Most influential ABS sire of all time celebrates 15th birthday

The most influential ABS Global, Inc. Holstein sire of all time, 29HO12209 SHOTTLE EX-96, celebrates his 15th birthday on July 23rd. 

“SHOTTLE captivated the dairy and AI industries for more than a decade, with strong characteristics such as semen fertility, production, low somatic cell counts, consistent type and fantastic temperament.  These traits assisted him in becoming one of the greatest ‘customer satisfaction’ bulls of all time,” Mark Smith, ABS global production director, explained during a recent birthday celebration for SHOTTLE at ABS Global.

According to Smith, who was responsible for the company’s breeding program in the United Kingdom at the time, SHOTTLE was born at Spot Acre Grange near Stafford, England, the home of the Pickford family and Picston Holsteins.  He was the son of dam Condon Aero Sharon EX-91 and sire Carole Prelude Mtoto.

Former Genus ABS sire analyst, Louise Pickford, identified SHOTTLE for the company.  He was brought into the Cornerstone progeny testing program, and began his illustrious career after he graduated in May 2004.

For seven straight sire summary releases — January 2008 to January 2010 — SHOTTLE sat at the peak of the Top 100 TPI list.  After those seven straight runs, he remained a top 15 sire for the next five sire summaries.  In December 2011, SHOTTLE became the 11th ABS sire to achieve “millionaire” status, with one million units of semen sold.  When he turned 12, he still out-performed bulls half his age, remaining in the top 25 of the Top 100 TPI list.

Despite his age, SHOTTLE remains in great physical shape and has the same quiet temperament seen in his daughters. This makes him an obvious favorite for the team that has taken care of him for all his years at ABS, says Smith.

“Not only was SHOTTLE popular in the dairy and AI industries, but he received enormous amounts of press coverage from all over the world early on in his career,” says Smith, “In addition to dairy trade publications, stories about SHOTTLE appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, including the Times of London and Daily Mail.  Perhaps the most notable was his feature in Playboy magazine, a feat no other bull at ABS Global has accomplished.”

Over the years, 1.1 million units of SHOTTLE semen have been sold worldwide.  Currently in his official Interbull proof, he has 99,954 daughters in 19,000 herds in 22 countries.

Conservatively, those 99,954 SHOTTLE daughters have produced more than five billion pounds of milk – which translates to about 581 million gallons, or 2.25 billion liters.  SHOTTLE daughters have contributed to nourishing the world, as their combined lifetime milk production equals more than 115,000 tanker loads, totaling over 9.3 billion cartons of milk!

Even at age 15, SHOTTLE remains relevant, boasting a TPI above +1900. He continues to be a tremendous improver of health traits, and is over 2.0 for type.  Today, he still impacts the Holstein USA Top 100 TPI list, with three sons and 14 maternal grandsons listed.

ABS remains the premier source for SHOTTLE influenced genetics, marketing conventional and sexed semen from 17 direct sons and 29 maternal grandsons.  With 27 maternal grandsons awaiting proof information, SHOTTLE will continue to influence the industry for years to come.

Headquartered in DeForest, Wisconsin, ABS Global is the world‐leading provider of bovine genetics, reproduction services, technologies and uddercare products.  Marketing in more than 80 countries around the globe, ABS has been at the forefront of animal genetics and technology since its founding in 1941.  ABS Global is a division of Genus plc.

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Editor’s Notes:

TPI® is a trademark of the National Holstein Association USA, Inc.

ABS Cornerstone® is a registered trademark of ABS Global, Inc.