Taking Stock with NM$

Many of the industry’s most progressive producers choose the Net Merit (NM$) listing as their starting point when selecting future genetics for their dairies. As with most lists, from there customers will apply additional thresholds to narrow down the list to a small group of sires. Once again, applying such edits to a high NM$ list demonstrates the competitiveness and versatility of Alta’s current offering.

Where to Start
The official Top 100 NM$ ranking includes bulls with at least +493 NM$. Relaxing reliability requirements – allowing other high ranking sires from other programs and promising early graduates from within the US to be considered as well – the list expands to 127 sires that are currently available from one of 6 key AI suppliers. This is the list you should use as a starting point.

Applying Thresholds
Each dairy producer applies a unique set of demands when narrowing down the list of bulls – or the list of suppliers – to get it right for his or her operation. For example many producers will ask that identified carriers of genetic recessive traits be removed from the list. Of course mating programs like the AltaMate, offered by Alta, remove the risk of including such bulls, but it is an individual choice. Thereafter, most producers will demand basic type levels be met in addition to a minimum level of Combined Fat and Protein lbs (CFP). Furthermore, many producers are eliminating high Somatic Cell Score (SCS) sires from the list to reduce the incidence of mastitis. These are all reasonable edits to apply to the list of bulls – and the effect is to reduce it to a manageable number of bulls.

Who are the bulls?
Alta’s list of bulls that meet and exceed these criteria are an impressive group!

Make Alta your NM$ Partner
There can be no doubt that Alta is a leading supplier of high NM$ sires. With 25 sires that exceed upon the +493 NM$ threshold - 22 that are free of CV, BL and MF - there’s something for everyone. Still, it’s only when the combination of further restrictions are applied for Type, CFP and SCS that the extent to which Alta dominates the listing becomes clear. In this example, Alta has three times as many bulls to offer as any other competitor. Of course changing the restrictions to meet your requirements may alter the outcome somewhat, but ultimately they will continue to promote Alta as the NM$ partner of choice.

Posted May 20th

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