Millionaire and World-famous ABS Sire SHOTTLE Passes Away

PUNE, INDIA (March 18, 2015)— ABS India, the world leader in bovine genetics, reproduction services, and artificial insemination technologies, is saddened to announce the passing of the globally iconic sire, 29HO12209 Picston SHOTTLE. The recently retired bull leaves behind an outstanding legacy producing 1,174,948 units.

“The peaceful passing of SHOTTLE means we have lost one of our industry’s most influential animals,” said Saskia Korink, ABS Global Chief Operating Officer. “He has made a major impact on dairy farming around the globe over the last 15 years and has become one of the greatest ‘customer satisfaction’ bulls of all time.”

SHOTTLE was born at Spot Acre Grange near Stafford, England—the home of the Pickford family and Picston Holsteins. He was the son of dam Condon Aero Sharon EX-91 and sire Carole Prelude Mtoto.

For seven straight sire summary releases (January 2008 through January 2010) SHOTTLE sat at the peak of the Top 100 TPI® list. After those seven straight runs, he remained a top 15 sire for the next five sire summaries. In December 2011, SHOTTLE became the 11th ABS sire to achieve ‘millionaire’ status—with one million units of semen sold. When he turned 12 he still out-performed bulls half his age—remaining in the top 25 of the Top 100 TPI list. Even at the age of 15 and post-retirement, he continued to be a tremendous improver of health traits and was over 1.20 for PTAT. He continues to impact the Holstein USA Top 100 TPI list, with two sons and 28 maternal grandsons listed.

SHOTTLE leaves a long list of offspring, including more than 100,000 daughters in 20,000 herds in 22 countries. Conservatively, those 100,000 SHOTTLE daughters have produced more than five billion pounds (more than two billion litres) of milk to help nourish the world.

ABS remains the premier source for SHOTTLE influenced genetics—marketing conventional and sexed semen from 17 direct sons and 27 maternal grandsons. Even after his passing, with 19 maternal grandsons awaiting proof information, SHOTTLE will continue to influence the industry for years to come.

Not only was SHOTTLE popular in the dairy and artificial insemination industries, but he received enormous amounts of press coverage from all over the world early on in his career. In addition to dairy trade publications, stories about SHOTTLE appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, including The Times of London and Daily Mail. Perhaps the most notable was his feature in Playboy magazine—a feat no other bull at ABS Global has accomplished.

In his final months, while enjoying retirement, SHOTTLE received superstar treatment—including the enjoyment of a pen twice the size of his herd mates where he basked under heat lamps and got regular exercise from the dedicated team of stockmen at the Ruthin stud in the United Kingdom. All of us at ABS will miss SHOTTLE greatly, but look forward to what his genetics and offspring continue to do for the dairy industry around the world.