Bullseye September 2014

Thanks a Million

Million dose semen producers are a rare breed and likely to become more rare in the evolving world of AI. Just the same, one more was  recently added to the Semex portfolio and many would be surprised to know it is a bull that started his career at WestGen, Mainstream Manifold.

Manifold was sampled in the US Premier Program and gained notoriety via an exceptional production and health trait profile – especially calving ability – despite moderate Type numbers. To their credit, the WestGen sales team got behind this bull and urged our customers to take advantage of the compelling economic argument for his use. Today, Manifold still resides on the WestGen proof sheet and receives lots of use. Why? It is clear people are very happy with the result.

It is ironic that while receiving the millionth dose honour in April, Manifold now ranks higher for TPI – number 12 on the list – than he has at any time over the past 3 years. Second crop daughters also have him ranked among the top 10 today in Canada too. We wonder, has there ever been a bull rank so high in both countries one million doses into his career? It is the ultimate honour for the bull himself.

Just south of the Canada/US border and a short drive from the WestGen office in Milner, we visited the breeder of the bull Randy Kortus to extend congratulations on having bred such an important bull for Semex and its Canadian owners including WestGen. Noteworthy, it was former WestGen General Manager Gordie Souter who made the contract mating for this rare O Man son sampled by Semex. In the end he is certainly among the best.