St. Jacobs ABC is pleased to announce the addition of two members to the Judge’s Choice® committee. Bloyce Thompson and Michael Heath will join the committee, which has been together over a decade and includes Hank Van Exel (Lodi, Calif.), Chris Hill (Thurmont, Md.), Ken Empey (Dorchester, Ontario), and Callum McKinven (Canton de Hatley, Quebec). The Judge’s Choice® program is part of St. Jacobs Animal Breeding Corporation, and samples Holstein, Red and White and Jersey bulls.
Michael Heath of Westminster, Md., has been around show cows his entire life. His family has been involved with breeding and developing a great herd, Spring Valley Jerseys. Michael has worked with the marketing, promotion and development of the herd from an early age. He has owned many All-American nominations in the Jersey, Holstein, and Red and White business, and has judged shows all over the world. One of the most influential cows that Michael has worked with is MD Delight Durham Atlee, dam of 94HO14105 AFTERSHOCK – one of the most popular Judge’s Choice sires of all time. Michael travels thousands of miles every year looking at cattle and has a deep knowledge of pedigrees and type patterns of cow families.
Bloyce Thompson of Frenchfort, PEI, owns and operates Eastside Farm, Inc., with his wife Terri and children Taylor, Alyson and Jenell. He is a third generation Holstein breeder, and his 400-acre farm is home to 70 milking animals that average 22,400 lbs milk, with 4.1%P and 3.3%F. Eastside was awarded a Master Breeder Shield in 2006, and has had several All-Canadian and All-American nominations over the years. Bloyce’s most recent accomplishments include co-breeding Eastside Lewisdale Gold Missy, the EX-95 supreme champion at the Royal Winter Agriculture Fair and World Dairy Expo. He is currently on the Holstein Canada classification advisory committee, the past chairman of the PEI marketing committee, past president of the PEI Holstein branch, and is an official judge for Holstein Canada.
“We are pleased to add Michael and Bloyce to the Judge’s Choice committee,” commented Tim Abbott of St. Jacobs, ABC. “They are passionate about the business and have had great success. The Judge’s Choice program is growing at a rapid pace, and we feel the addition of these two men will help us better serve our customers in the future. We want to ensure we continue to have the best sons available from the best cows in the business, and these two individuals will help us meet that goal.”
The Judge’s Choice program offers bulls from the most elite type cows in the breed, bred to transmit for St.he show ring. This year, the program is proud to have sons entering the program from all four cows that were in final contention for grand champion honors at the International Holstein Show at World Dairy Expo. The program has turned out type leaders including KITE*RC, AFFIRMED, PRO, and the new breed-leading type sire, DESTRY*RC. Additional leading young sires currently include AFTERSHOCK (SHOTTLE x Durham Atlee), PERSEUS*RC (Jasper x Talent Barbara), MASTERPIECE (SHOTTLE x Goldwyn Missy) and FORCE (SHOTTLE x ROY Frosty).
Located in Fairfield, Vermont, St. Jacobs ABC has been in the development of elite dairy genetics since 1958. St. Jacobs ABC is the supplier of some of ABS' most prestigious genetics. Headquartered in DeForest, Wisconsin, ABS Global is the world leader in bovine genetics, reproduction services and technologies. ABS has been at the forefront of animal genetics and technology since its founding in 1941. ABS Global is a division of Genus plc.
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