STtalks

STtalks is wrapping up our June Dairy Month celebration with a very special guest, one of agriculture’s most recognizable ambassadors, Alice in Dairyland! Sarah Hagenow, the 78th Alice in Dairyland, shares the journey that led her to one of agriculture’s most prestigious ambassador roles. From her roots in 4-H and FFA to collegiate dairy judging, international travel, and countless leadership expe...

STgenetics®’ Matthew Gunst and Mandy Sell-Stanford discuss how youth programs have influenced their journey in the dairy industry, share some advice for youth and showcase the STgenetics® summer youth promotion currently going on here in the U.S.

Brian Behnke joins us to go over the history and the future of STgenetics® STructured™ STyle Red & White portfolio. In this STtalks we hear about the foundation that bulls like AWESOME-RED and JORDY-RED laid and how bulls like ALTITUDE-RED, ARCHITECT-RED and AUDACIOUS-RED are caring our next Red generation. The conversation also explores line breeding and how genomics helps manage faults, then...

STgenetics® has an impressive mid-release group of bulls who are highlighted by 14 sires over +3400 GTPI, 11 bulls exceeding +1200 Eco$, 10 bulls over +200 CFP, 10 sires with more than +4.0 Productive Life, 5 bulls above +1.00 UDC, and two new Jersey sires. We're also seeing exciting additions to both our Polled and Legend™ programs, with plenty of standout new sires, this is an STtalks you wo...

Today’s guest highlights the impact of storytelling as a key tool for building consumer trust and connection. Emily Elsing, an agricultural storyteller and influencer, shares how FFA and her time at UW–Madison led her into agriculture, and how she and her husband, Avery, began sharing their everyday rural life on YouTube through their page, New Age Custom Farming, as well as her Facebook, Prairie...

This week, we're joined by STgenetics®' Kevin Ziemba to discuss his article, "The Story of Fat and the Future of Protein: How Genetics Influence Components." We explore how changing consumer preferences are shaping processor demands, influencing genetic selection decisions on dairies worldwide, and creating new opportunities for producers to capture more value through strategic b...

A special June Dairy Month episode of STtalks is now live! In this STtalks taped during STgenetics®’ Elite Dairy Summit in Puerto Rico, Tim Doelman, former CEO of fairlife®, joins us to discuss building one of the fastest-growing beverages over the past 12 years by “unlocking” milk’s nutrition and creating products based on consumer needs rather than commodity thinking. With the belief that milk c...

In this episode of #STtalks, we visit with Jason Felling of Felling Dairy and Mitch Hockett from #STgenetics to discuss how #Farmfit is helping turn real-time temperature and activity data into smarter decisions on the farm.

Happy World Milk Day and Happy June Dairy Month! In this STtalks we celebrate the dairy story, which all starts with one smart decision. One straw, calf, cow, and future. From innovative genetics to healthier, more efficient cows, every breeding decision helps dairy producers create more sustainable, profitable farms while producing one of the world's most complete foods: milk!

Neste episódio do STtalks, você vai conhecer o Super Conventional® da STgenetics, uma nova tecnologia de sêmen otimizado para gênero. Rafael Ribeiro, Gerente da Linha Leite da STgenetics Brasil, apresenta este produto desenvolvido especialmente para inseminação de vacas em lactação, com 75% de pureza de gênero, visando mitigar o nascimento de machos e potencializar os rebanhos leiteiros que ainda...

Pete Gelber of Barrington Dairy is back with us to share about the proof-of-concept trial he and his STgenetics® representative, Ron Jackson, put together with 460 2-year-old fresh heifers to show the impact of STgenetics® EcoFeed®cow trait. After 4 months, Pete states, “ This EcoFeed® thing is definitely true, according to me. You know, we did this trial…and it's like, holy cow, this is reall...

“It starts with the feed…but it really helps to be working with good genetics to maximize that,” states James Bailey in this STtalks! James, a co-founder of ProAgtive Dairy Nutrition, joins STgenetics® Eric Zwiefelhofer to share about the on-farm trial they put together at Cottonwood Dairy in South Wayne, Wisconsin, to prove the impact of selecting for STgenetics®’ Eco$ Index. After splitting firs...

