Looking for Cheese? — use CM$ Rating!

Beginning in August 2000, the net merit (NM$) index became a lifetime profit function that uses actual incomes and expenses as proposed and developed through Project S-284, Genetic Enhancement of Health and Survival for Dairy Cattle, a collaborative research effort of the Southern Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors.

In fact when the NM$ formula was established, there were two other formulas established using the same principles as NM$, to evaluate sires for either the fluid milk market or the higher component cheese market. These additional ratings are called Fluid Merit $ (FM$) and Cheese Merit $ (CM$). While the NM$ ranking is the industry standard, if you are selecting genetics to optimize cheese production the CM$ ranking may be best for you.

Here’s how the three Merit$ formulas compare:

Alta has Cheese!

Last year Alta launched it’s CheeseMaker program and with each sire summary new top quality component specialists have been added to the program. There are breed-leading CM$ in the program too! The CheeseMaker program focuses on providing a range of product that’s sensitive to your budget requirements. Finally, Alta’s CheeseMaker lineup also places a priority on functional type. You can check out Alta’s CheeseMaker sires by following the highlighted link.

So how competitive is Alta on Cheese?

Consider this: there are just 15 bulls in the breed that meet +600CM$ accompanied with a minimum rating of +0.50 for Type and Udders. Among that elite group of bulls fully 40% are Alta bulls! Alta’s CheeseMaker program is still pretty new, but already it’s clearly the industry’s best offering for component conscious dairy producers!

Posted May 24th

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