For 75 years, East Central/Select Sires in Waupun has done its part to improve dairy cow herds in Wisconsin. The result has benefited the state economy through dairy product sales.

East Central is a leader in artificial insemination, which implants semen from top bulls in dairy cows. This builds the gene pool of dairy cattle to optimize traits like milk production and disease resistance.

The company goes back to 1940, when four county agents and various breeders began efforts to create what was then called East Central Breeders Association Cooperative. At the time, artificial insemination, or AI, was in its infancy.

Over the years, East Central became a leader in AI. About 5,800 cows were bred in the first year of East Central's existence. In 2015, East Central/Select Sires recorded 348,000 AI services in their southern Wisconsin territory.

"In our preliminary meetings, there was some opposition from some of the registered herd owners in the area," Earl Stallard, agent of Dodge County, wrote in a notebook in 1940. "They thought it would hurt the sale of young bulls from their herds, that it would increase the danger of spreading disease." AI breeding wasn't immediately embraced by Wisconsin cattle farmers and county agents.

But it did not take long for everyone to realize that AI is founded on solid biological science.

When the company began, cows in the state averaged 8,416 pounds of milk and 324 pounds of fat. By 1971, the production was 4,867 pounds of milk and 182 pounds of fat.

"Today, average production in Wisconsin is near 22,000 pounds per cow,"  said Al Deming, current East Central general manager. "There are several herds over 30,000 pounds, and production continues to climb each year due to advancements in genetics, nutrition, management and cow comfort."

East Central/Select Sires covers 28 counties in southern Wisconsin with headquarters at the same facilities built in 1951.

"As in the past, the future of the AI industry will see plenty of change and growth," Deming said. "New methods may change some practices we use now. There will be more genetic improvement with even more accurate genomic predictions. There will be an increased use of gender-selected semen on top-end genetic animals causing more rapid genetic progress.

"The one thing that will remain constant is the need for professional people willing to work hard, and with a strong desire to do what is in the best interest of the dairy and beef producers in southern Wisconsin," Deming continued. "East Central/Select Sires is blessed with these employees now, and they will be what grows this organization in the years ahead."

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