A Milestone in Service
SHAWANO, Wis. - Dairy and beef producers throughout the United States rely on bovine artificial insemination (A.I.) professionals from Genex Cooperative, Inc. to create the animal pregnancies they need on their farms and ranches. As a result, the Genex technician force, the largest employed marketing force in U.S. agriculture today, has reached a milestone of over two million arm services in a 12-month period.
"Since the turn of the century, the number of arm services per year has followed a significant growth curve," stated Tom Bjelland, Vice President of Domestic Marketing, Genex. "It is through our members' and customers' confidence in the abilities of our well-trained technician force and the further development of team service that we have experienced this notable increase."
As a dairy producer and Genex board member, John Ruedinger of Van Dyne, Wis., recognizes the value of Genex arm service. "As a dairyman myself, I see the added value of Genex arm service. That extra set of eyes watching over my cattle, the outside perspective and their experience in breeding cows each day, makes the local Genex representatives assets to my herd's management team.
"On a larger view, records on over two million services provide the cooperative with valuable data," added Ruedinger. "In the past the cooperative has used its extensive non-return (to service) database to develop new sire evaluations such as SynchSmartTM and GenCheckTM. This increase in the number of services creates further opportunities."
The development of service teams, or groups of Breeding Program Specialists working together to provide service in a larger geographical area, has made a positive impact on the cooperative's ability to provide superior service to herds of all sizes and to expand the range of services available. In this respect, Genex representatives not only offer A.I. service, but also provide heat detection, synchronization protocol management, and data input and analysis. These services are offered in conjunction with a number of profit-related programs.
"In today's economic times, you want to use all the tools you can to advance," stated Ruedinger. "To stay on top of your game utilize full reproductive service by A.I. professionals along with high Lifetime Net Merit sires. Incorporate programs such as the MAP mating program, Reproductive Profit ManagerTM, AchieveTM and ResultsTM into your management strategies too. Genex members and customers are in a fortunate position to be able to use all of these tools to enhance their herds."
Genex is a subsidiary of Cooperative Resources International (CRI). CRI, a member-owned holding cooperative, is comprised of three subsidiaries: Central Livestock Association, AgSource Cooperative Services and Genex. The CRI Mission Statement summarizes the goal of CRI: "To provide products and services as effectively as possible to maximize the profitability of members and customers worldwide while maintaining a strong cooperative."
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