Semex. "Many farmers now view Immunity+ sires as being a no-brainer as this ground-breaking, patented genetic technology gives very valuable and unique dimension to sire selection."
