A new cattle genetics company launched this week (Tuesday, 9 September, 2014) has achieved a major industry coup with a brand new number one Holstein bull in its portfolio at the start of its trading.

The company, called Mastergen, will specialise in both dairy and beef genetics, and has a particularly strong selection of young genomic dairy sires alongside a keen focus on polled genetics.

Amongst its launch offering is the highest ranking genomic sire of the Holstein breed in the shape of MG Inseme Powerplay, a son of Guarini out of a cow by Ralma Oman CF Cricket. Powerplay’s colossal PLI (Profitable Lifetime Index) of £643 will earn him the number one position of all genomic bulls when his semen becomes available to UK breeders in October.

Powerplay

Powerplay is also joined by a strong portfolio of polled Holsteins which will be featured in their own polled catalogue, shortly to be published by the company.

“There’s a growing demand across Europe for cattle which do not need to be disbudded as calves, as both concerns about animal welfare and a lack of time amongst farmers favours bulls with the polled gene,” says Alison Dunphy, Mastergen’s managing director. “We believe we are the first cattle genetics company to cater so strongly for this demand, and the first company in the UK to publish a specifically polled catalogue.”

The pages of the polled catalogue include homozygous bulls (carrying two copies of the polled gene) of the Holstein, Jersey, Limousin, Simmental and Charolais breeds.
Other heterozygous polled bulls include some with world-leading pedigrees including polled sons of Bookem, Numero Uno and Lithium.

The company’s main catalogue will have a strong focus on genomic Holsteins plus nine proven bulls, two British Blues, a triple mix from Twyning Ash, a Hereford and an Angus.
“All bulls will be priced competitively as our ethos is to cut costs out of the supply chain and pass the savings we make on to the farmer,” continues Mrs Dunphy. “We have no costly reps driving up farm drives and very low overheads, preferring to take orders over the phone or internet.

“Our experience is that farmers are becoming more and more savvy about their breeding needs, and can find much of the information they need on independent cattle websites. Once they’ve weighed up their options, we believe they will find Mastergen has many sires to meet their needs, and they can order semen at their convenience on 01823 430317.”

They can also view catalogues on Mastergen’s website at www.synetics.co.uk, which goes live today.

An introductory offer of 50% of beef semen free is available until the end of October (minimum order applies).

The portfolio of Holstein bulls from Mastergen comes predominantly from Masterrind, one of Europe’s largest farmer co-ops, which runs the largest Holstein programme in Germany and sells over 3.3 million doses of semen per year.