Select Sires Inc. was formed 50 years ago when four farmer-owned cooperatives joined forces to offer a wider variety of genetic options to their members and improve efficiencies. Since then, Select Sires has grown into the largest A.I. organization in North America that provides industry-leading products, services and programs to beef and dairy producers around the world.

“Select Sires’ success is the result of 50 years of cooperation, farmer-directed leadership and a passionate group of employees who love the cattle breeding business,” says David Thorbahn, Select Sires president and CEO. “We are excited to celebrate the rich history of Select Sires this year!”

In 1965, Central Ohio Breeding Association, Kentucky Artificial Breeding Association, Northern Illinois Breeding Cooperative and Southern Illinois Breeding Association formally incorporated Select Sires and consolidated their production facilities in Columbus, Ohio. Four years earlier they had met and established a semen exchange program to benefit their customer-owners. Today, Select Sires consists of nine cooperatives that serve the United States. As the cooperative grew so did the foundation, and in 1972, Select Sires began constructing the current facilities outside of Plain City, Ohio, northwest of Columbus. It is now the world’s largest bull housing facility.

International demand for U.S. genetics has grown and now Select Sires markets semen worldwide to more than 95 countries. In 2000, Select Sires purchased half of World Wide Sires which now sells semen in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. That same year, Select Sires Canada was established to market semen in eastern Canada and in 2014, after the purchase of GenerVations Inc., Select Sires GenerVations Inc. was formed and now serves dairy and beef producers across all of Canada. Select Sires do Brasil was founded in 2011 as a wholly-owned subsidiary in Brazil and distributors in Latin America have been established over the years.

Select Sires has consistently developed and provided high-quality programs and services for its customer-owners over the past 50 years. Select’s gold-standard progeny test program, the Program for Genetic Advancement™ (PGA™) involves more than 2,500 cooperator herds across the country. Select Mating Service™ (SMS™) and StrataGEN® are two of the best inbreeding solutions and SMS has helped dairy producers throughout the world improve the type in their herds. One of Select’s oldest programs, SMS, has grown to annually provide more than 2 million new cows and heifers added to the program. The Program for Fertility Advancement™ (PFA™) field tests new semen processing technologies and is the only research network of its kind. Select Reproductive Solutions™ (SRS™) specialists and technicians are highly trained to provide a variety of reproductive services including herd management systems and technologies like CowManager®.