Bullseye May 2014

Recently, Semex sire Mainstream Manifold reached the pivotal Millionaire Sire mark, joining 11 other elite Semex sires that have each produced over one million doses of semen. Semex is an industry leader in delivering the ‘best selling’ sires of their time. As Semex’s 12th Millionaire Sire, Manifold is joining an elite fraternity of Semex icons.

Manifold, bred by Randy Kortus of Lynden, Washington, is the first millionaire sire from this herd notorious for record breaking production yields. When contacted to congratulate him, Randy commented, “Manifold is from our best cow family for many generations going back to an original cow we purchased in 1981. His maternal line has always been the milkiest in the barn.” He went on to say that breeding a millionaire sire was, “something we never dreamed of doing! It’s even more amazing that he is still so high ranking on the GTPI and GLPI lists. We are proud that customers are so pleased with their Manifold daughters.”

Retired Semex Sire Analyst Gordon Souter recalls contracting the bull in 2003, at a time when Semex hadn’t yet taken many sons from O Man and he thought it was important to get some pedigrees with their emphasis on production. Gordon’s successor, Sire Analyst Tars Cheema, inspected him before bringing him to stud, and he remembers that, “Manifold stood out right from the first time I saw him at 2 months of age. He was long, dairy, stylish with correct legs and deep open rib.” Tars also recalls his dam Aeroine as “an extremely refined dairy cow, with clean boned legs and a beautiful udder; making her an ideal mate for O Man.”

As a young bull Manifold made his home in the barns at Westgen and earned a reputation for his excellent semen producing abilities and good temperament. He moved to EastGen in early 2011 and justified the expense of his airline ticket by not missing a beat, making an impressive collection on his first day working there. Spending over half of his life at Westgen makes him the 4th millionaire sire to reside in Milner, BC that was purchased by Gordie Souter, following in the footsteps of breed greats Aerostar, Aeroline and Morty.

Debuting as the #20 TPI sire in August 2009 from the US Premier™ Young Sire Sampling Program, Manifold has only gained strength as time has passed and he’s added daughters. Following the April 2014 genetic evaluations he now ranks as the #12 TPI and #6 LPI sire, with over 12,400 daughters in his MACE TPI proof. Sire Analyst Mike West says, “He combines his maternal line’s production and type strength with the desirable health and fertility attributes of his sire O Man. Today, Manifold is still one of the top ranked O Man sons…” The breed leading calving ability of 114 that he inherited from his sire has been one of the biggest attractions for many western Canadian producers.

“Manifold is a great example of Semex’s commitment to our customers and their needs,” says Brad Sayles, Semex VP, Global Marketing. “He continues to deliver exactly what dairymen are looking for and we’re extremely proud of the success dairymen around the world are having with him. He’s a symbol of our successful proving programs, and our belief in Genetics for Life through healthy, long-lasting and profitable cows.”