The Select Sires Podcast

Jersey Sire Update from Herby and Marc: Talking JPI™, daughter fertility, sexed fertility, health and more

Select Sires Season 2 Episode 17

Herby Lutz, jersey development manager, and Marc Bolen, dairy sire marketing coordinator, discuss some of the top ranking young sires of the Jersey breed from the April 2025 sire summaries. Listen as they highlight high-interest (GForce™)  sires and give a preview of new and exciting sires that will be added to the lineup in coming months.

Welcome to The Select Sires Podcast, talking Your Success, Our Passion. Starting in three, two, one.

Ethan Haywood

Hello and welcome back to The Select Sires Podcast for our next installment of the April 2025 Sire Summaries. I’m your host, Ethan Haywood, and today Jersey Development Manager, Herby Lutz, and Dairy Sire Marketing Coordinator, Marc Bolen, will be talking us through some of the top ranking new young sires of the Jersey breed. We will be highlighting some young bulls in the Select Sires lineup, as well as giving a preview of a couple new exciting bulls that will be coming out in the coming months.

Herby Lutz

We also got some great Jersey genomic bulls we want to highlight this time. The first bull that we're going to talk about today is 7JE2157 WARREN {6}. Marc, why don't you take it away? 

Marc Bolen

Yeah, this 7JE1985 GEPPETTO {6} son out of a 7JE1758 JX THRASHER {6}. That's not too far from where I'm sitting right now. That breeds back, calves two weeks earlier every year. The King families. But he's No. 9 for GJPI™ at +178, over almost +1,200 pounds of Milk and +80 CFP. So he's in the top 30 for Milk, No. 10 CCR, but an HHP$® (Herd Health Profit Dollars®) bull at +660 puts him No. 4, No. 5 Productive Life, +1.9 DPR. Just I think a bull that has really, really exciting production health traits. And I mean, I know he's -0.4 on CDCB Mastitis, but that is about breed average. So don't shame him for that, because that is I don't know, we haven't done the average, but I know it's above breed average, but a bull that we're really excited about going forward.

Herby Lutz

And he's a great DWP$® bull with great Zoetis Mastitis too. I get to talk about a 7JE1965 BLIZZARD son, 7JE2227 ODESZA. BLIZZARD, the bull that we really like the daughters of. They've been great cows everywhere we've been. BLIZZARD just didn't make sexed semen. And if they don't make sexed semen, Marc, we move on from them. He got removed from the lineup because of that, but we're fortunate that we have several BLIZZARD sons we're gonna talk about today. ODESZA’s the first one, 13th for JPI, 19th for HHP$. He's a bull that's No. 2 for Type at +1.6, just shy of +20 on JUI™. He's a JX THRASHER {6} free pedigree. He's the only bull that is over +1,200 of Milk and over +1.5 on Type. So big flow, high Type, everything's right on this bull.

Marc Bolen

So really another exciting addition from Jerseyland Sires. Being the BLIZZARD son since there's not many of them.

Herby Lutz

Tell us about 7JE2236 JX SLAM {6}, Marc. 

Marc Bolen

So a 7JE2007 JX BESTBALL {5} son. So it would be a maternal brother to 7JE2157 WARREN {6}. There's a few of them, and they're all high. So they've all done very, very well. But this one's a JX BESTBALL {5} son. The only JX BESTBALL {5} we have bull-wise in the program. Was actually born up at Cobleskill. Herby had some agreements there, and they put embryos in. And it was supposed to be a heifer, and it came out of a bull. It works best, but now he's No. 18 for JPI at +171. He's a top 20 HHP$, low Somatic Cell Score +2.77, positive DPR, positive mastitis. So you look at all those designations, he pretty much checks them all. The only thing he doesn't do is Elite Sexed Fertility™, and I don't know, it's because he doesn’t have enough services. So not saying he won't, but he will potentially eventually. But another really, really good bull over +500 pounds of Milk, high ranking and good fertility and health traits. 

