By breeders, for breeders, with emphasis on strong cow families

SCHAEFFERSTOWN, Pa. — As genomic rankings and genetic indexes rapidly reshape the dairy industry, Berks County dairy farmer and Holstein breeder Ben Masemore told producers gathered recently in Lebanon County that the most important evaluation still happens in the barn.

Masemore is one of three founding partners in NoBull Sires, LLC. Their meeting, hosted Feb. 11 at the Schaefferstown Fire Hall by Nelson and Julia Martin of Hidden View Farm and Butter Cow Partners, drew nearly 75 dairy farmers to dig into how genetic proofs work and why breeders should understand their limitations before relying too heavily on index rankings. The week before, 220 attended the meeting in Quarryville, Lancaster County, Pa.

Also speaking were animal analyzers Bill Ile and Amy Bickham on the Week’s aAa system and Vinton Smith of Elanco, who shared photos and stories from his work with farmers across several African countries through Heifer International and other organizations. (More on that in a future Farmshine.)

Over the past two months, Masemore has traveled to 10 NoBull winter meetings across Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin, visiting the bulls in their lineup and some of the farms milking their daughters.

He described the stud as “by breeders, for breeders,” outlining the philosophy as production enabled by type, balanced functional structure, lifetime component volume, long-lived cow families, and thoughtful mating decisions.

“(The industry) has a tremendous proofing system, but if we don’t understand it, those numbers can be confusing and not give us a true data set,” he said, reviewing predicted transmitting abilities (PTAs), heritability, reliability, and base adjustments, or rollbacks.

Fast numbers

Milk production in Holsteins is about 30% heritable, meaning environment and management still play a significant role in how much milk a cow ultimately produces. Butterfat and protein percentages are more strongly heritable, while health and fertility traits generally have lower heritability.

With accelerated turnover in two- to three-year cycles, U.S. sire evaluations today often reflect early production more than long-term durability.

“We want to go so fast today, while that 10-year-old cow influences your herd for a decade,” Masemore observed, noting that geneticists say it’s impossible to know which genomic young sires ranked in the top 10% will ultimately prove to be No. 1 — meaning some are easily missed.

He also contrasted European systems that often publish actual daughter performance data as bulls prove-out vs. U.S. evaluations that rely heavily on standardized mature-equivalent daughter records used to calculate PTAs.

What are rollbacks?

He explained how genetic base adjustments, or “rollbacks,” affect the proof numbers that breeders see. Every few years the system resets its base year to compare animals to a newer population average.

“If a cow was alive and proven years ago, and the base moves, you can wake up the next day and she’s suddenly negative for traits she used to be positive for,” Masemore demonstrated with examples.

A cow that once looked strong for type or production, may now appear below average because the scale shifted around her. New genomic animals appear stronger because they are evaluated against the newer base, whereas earlier genetics are “rolled back” to keep evaluations centered on the new baseline.

“Those old cows didn’t change. The system moved,” Masemore said, noting that the rapid pace can push toward newer genetics faster than their long-term performance is fully known.

He encouraged producers to look beyond proofs and consider actual performance when evaluating a sire line, including longevity, production records, and daughters in the barn.

On pace and patience

With the rapid shift toward genomic selection, where young animals are ranked using DNA predictions rather than waiting for daughter performance, generation intervals have shortened and the pace of genetic change has accelerated.

According to Masemore, the system now rewards speed over patience.

“Bulls come out, they get used like crazy for a short time, then everybody moves on to the next one,” he observed, suggesting rapid turnover can sideline promising sires before their daughters have time to prove themselves. Genomic breeding has also shifted more genetic control away from breeders to large AI companies.

At the current pace, he wondered if a bull like Shottle would have even had the opportunity to emerge.

By contrast, the NoBull approach emphasizes proven sires and cow families rather than genomic rankings. The goal is not to replace other studs but to give farmers more choices and bring more control back to breeders.

“It’s okay to be different. We’re breeding cattle, which takes time,” he said.

Art and science

Breeding cattle has long been described as both science and art. Masemore is not alone in observing how the enormous amount of data in modern genetic evaluations does not replace the experience of breeders who understand cow families, longevity, and functional traits.

“In today’s system we’re matching (predicted) numbers, but breeding cattle used to be about matching cows,” he said, adding that genomic profiles can guide decisions, but not adequately capture everything that matters — personality, fertility, vigor, resilience, longevity, and the structural traits breeders notice walking through a barn.

“God made feet and legs to be culled by life,” he said, noting cattle evolved as prey animals, where structural weakness would naturally be eliminated by predators. In modern dairy systems, cows with structural issues, but carrying high genomic indexes, can remain in breeding programs to influence future generations.

He urged attention to vitality and longevity traits that may not show clearly in proof indexes. He gave examples of bulls from certain cow families with calves showing exceptional vigor, jumping up quickly after birth, and displaying strong survival instincts. “That ‘will to live,’ it matters,” he said.

Diversity as strength

Citing industry data, Masemore also discussed Holstein genomic inbreeding in the U.S. which is now about 12%, rising over the past 20 years from earlier levels around 5 to 6%. Long-term loss of genetic diversity, he believes, could eventually make cattle more vulnerable to disease, environmental stress, and fertility challenges.

Today, the industry talks of further technologies, such as CRISPR gene-editing, as a way to “change things very quickly,” he cautioned. “But that doesn’t always mean we understand everything we’re changing.”

By contrast, NoBull draws on diversity with a sire lineup expected to soon reach 29 bulls from 26 cow families.

“Cows make numbers better than numbers make cows,” Masemore said, describing why NoBull focuses on proven cow families and daughter performance rather than genomic rankings.

One example is Yeti, a sire whose first daughters are beginning to calve with promising early production and vigor.

His dam, known as “The Yoder” at Liddleholme Farms in Argyle, New York, represents the balanced, durable cow type the program promotes — moderate stature with strength, components, and longevity.

Adjusting the sails

“I’m a farmer, and this is why I do what I do,” Masemore declared, stressing producers don’t need to abandon mainstream breeding programs but can consider diversifying their genetic strategy.

“I’m not telling you to breed your whole herd one way. But some of your herd might need to go a different direction,” he said, offering this analogy: “The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. But the leader adjusts the sails.”

For Masemore, the adjustment begins with understanding the proof system, questioning assumptions, and remembering progress in dairy genetics ultimately depends on the cows themselves.

“We’re following our own path,” he said. “Sometimes, you have to plant a seed and wait to see what grows.”