Company News

Semex is pleased to announce that Dr Bonnie Mallard, University of Guelph Professor Ontario Veterinary College, has received the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Synergy Award and its highest prize of $200,000 towards continuing research. 

Launched in 1995 by NSERC the Synergy Award recognizes partnerships in natural sciences and engineering research and development between universities and Canadian industry. Since their inception, the Awards have honoured the most outstanding achievements of these collaborations in the natural sciences and engineering. 

“When I learned of this win, I was over the moon about this tremendous recognition of my lifetime work as a scientist and professor of immunogenetics,” said Dr. Mallard, adding that the award recognizes women scientists’ ability to translate science into innovation.

“The NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation is one of the highest awards this country offers for innovation, and I plan to use this platform to bring further expansion to the HIR/Immunity+® technology,” she said. “There is still much exciting work left to do.”

Licensed to Semex, the HIR technology has been available to clients worldwide under the Immunity+ lineup since 2012.

“The HIR technology and Immunity+ is a good example of the importance of long-term research collaborations,” says Paul Larmer, Semex CEO. “Nominations are judged on partnership, effective use of resources and tangible benefits, all of which are evident with Immunity+ and HIR testing. We congratulate Dr. Mallard and we’re excited to continue our work together to reduce cattle disease and its related costs through preventative genetic methods worldwide.” 
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EastGen customers using Elevate™ know that this industry leading genetic selection tool has many benefits. Doug Karn of Karnvilla Holsteins & Jerseys, Woodstock, ON, is using the program to genomic test his heifers. He recently outlined the value he sees in this program from the perspective of a breeder and genetics
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Q: WHY IS SELECTING FOR IMMUNITY IMPORTANT?
Disease frequency in the global dairy population has been increasing each year since 1996. Selection of traits with low heritability that do not directly measure an animal’s ability to resist diseases has not provided a
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This August we had an absolute bumper crop of generational proven sires and we have added an expansive list of new elite genomic, sexed, and Immunity+TM sires. Canada’s new #1 GLPI, #1 Pro$, #1 Fat and #1 Combined F&P Holstein sire is
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Our expansive Ayrshire lineup continues to improve with the addition of Plein Soleil HIGHGEAR. HIGHGEAR is a son of Yellow from a VG-2YR Chelyotte who stems from Plein Soleil Animate Hylla EX-92-2E. HIGHGEAR joins our list with
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As we enter into the fall harvest season, dairy farmers prepare to reap the rewards of their work and perseverance. The same happens with our genetics industry, only we harvest our results in the form of new sires at proof time. It is accurate and fair to say with this most recent August proof round, our harvest was huge. We had an absolute bumper crop of generational proven sires and we have added an expansive list of new elite genomic, sexed, and Immunity+ sires for our breeders. We will start with Canada’s new #1 GLPI, #1 Pro$, #1 Fat and #1 Combined F&P sire
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We are pleased to announce that Jonathan Merriam will be joining Semex August 16, 2021, as Jersey Program Manager, reporting to Jay Shannon, Director, Genetic Programs & Solutions.  

“Jonathan is renowned in the Jersey breed for his extensive knowledge, experience and proven leadership in genetics,” says Jay Shannon. “He will utilize all of his acquired skills and extensive knowledge to lead Semex’s genetic programs, working with our elite genetic partner herds to keep raising the bar of our industry-leading Jersey program.” 

Jonathan most recently was the Genetics Manager at the 7000-cow Ahlem Farms in Hilmar, California. In this role he led the sire selection, mating and the marketing program for this globally famous Jersey farm and genetic resource. Under Jonathan’s management, Ahlem Farms put over 150 bulls into stud and sold high-value heifers annually in national sales. Previously Jonathan was an agricultural instructor at Utah State University, managing their dairy herd management vocational training program, and was the Dairy Extension Specialist for the University of California Cooperative Extension, advising producers regarding dairy nutrition, reproduction, management, employee relations and environmental regulations. 

Jonathan is the current President of the American Jersey Cattle Association, a position he has held for the last three years. He has a rich history of involvement in the dairy industry at local, state and national levels, working on national show and sale committees as well as providing tremendous leadership to youth programs.

Jonathan earned his master’s degree in Dairy Science, Dairy Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his bachelor’s degree in Dairy Science from California Polytechnic State University.

Jonathan resides in Hickman, ... Read More...

The EastGen Youth Ag-Stravaganza wrapped up in mid July, and we are still excited about the accomplishments of our participating youth! The Ag-Stravaganza was a virtual event created to nurture the development of future-ready skills for youth in agriculture despite the ongoing pandemic. It attracted close to 100 4-H beef and dairy members from across five provinces.

Participants
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With the cost of rearing heifers, managing a herd’s inventory is more critical than ever on modern dairy farms. Additionally, some breeders are using sexed semen increasingly on groups of animals that they want to raise the next generation from and beef on those that they do not. This strategy can make sense on an inventory management level but the devil is in the details. How do
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EastGen Announces Virtual Beef and Dairy Competition for Youth from Ontario and Atlantic Provinces. Accepting the reality that EastGen’s four traditional
youth events could not be safely held this summer, we’ve pivoted to create the EastGen Youth Ag-Stravaganza. This exciting virtual event for beef and dairy 4-Hers will be held
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