WEBVTT 00:00:14.189 --> 00:00:20.969 Creeping over fields of green Remembering the 00:00:20.969 --> 00:00:27.269 faces The moments unseen The hands that built 00:00:27.269 --> 00:00:33.590 a dynasty The vision in their eyes Echoes in 00:00:33.590 --> 00:00:38.810 the auction bar Beneath an endless sky This is 00:00:38.810 --> 00:01:05.049 the bull buy Turn the bar Hey everyone, welcome 00:01:05.049 --> 00:01:07.670 back to the Bullvine Podcast. I'm your host, 00:01:07.730 --> 00:01:09.590 and today I want to share with you one of the 00:01:09.590 --> 00:01:12.750 most fascinating and cautionary tales in Holstein 00:01:12.750 --> 00:01:16.549 breeding history, the story of SWD Valiant. This 00:01:16.549 --> 00:01:19.930 is a story that has everything, triumph, controversy, 00:01:20.349 --> 00:01:23.290 hidden genetic time bombs, and lessons that every 00:01:23.290 --> 00:01:25.829 breeder needs to understand. So grab your coffee, 00:01:25.950 --> 00:01:29.569 settle in, and let me take you back to 1973 in 00:01:29.569 --> 00:01:34.319 Wisconsin. Picture this. It's 1973, and Mike 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:37.200 Bystry, the herd manager at SWD Dairy in Wisconsin, 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:40.319 is standing in the barn looking at a tall, rangy 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:44.060 cow named Allied Admiral Rose Vivian. Now Vivian 00:01:44.060 --> 00:01:46.780 had some real challenges. Her udder scored only 00:01:46.780 --> 00:01:49.200 good plus, which wasn't exactly what you'd call 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:51.340 impressive, but Mike looked at her and said, 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:54.680 Chief's still an easy choice for her. That single 00:01:54.680 --> 00:01:57.799 decision, to breed Chief to this less -than -perfect 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:01.099 cow. would create one of the most influential 00:02:01.099 --> 00:02:04.159 bulls in Holstein history and fundamentally change 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:06.739 how we think about breeding. Here's the thing, 00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:09.500 though. Chief wasn't exactly the popular choice 00:02:09.500 --> 00:02:13.419 at ABS for producing sons. In fact, sire analyst 00:02:13.419 --> 00:02:16.800 Steve Maurer had serious reservations. He said 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:18.580 they preferred not to use Chief on daughters 00:02:18.580 --> 00:02:20.979 of Irvington Pride Admiral because, and I quote, 00:02:21.180 --> 00:02:23.400 most of the time you ended up with too much udder. 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:29.159 And Vivian? She was exactly that. a pride admiral 00:02:29.159 --> 00:02:31.800 daughter with utter issues. But sometimes in 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:35.000 breeding, lightning strikes twice. That mating 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:38.819 produced a bull calf born in June 1973, and by 00:02:38.819 --> 00:02:42.060 December, young Valiant arrived at ABS in DeForest, 00:02:42.180 --> 00:02:44.520 Wisconsin, to begin what would become a legendary 00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:47.639 career. Now, here's where the story gets really 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:50.939 exciting. For nearly five years, Valiant developed 00:02:50.939 --> 00:02:53.889 in the ABS system. and the industry waited for 00:02:53.889 --> 00:02:56.150 his first proof. When those numbers came out 00:02:56.150 --> 00:02:59.569 in July 1978, they literally stopped conversations 00:02:59.569 --> 00:03:03.150 in co -ops from Wisconsin to California. Listen 00:03:03.150 --> 00:03:06.770 to these numbers. Plus 1 ,541 pounds of milk, 00:03:06.909 --> 00:03:09.990 plus 44 pounds of fat, and a type score of plus 00:03:09.990 --> 00:03:14.370 1 .99. You have to understand, back then, bulls 00:03:14.370 --> 00:03:16.530 typically excelled in either production or type, 00:03:16.689 --> 00:03:19.530 never both. But Valiant delivered everything 00:03:19.530 --> 00:03:21.969 breeders thought they wanted. The excitement 00:03:21.969 --> 00:03:25.150 was absolutely infectious. Semen that started 00:03:25.150 --> 00:03:29.569 at just $25 a dose quickly climbed to $100, then 00:03:29.569 --> 00:03:33.569 $150, and by the time of his death in 1984, it 00:03:33.569 --> 00:03:38.409 hit $225. Breeders around the world were clamoring 00:03:38.409 --> 00:03:41.169 for his genetics. And his daughters? They were 00:03:41.169 --> 00:03:44.090 spectacular. They milked like machines and looked 00:03:44.090 --> 00:03:47.110 like movie stars. You could walk into any barn 00:03:47.110 --> 00:03:50.500 and instantly spot a valiant daughter. They had 00:03:50.500 --> 00:03:52.960 this presence, this authority about them, that 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:56.300 was unmistakable. But Valiant wasn't just siring 00:03:56.300 --> 00:03:58.840 great daughters. He was creating this network 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:01.419 of sons that would dominate AI studs for decades. 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:05.460 The numbers tell an incredible story. By January 00:04:05.460 --> 00:04:09.900 1987, 31 of the top 100 TPI bulls were Valiant 00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:13.280 sons, and 98 of the top 400 carried his genetics. 00:04:13.620 --> 00:04:16.810 Think about that level of influence. Fisher Place 00:04:16.810 --> 00:04:19.649 Mandingo became the first bull in history to 00:04:19.649 --> 00:04:23.149 sell a million doses of semen. A million doses. 00:04:23.569 --> 00:04:26.250 That's a milestone that highlights just how enormous 00:04:26.250 --> 00:04:29.470 the demand for valiant genetics became. Then 00:04:29.470 --> 00:04:31.850 there was Hanover Hill Inspiration, who became 00:04:31.850 --> 00:04:34.750 what we started calling a millionaire sire, and 00:04:34.750 --> 00:04:37.129 his genetic line eventually gave us legends like 00:04:37.129 --> 00:04:40.589 Goldwyn, Shottle, and Storm. Other sons like 00:04:40.589 --> 00:04:43.589 Tesk home Valiant Rocky, known simply as Tesk, 00:04:43.610 --> 00:04:47.180 became incredibly popular, with over 46 ,000 00:04:47.180 --> 00:04:51.319 daughters. Stardell Valiant Wynken was so successful 00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:53.959 internationally that the royalties from his semen 00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:56.779 sales actually saved his breeder's farm from 00:04:56.779 --> 00:05:01.160 foreclosure during the 1980s farm crisis. This 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:03.420 was breeding success on a scale the industry 00:05:03.420 --> 00:05:06.639 had never seen before. But here's where the story 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:09.220 takes a darker turn, and this is the part that 00:05:09.220 --> 00:05:12.329 every modern breeder needs to understand. All 00:05:12.329 --> 00:05:14.949 this genetic concentration came with hidden costs. 00:05:15.470 --> 00:05:19.350 You see, Valiant's sire, Chief, was carrying 00:05:19.350 --> 00:05:22.889 what we now call Holstein haplotype 1, or HH1, 00:05:23.050 --> 00:05:25.829 a lethal recessive genetic defect that causes 00:05:25.829 --> 00:05:28.449 pregnancy loss when calves inherit copies from 00:05:28.449 --> 00:05:31.629 both parents. Now, modern research has shown 00:05:31.629 --> 00:05:34.490 that Valiant himself wasn't actually a carrier 00:05:34.490 --> 00:05:37.230 of this specific mutation. But here's the critical 00:05:37.230 --> 00:05:40.329 point. His widespread use helped concentrate 00:05:40.329 --> 00:05:43.649 other genetic risks in the population. When you 00:05:43.649 --> 00:05:46.069 have that level of genetic influence, with nearly 00:05:46.069 --> 00:05:49.310 100 of the top 400 bulls tracing back to one 00:05:49.310 --> 00:05:52.370 sire, you're creating genetic bottlenecks that 00:05:52.370 --> 00:05:54.949 can amplify both positive and negative traits. 00:05:55.490 --> 00:05:59.209 The HH1 defect alone is estimated to have caused 00:05:59.209 --> 00:06:03.129 over 500 ,000 spontaneous abortions in Holstein 00:06:03.129 --> 00:06:06.730 cattle worldwide. with economic losses of approximately 00:06:06.730 --> 00:06:11.569 $420 million to the dairy industry. But it wasn't 00:06:11.569 --> 00:06:14.410 just about one genetic defect. Breeders started 00:06:14.410 --> 00:06:17.370 seeing patterns they couldn't explain, conception 00:06:17.370 --> 00:06:20.089 rates that should have been higher, udder problems 00:06:20.089 --> 00:06:22.610 that seemed to cluster in certain family lines. 