In this STtalks we learn more about the genetics behind heat-tolerant cattle by diving into the slick gene. The group outlines how slick was introduced into the Holstein breed, and why heat tolerance matters for productivity in tropical and heat-stress regions. They also cover potential benefits for Beef on Dairy calves, recent progress in building higher-merit slick sire lines, and practical impl...

After the April 2026 genetic evaluations, Canada experienced a rollback and changes to the LPI formula, we visit with Mike Barnum and Maxime Ten-Have to discuss how STgenetics® Canada is prepared to meet producer’s needs and handle industry change and market trends. Focusing on a few sires like BREEZER, RHETT, BECK, MYLO, BEATBOX and more, we dive into some unique offerings from the various portfo...

To every farm mom wearing countless hats behind the scenes, this STtalks is for you. In this special Mother’s Day episode, we celebrate the moms who do it all long before the sun rises; feeding calves, packing lunches, balancing books, driving kids to school and supporting the farm team, while somehow still making home feel warm and cared for!

Let’s take a closer look at STgenetics®’ new laser-measured udder traits that are bringing even greater accuracy to the industry-leading Robotic Cow Index (RCI). Join Kevin Ziemba, Natalia Rodrigues, and Piush Khanal as they discuss these innovative new traits, their heritability, and how this selection can benefit not only robotic milking systems, but dairy operations as a whole. The conversation...

In this STtalks we discuss how the dairy industry defines and breeds for true efficiency beyond simply reducing cow size. Kevin Ziemba, Jocelyn Johnson and David Kendall join us to introduce two new STgenetics® traits; Mature Live Weight (MLW), built from over 1.8 million robot-recorded body weight records from more than 5,000 Holstein cows, and STurdy, an index combining linear type traits with M...

In the final episode of our Journey of Genetics Series, we are joined by Jack Hippen, STgenetics® North American and EU Sales Director, to break down what really happens when a producer buys that final straw and why it matters. From advancing gender-sorted semen performance to packing more female cells per straw, Jack shares how STgenetics® is pushing beyond sorting and driving true genetic progre...

After a short break during April Genetic Evaluations, we’re back with our 6th episode of our Journey of Genetics Series! In this STtalks episode, we cover the logistics of distribution with Jim Chapman, STgenetics® Distribution Manager. He walks us through how semen moves from lab approval to your farm while maintaining temperature and quality, ensuring traceability as well. Jim goes over safeguar...

New release sire news is here! We have 33 New Sires, 10 of which are in the Legend™ program, the group averaged +3330 TPI with 15 bulls are over +1100 NM$, 23 bulls over +170 CFP, 23 bulls over +3.0 PL, three new Red sires and two new polled sires. The diversity and genetic impact this group of sires brings is exciting not only for the STgenetics® portfolio but also for our customers and the Holst...

More proof news is here! David Kendall and Kevin Ziemba join us to review the results of STgenetics® Colored Breeds following the April 2026 Genetic Evaluations. They highlight strong Jersey momentum with bulls like GARLAND and GORMAN, additional high JPI young sires in the pipeline, and STyle™ standouts such as CANADIAN CLUB and LASPADA, plus new additions MR. BRIGHT and more. We learn more about...

Proof news is here and this time we are joined by four members of STgenetics® Genetic Advancement team as we deep dive into the April 2026 genetic evaluations. Together they break down the impact of the latest TPI® updates, how the industry responded, and what these changes mean for the future direction of genetic progress. The team shares insights across key indexes, including TPI®, NM$, and STge...

“Let’s not lose any more family farms to lack of planning!” strongly states our next guest, Rena Striegel of @‌Transition Point Business Advisors. Rena joins us to share how farmers can take the initial step into transition planning and helps us understand some of the mindset behind why this business transaction can be so uncomfortable, though essential. We cover a lot of information in this STtal...

Pre-proof news is here! With Holstein Association USA’s adjustment to the Total Performance Index® (TPI®), we sit down with David Kendall, STgenetics® Director of Genetic Advancement, to break down how this will guide genetic direction. In this discussion, we learn what exactly changed, what influenced this adjustment, why it matters and what it means for the future of the Holstein breed.

In the fifth episode of our  Journey of Genetics  series, Candis McCleary joins us to share about the extensive Quality Control (QC) process all semen undergoes before being shipped out of the facility. In this STtalks, we learn about how QC has been standardized to be delivered accurately throughout more than 45 production labs and the numerous teams at STgenetics® who have a part in making sure...