Herby Lutz

And he's going to have lots of sons in our program too, because we've had a lot of high sons out of him. I get to talk about another bull from Victory Farms, LLC., our partner out in South Dakota, Kevin Suza and family. 14JE2239 SCHEFFLER. SCHEFFLER’s a sire of sons. We have some coming in. His sire is 7JE1928 NICKLAUS. NICKLAUS is a bull that just didn't have the semen fertility we needed, so we actually removed him from the program. But he was No. 1 in December, and he's No. 6 on the list right now of all bulls. So he's still high, done some great things. And this is the great NICKLAUS son, SCHEFFLER, out of a 14JE1798 WATKINS, out of a Chief. WATKINS was a bull that didn't have a lot of daughters out there. And he's an +891 DWP$. 108 for Mastitis from Zoetis. Just a lot of things you like. And look at his CW$, +88. He's 106 for Calf Livability, 107 for Calf Scours and 100 for Calf Respiratory. A2A2, RobotPRO®, everything's right on SCHEFFLER.

Marc Bolen

I just must be getting Four J Thrasher 21797 {5} (VG-82%) sons today. I kind of just realized that. But so the third one that we're going to talk about, sired by 250JE1947 JX CORSAIR {5}, the new graduate is 14JE2151 JX STROUD {6}. This bull has been around and continues to sell well. He's a top 45 JPI bull at +162, +552 HHP$ puts him in the top 30. And look at the designations he has every one of them, so about as balanced as you can get, whether it's Type, Fertility, health. He just kind of does it all. I mean, you can't really pick on him anywhere. He's break-even for mastitis, positive DPR, +615 of Milk, +71 CFP. Just a really, really good bull across the board. And the third son out of Four J Thrasher 21797 {5} (VG-82%), the JX THRASHER {6} that we've talked about for the third time now. 

Herby Lutz

And he does carry that Elite Sexed Fertility, Marc. Important as we move into the summer and northern hemispheres. 

Marc Bolen

Which is probably why he sells everything he makes. 

Herby Lutz

7JE2229 MATEO is from Kasbergens out in Tulare, California, Kash-In Jerseys, 7JE2229 MATEO. He's another BLIZZARD son out of a JX Jiggy {6}. Kash-In Jiggy 65750 {6} is Very Good 84%. Then there's an Excellent 7JE5004 CHROME, Kash-In Chrome 51239 {5} (E-90%). And then I think out of that JX Kash-In Chili 46034 {4} (E-91%) next. So a deep pedigree, JX THRASHER {6} free pedigree. Top 50 for JPI, top 25 for Livability, top 35 for Productive Life, +17.3 JUI, over +600 DWP$. And like I said earlier, we love BLIZZARD daughters. They are super, super cows. In fact, he's a 7JE1699 JX PINE {6} son. The JX PINE {6} daughters did great things all over the world, Marc. We've seen pictures of those from everywhere. So just one of those bulls that I think you really believe in and doing the right things. And now that BLIZZARD is no longer in the lineup because he couldn't make sexed semen. Luckily, we've got some sons that can carry on for him. 

Marc Bolen

This is the other one I was going to say kind of does it all. 7JE2221 JX COLLEGE {6}, a 7JE1939 GRADUATE son from JX THRASHER {6}. A bull that just kind of ranks across the board in all traits. He's top 55 for JPI, top 45 for JUI at +20.3, top 30 PTAT at +1.1, good DPR, puts him about top 35, the No. 10 CCR bull, top 20 for HCR, +4.3 Productive Life puts him in the top 50, and he's one of four bulls that's over +900 pounds of Milk, at least +1.0 Type, over +20 JUI, but he's the only bull with a positive DPR of those four bulls, so, again, in a league of his own. Just kind of does it all across the board easily. And I think a bull that we were excited about before, but the more proof runs he gets under his belt, the more exciting we are going forward. 

Herby Lutz

And we all love the GRADUATE daughters. GRADUATE came out of the lineup this time because he just hadn't caught on in sales. But you're hearing great things from around the world. I know Australia, I've seen some posts about GRADUATEs now. I think he's a bull that over time, bred at Brentwood Farm, helps Jersey Youth Academy. You're going to hear more out of him, and with good reason, because we really have liked him, Marc, when we've seen him out on farm. Next bull I get to talk about is 14JE2169 JX DYNASTAR {4}. He's another bull bred at Valsigna Dairy. He's in our AG product line, 14JE2169 JX DYNASTAR {4}. He's a 14JE769 JX STONEY{3} son. JX STONEY {3} definitely needs no introduction. He still sells around the world. He's a bull that has just done great things, especially in the grazing markets. And this is a GrazingPRO® bull as well. And he's +159 JPI. So he's top 55, No. 11 for Livability, over +550 DWP$, just shy of +17 JUI, plus for DPR, better than breed average for mastitis, 105 on Zoetis Mastitis, and carries FeedPRO®, and like I said, GrazingPRO designations. 