00:06:22.949 --> 00:06:25.709 The pieces didn't fit together until we developed 00:06:25.709 --> 00:06:29.829 DNA testing decades later. Here's something that 00:06:29.829 --> 00:06:32.250 really drives home the complexity of genetic 00:06:32.250 --> 00:06:35.879 progress. If you look at Valiant's modern genetic 00:06:35.879 --> 00:06:38.680 evaluations today, they tell a completely different 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:41.899 story than his historical reputation. Today's 00:06:41.899 --> 00:06:45.779 numbers from ABS Global show minus 699 kilograms 00:06:45.779 --> 00:06:51.540 for milk, minus 3 .17 for type, and minus 2 .84 00:06:51.540 --> 00:06:54.459 for mammary system. A young producer looking 00:06:54.459 --> 00:06:56.899 at these figures today would think, why are we 00:06:56.899 --> 00:06:59.319 even talking about this bull? But here's what's 00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:02.060 crucial to understand. Those negative numbers 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:04.360 don't mean Valiant was genetically inferior. 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:07.420 They mean the average Holstein cow born in 2020 00:07:07.420 --> 00:07:10.379 is genetically superior to him by that amount. 00:07:10.819 --> 00:07:13.459 His proof has become a measuring stick for how 00:07:13.459 --> 00:07:16.579 far we've come. It's exactly like comparing a 00:07:16.579 --> 00:07:20.019 1980s computer to your smartphone. The old technology 00:07:20.019 --> 00:07:22.660 wasn't bad for its time, it was revolutionary. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:26.040 But progress moved on, and that's actually a 00:07:26.040 --> 00:07:29.860 good thing. The show ring aesthetic of the 1980s 00:07:29.860 --> 00:07:34.410 that Valiant embodied, tall, sharp, stylish isn't 00:07:34.410 --> 00:07:36.910 what we're selecting for anymore. Today's functional 00:07:36.910 --> 00:07:40.009 type rewards completely different traits. Strong, 00:07:40.009 --> 00:07:42.730 shallow udders that can handle multiple lactations, 00:07:42.910 --> 00:07:45.670 moderate size for efficiency, and durability 00:07:45.670 --> 00:07:49.170 over flash. Those deep, impressive udders that 00:07:49.170 --> 00:07:51.810 made valiant daughters champions, they're now 00:07:51.810 --> 00:07:54.329 understood to be functional challenges linked 00:07:54.329 --> 00:07:57.069 to higher somatic cell counts, shorter productive 00:07:57.069 --> 00:08:00.800 life, and more injury risk. Today, We're dealing 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:03.199 with the same fundamental challenges Valiant's 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:07.420 era faced, but we have far better tools. DNA 00:08:07.420 --> 00:08:10.000 testing has completely transformed our approach. 00:08:10.259 --> 00:08:13.360 We can identify genetic issues before they spread. 00:08:13.579 --> 00:08:16.899 We can track genetic diversity in real time and 00:08:16.899 --> 00:08:19.420 avoid the kind of concentration we saw with the 00:08:19.420 --> 00:08:22.540 Valiant era. We're not just looking at what genes 00:08:22.540 --> 00:08:25.560 do, we're looking at what they might do in combination 00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:28.589 with other genes. The difference today is that 00:08:28.589 --> 00:08:31.089 we can see genetic connections before they become 00:08:31.089 --> 00:08:33.850 problems. We're not just hoping a mating will 00:08:33.850 --> 00:08:37.350 work. We're calculating the probability. Current 00:08:37.350 --> 00:08:39.850 industry focus emphasizes cow families that can 00:08:39.850 --> 00:08:42.330 produce efficiently across multiple lactations, 00:08:42.509 --> 00:08:45.490 handle varying feed qualities, and adapt to different 00:08:45.490 --> 00:08:48.909 management systems. That's sustainability. Not 00:08:48.909 --> 00:08:51.049 just environmental, but genetic sustainability. 00:08:51.889 --> 00:08:55.789 So what does the Valiant story teach us? First, 00:08:56.159 --> 00:08:58.379 Genetic power comes with genetic responsibility. 00:08:58.899 --> 00:09:01.419 Every mating decision we make is a vote for the 00:09:01.419 --> 00:09:04.639 future of the breed. Second, extraordinary genetic 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:07.519 potential must be balanced with wisdom, caution, 00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:10.779 and a deep understanding of consequences. And 00:09:10.779 --> 00:09:13.259 third, even the best genetics can carry hidden 00:09:13.259 --> 00:09:16.019 costs. But with today's tools, we don't have 00:09:16.019 --> 00:09:19.059 to fly blind anymore. My advice to you is clear. 