Bullseye September 2015

Meridian

Sully Hart Meridian joins the proven bull list after an illustrious career as a Genomax sire, and it’s safe to say his first crop of milking daughters don’t disappoint! Early in his career, Meridian was an interesting sire because of his high type GPA and as he was one of the early Domain (Toystory x Ronelee Outside Dabble) sons, and Domain wasn’t available for use in Canada. His maternal pedigree was also increasing in popularity as it delivered one high ranking genomic young sire after the next. His dam, Sully Planet Manitoba VG-85 is a daughter of Sully Shottle May EX-90 DOM 5*, whose notable progeny include Mayfield, McCutcheon and Meteor to name a few. Further back in this line we find Poly-Kow Lindy Mindy, the dam of Semex’s Poly-Kow Mailing, a popular Superior Type sire.

As his early daughters were born, WestGen Reps often reported on the fancy calves they saw in a variety of herds and eventually in the show ring. The Meridians were stretchy calves with a very dairy cut to them. The Meridian daughters began to calve late last year and it was quickly apparent that he also transmitted exceptional udders, with soft texture and strong attachments. Many notable breeders reported fancy fresh young 2 year olds and the Very Good classification scores started to accumulate. Once they were a few months into lactation, the other half of the story began to emerge as producers commented on their tremendous production. Reports of many 2 year old daughters producing over 50kg a day were given by progeny analysts Carl Saucier, Jim Biggar and others. The excitement earned him the hashtag #meridianmonday, and a special Meridian daughter being featured each week leading up to proof day.

On August 11th, his initial proof was released and it included production records from nearly 500 daughters and conformation data from close to half that many. With 2868 GLPI, he landed at #18 on the list and is one of the most balanced bulls available for production, durability and functional traits. Highlights of his proof include 2006kg of Milk, 52kg of Protein, 13 for Conformation and Mammary Systems, 10 for Feet & Legs, 104 for Daughter Fertility, and 106 for Calving Ability. As his genomic index had predicted, he should be protected for Fat %. As a Repromax sire, he’s often noted for his superior settling ability. This makes him a great choice to include in your breeding program as you look for fertile bulls to settle cows this fall that were affected by summer heat stress. Having made many satisfied breeders in western Canada already, and many more daughters in the pipeline, we think the story on Meridian is just beginning.