Marc Bolen

Before we talk about 7JE2207 BIRKDALE, Herby, there's a question. How come JX CORSAIR {5} has so many daughters than all the other recent graduates? Fertility. 

Herby Lutz

Fertility. He settles that well. He's been Elite Sexed Fertility from the first day he was able to get one, and he's still one of the top five bulls for Fertility at Select Sires. 

Marc Bolen

Fertility sells. So the next bull we're going to talk about is 7JE2207 BIRKDALE. The third BLIZZARD son that we're going to talk about today from the Chief. A top 60 JPI bull at +158, top 50 HHP$ at +527. He's the only bull that's over +700 pounds of Milk, positive for mastitis, and over +18.0 JUI. So just kind of in a league of his own. Good production, low Somatic Cell Score, positive mastitis, good Type and JUI, and to boot, he's JX THRASHER {6} free. So something that you can use on that JX THRASHER {6} blood, FeedPRO, RobotPRO and Mastitis ResistantPRO®, which is probably what I think is the most important designation that we have right now other than Elite Sexed Fertility. 

Herby Lutz

I'm going to take 507JE2314 JX CARTPATH {6}, a 14JE2107 JX CABAL {5} son, bred at our partner at Victory Farms, Kevin Suza and family, a bull that's +157 JPI. He's +922 Milk, +2.1 DPR, so he's No. 15 in the breed for DPR. He's a bull we have used as a sire father. Top 35 for Productive Life. He's the only bull in the breed over +900 of Milk and +2.0 of DPR. 110 on his Zoetis Mastitis. So a bull that's got some really neat traits, carries FeedPRO designation along with RobotPRO designation. And a JX CABAL {5} out of a NICKLAUS out of a JX Jiggy {6}. So everything's right on JX CARTPATH {6}. 

Marc Bolen

The next bull is JX-free and the No. 1 JX-free young genomic bull in the breed. Primus Gutz CLEVER, 7JE2163 CLEVER. This bull is +157 JPI. He's +459 for Cheese Merit to be the No. 2 JX-free Cheese Merit bull and +543 HHP$. That's top 40 among all bulls, not just JX-free. So he stands there with the best of them. Just a bull that you really can't pick apart, has every designation you can think of at the top of your screen, has production, health, Fertility, positive mastitis, +16.5 JUI. A2A2, just a bull that I think will get better with age and actually is a brother to 7JE2033 CHARLTON, the new grad.

Herby Lutz

Appreciate Mickey Gehin getting these bull pictures and the team up at Accelerated Genetics and Westby because we got some great pictures from him when he was younger. But you're going to see a son of his in the coming soon edition, Marc. So he's already having an impact coming soon. We'll get to him in a minute. I'm going to talk about 14JE2339 JX POSTON {5}, another AG product line bull, 14JE2339 JX POSTON {5}, a JX DYNASTAR {4} son. A bull that's out of a Steno, then a JX Jiggy {6}, bred at Victory Farms out in South Dakota, top 20 Productive Life bull, a bull that's No. 6 for Livability, a better Cheese Merit bull than JPI bull. Top 40 for Cheese Merit, top 80 for JPI, so he's not bad for it. +1.4 DPR and a bull that is A2A2 does everything right, carries that GrazingPRO designation. 

Marc Bolen

I think the bull that me and Herby are most excited about. We've talked about him quite a bit lately, 7JE2375 KRONOS-PP. A Lamoure-PP son, from the Ky-Hi Craze Crazefull-P-ET  (E-94%). But he'd be the No. 16 JPI JX-free bull, No. 17 for Cheese Merit, and the No. 3 JUI for Homozygous Polled bulls. But positive Milk, positive mastitis, positive DPR. Look at the Type and the JUI. And to boot, the first four dams averaged (92.5%) points. He's a Showcase™ designated bull, but he's also a Mastitis ResistantPRO. Just a bull that I think could benefit a lot. No matter what your breeding goals, he kind of does it all. 

Herby Lutz

And he de-horns them all. 

Marc Bolen

No, that too. You don't have to worry about any horns on the calves. 