00:09:19.259 --> 00:09:21.940 Use DNA testing to screen for genetic markers 00:09:21.940 --> 00:09:25.929 like HH1. Work with your AI provider to maintain 00:09:25.929 --> 00:09:28.549 genetic diversity in your breeding program. Monitor 00:09:28.549 --> 00:09:31.210 genetic scores to balance production with health 00:09:31.210 --> 00:09:33.970 traits. And here's the big one. Don't put more 00:09:33.970 --> 00:09:36.529 than 30 % of your matings to any single bull, 00:09:36.649 --> 00:09:40.210 no matter how good he looks. Walking through 00:09:40.210 --> 00:09:42.870 Holstein herds today, Valiant's influence is 00:09:42.870 --> 00:09:45.929 everywhere. Recent research shows his name appears 00:09:45.929 --> 00:09:49.450 55 times in the pedigree of popular sires like 00:09:49.450 --> 00:09:52.620 Farnier Delta Lambda. His genetic fingerprint 00:09:52.620 --> 00:09:55.220 runs through countless contemporary bloodlines. 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:59.240 But his real legacy isn't in the pedigrees. It's 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:02.460 in how we think about breeding. The Valiant story 00:10:02.460 --> 00:10:05.279 taught us that genetic progress isn't always 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:08.059 linear, and that today's solution can become 00:10:08.059 --> 00:10:10.720 tomorrow's challenge if we're not careful about 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:14.320 diversity. The dairy producers who bred DeValiant 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:17.080 made rational, informed choices based on the 00:10:17.080 --> 00:10:19.759 best available science of their time. They weren't 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:22.899 reckless. They were progressive. What we learned 00:10:22.899 --> 00:10:25.539 wasn't about avoiding great genetics, but about 00:10:25.539 --> 00:10:28.139 balancing genetic merit with genetic diversity. 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:31.559 The Valiant story is ultimately about the power 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:34.320 of a single animal to shape a global breed, for 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:37.539 better and for worse. His negative proofs on 00:10:37.539 --> 00:10:40.200 a modern genetic base aren't an indictment of 00:10:40.200 --> 00:10:42.620 his quality. They're a metric of the incredible 00:10:42.620 --> 00:10:45.559 progress the breed has made, progress he himself 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:49.250 helped to initiate. We're not just talking about 00:10:49.250 --> 00:10:52.230 genetic theory here. This is about real money, 00:10:52.389 --> 00:10:54.610 the kind that shows up in your monthly milk check 00:10:54.610 --> 00:10:57.490 and your feed bills. After what we learned from 00:10:57.490 --> 00:11:00.370 the Valiant era, managing genetic risk isn't 00:11:00.370 --> 00:11:03.190 just smart breeding. It's essential for your 00:11:03.190 --> 00:11:05.990 farm's future profitability and sustainability. 00:11:06.750 --> 00:11:10.210 That mating decision made back in 73 continues 00:11:10.210 --> 00:11:13.149 to teach us that in breeding, as in all of farming, 00:11:13.330 --> 00:11:16.370 today's best decisions lead to tomorrow's success. 00:11:17.100 --> 00:11:19.519 Thanks for joining me today on the Bullvine Podcast. 00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:22.899 Remember, every breeding choice you make today 00:11:22.899 --> 00:11:25.879 shapes the future of your herd and our industry. 00:11:26.179 --> 00:11:29.559 Stay curious, stay informed, and keep making 00:11:29.559 --> 00:11:31.799 those thoughtful decisions that drive our industry 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:35.059 forward. Until next time, this is the Bullvine, 00:11:35.220 --> 00:11:37.580 reminding you that great breeding isn't just 00:11:37.580 --> 00:11:40.340 about great genetics, it's about great judgment. 00:11:48.940 --> 00:11:56.539 Turn the volume high. For the icons of the ages, 00:11:56.899 --> 00:12:02.240 they never will die. From the show ring thunder 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:08.059 to the quiet strength they knew. Hear their stories 00:12:08.059 --> 00:12:19.769 now. Coming right on. Legends live here.