Balance is a term commonly used in the dairy industry, but what does it truly mean? Brian Behnke, STgenetics® Genetic Program Specialist, says this concept of balanced breeding in modern dairy production has evolved over the years to meet the needs of a changing market and shares how STgenetics® is pioneering the creation of bulls that blend size, conformation, production and health traits to meet those evolving needs.
“I think balance in the last 10 years for dairy cattle breeding has changed a little bit. Now when someone says they want to use a balanced bull, they're looking for something that is somewhere in between the bulls that sire the high net merit cattle that don't have as much frame and the bulls that sire, in their mind, way too much stature,” Brian says when explaining the Balanced Breeding concept. “So more of the extreme high type, show type bulls that bring a balance of size and scale along with high production.”
He adds that the sires in the Balanced Breeding group include bulls that won’t make them taller, but would still provide the width and length along with a high amount of production. Brian says with approximately 50 sires to choose from in the Balanced Breeding lineup, there is diversity to meet the breeding goals of any operation.
“We've got bulls that'll make real moderate sized cows that are down around zero on stature, but have really good udders and correct feet and legs. Then we've also got bulls that will add frame - bulls that you can use on the smaller cows to make that balanced kind of cow for your operation,” Brian notes. “It's given STgenetics® the opportunity to make bulls that'll work on a wide part of our industry, namely bulls that have a lot of production, but vary in frame size so people can pick a bull that really fits their operation.”
When asked why he thinks producers should consider these sires, Brian says this particular lineup is key to meet the growing needs of dairy producers and an industry looking to capitalize on increased production and solids, while providing the udders and type to support that production.
“One of the speakers at a recent conference I attended suggested within 10 years, we will have dairies shipping 11 and maybe even 12 pounds of solids per cow per day and I agree,” Brian states. “To be able to do that cows are going to have to be able to eat enough feed to make 120 pounds of milk with 6% fat and 4% protein, you're going to need some horsepower with that. A little bit more width and length of frame to have enough body capacity to eat enough feed, to be able to make 12 pounds of solids per cow per day. And I really think these balanced bulls that are moderate in stature but have chest width and spring of rib and capacity to them that also are over a thousand pounds of milk with great components, they're going to help dairymen get there.”
Brian adds that conformation will also play a major role in helping these cows meet those goals, namely a cow with enough width and length to her rump to fit a bigger, wider, longer, higher udder, and a correct set of feet and legs with good mobility to achieve these higher production goals.
By talking about Proven sires like ON-DUTY and young sires like AIRDROP, BIGWIG, BEATBOX and more, Brian sheds light on this exceptional lineup of bulls that are meeting the Balanced Breeding philosophy of today’s dairymen. To learn more about how STgenetics® Balanced Breeding sires are setting up dairymen to achieve remarkable production goals in the next decade:
STtalks #323 - Balanced Breeding with Brian Behnke - STtalks | Podcast on Spotify
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