Herby Lutz

Really excited about this bull. I've used him on our JX-free pedigrees to try to make sons for the next generation. And I just think he's a bull that checks a lot of boxes with plus for Milk, DPR, mastitis, just a really exciting bull. I'm going to take us home on this section, Marc, with a bull from Pacific Edge. We really appreciate the Rocha family working with us. Another Lamoure-PP son. So this is 250JE2379 DUTTON-P. He's in our GenerVations product line, 250JE2379 DUTTON-P. He's a bull that's just shy of +100 for JPI. He's No. 23 JPI JX-free bull in the breed. His dam, the Pacific Edge Premier Diva-ET (E-94%). No. 3 DPR bull in the breed at +3.5. Great Somatic Cell bull 2.75, plus for CDCB Mastitis at +0.5, 106 for Zoetis Mastitis. Carries the Showcase logo, the Mastitis ResistantPRO logo and the GrazingPRO logo. This bull does a lot of things right. Over +20 on JUI really excited about this young bull and getting daughters on the ground out of this cow family. 

Marc Bolen

Well, we're going to get into our bulls of the future. So the bulls coming out in the next few months that we're excited about, we wanted to highlight and let everyone know. Some of these you'll see on an active AI list. Some of them you won't, but we figured we'd share a few of them. And we actually added one last night because we forgot about him and we switched him from conventional to sexed only for a reason. So we'll talk about him and the rest of them in a bit. So the first one that we're going to talk about, I guess you're going to talk about. 

Herby Lutz

I get the No. 1 bull, Marc. 614JE2353 JX WYNDHAM {5} bred out at Victory Farms out in Revillo, South Dakota. Milbank, South Dakota, is where the heifers are and where Kevin lives, but just a bull that checks a lot of boxes. He's the No. 1 JPI bull in the breed at +194 JPI and second, there’s 10 points in between him and second. He's an outlier, +72 CFP, No. 2 HHP$. He's also a great Cheese Merit bull, +664 for Cheese Merit. Second for Productive Life at +6.5. Great Livability bull. He's the only bull over +900 pounds of Milk, over +1.0 for DPR, and positive for Mastitis. He's JX THRASHER {6} free pedigree. So you want to make high on high on all these JX THRASHER {6}s that you have. Here's a JX THRASHER {6} free pedigree that's got great DWP at +778. Zoetis Mastitis is 106. Very nice calf wellness traits too at 104 for Calf Livability, 101 for Calf Scours and 108 for Calf Respiratory.

Marc Bolen

You put all those ranks in there, and then I think you say you got JX THRASHER {6} free. So I think you could use this bull across the board wherever you need him, and you won't have any issue with it. 

Herby Lutz

And like Marc said, that Mastitis ResistantPRO designation up top. Unbelievable on our bull that ranks this high with this type of production to have that type of Fertility and mastitis resistance. He's a game changer for the future. 

Marc Bolen

The next bull is the CLEVER son that we were talking, referencing to earlier, I should say. 614JE2337 PURIFY, he’d be No. 10 for JPI on the active list, at +641, would be fifth for HHP$, a top 10 Cheese Merit bull, and one of two bulls that's over +750 of Milk, positive DPR and at least +0.4 Mastitis. Positive Type, +11.4 JUI, +715 DWP$, A2A2. CLEVER from a GEPPETTO {6} from a JX THRASHER {6}, so just a bull that we're excited for. He got switched to sexed only because of his rank and he came up where he was so a bull that was getting released is going to be released just in sexed only but FeedPRO, RobotPRO, GrazingPRO, and that bright green Mastitis ResistantPRO logo so just a bull that balanced across the board another game changer that we feel like available from us. 

Herby Lutz

And both JX WYNDHAM {5} and PURIFY, are May releases, Marc, is that correct? 

Marc Bolen

Yes, so something different this time. You'll see May releases in the sire directory if you look at it. Something we've done that way when the catalogs get out, you don't miss them. So you will see these in the directory this round and obviously on the website. 

Herby Lutz

Yeah, thank the communication team for that because these bulls do rank and they're coming quickly. So it's a good thing to put those May releases in there for all breeds. 

Ethan Haywood

Thanks Herby and Marc for your insights. To see our full lineup of Jersey bulls you can use the advanced sire search at selectsires.com, or request a hard copy of the bull book from your local Select Sires representative. Thanks for listening, and we will see you next time on The Select Sires Podcast!