Great Lakes Sire Service

FROM MOBILE BUSINESS IN A 1979 MOBILE HOME TO STATE-OF-THE-ART STUD COLLECTION

By Bev Berens

From a mobile business operating out of a 1979 motorhome to a state-of-the-art stud collection service, Earl and Melissa Souva have moved Great Lakes Sire Service (GLSS) from a one-person traveling operation to a multimillion-dollar business in the span of 20 years.

Located in Bronson, Michigan, it is the only custom semen collection service in the United States credentialed to ship semen to China, a distinction that lures bull owners to the facility from across North America. During the first five months of 2022, the company produced 1,055,000 straws of semen for the custom market.

Scraping together their savings and borrowing some money, then a little more money, Earl and Melissa bought the mobile business and nurtured its growth, finding a gold mine in the trophy whitetail industry, collecting and processing semen for hunt clubs as far away as Texas. The lucrative nature of the whitetail business financed rapid expansion and permanent facilities in Melissa’s hometown, along with the means to purchase state-of-the-art lab equipment to process and store harvested semen.

Including the latest expansion when complete, GLSS can house 120 bulls between two sites and, with the new facility, be certified to ship semen to a lucrative and growing European market. European nations impose more stringent standards for animal care, and the new facility a half-mile from the original will meet those. Naturally, this expansion has been built to easily accommodate more growth should the opportunity arise.

Bulls may stay as briefly as for one collection; others have a permanent home at the facility. It all depends upon the owner’s objectives. One bull has lived at the farm for 10 years and has produced more than a million straws of semen that have been shipped worldwide.

During the business’s first 13 years, Melissa worked as the ag instructor at Bronson High School while Earl did the boots-on-the-ground work of collecting, processing and shipping semen and sometimes even building his own bull-handling equipment. Melissa balanced school, the business accounting and the mothering responsibilities in a growing family.

“As a business owner, it’s important to keep a pulse on industry and be active,” Earl said. He serves on the board of directors for National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB), is president-elect for Michigan Cattlemen Association and is on the board for Certified Semen Servicers (CSS).

Five employees manage lab and processing while three others work the barns, including semen collection.

Great Lakes Sire Service’s largest customers are other AI companies that are global but don’t have production centers in the United States.

Earl and his wife, Melissa Souva have moved Great Lakes Sire Service from a one-person traveling operation to a multimillion-dollar business in the span of 20 years.

CSS, a subsidiary of the NAAB, provides auditing to ensure the health and identity of semen processed by its member organizations. GLSS has been CSS-certified for more than 20 years and is the only custom collection service in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio that can provide semen collection under the most stringent health standards.

A custom collection service like GLSS doesn’t own studs or provide marketing. It provides collection services and product processing, handling, storage and shipment that allows people on the outside of a tightly controlled commercial sire service network to offer their own genetics to buyers who want what the producer has to offer.

GLSS’ largest customers are other AI companies that are global but don’t have production centers in the United States. “U.S. dairy genetics is the epicenter of the world and everyone wants U.S. genetics,” Earl said. “The way to do it is to send the bulls to us, and we collect and ship the semen for them.

“For instance, China cut out semen shipments from Canada three years ago over some trade deal, so Semex out of Canada had to find sources who could ship genetics through the U.S.”

The first 23 years of business dealt primarily in the beef sector, but the last three have seen a significant shift into dairy. Earl said sexed semen and genomics technologies are drivers behind the trend.

Sexed semen created the ability for dairy producers to rapidly increase female numbers available in the herd. Genomics testing at an immature age identifies the genetic potential of an animal and producers can narrow down the herd’s top third, breeding them with sexed semen to genomic superior sires and obtain a continuous supply of elite females to supply the next generation of seedstock in a herd. The bottom two-thirds of the herd can be bred to create a pregnancy and milk in the tank. The logical terminal mating for that herd segment is to a beef bull with desired cutability traits.

“This is really changing the beef market, too,” he said. “The NAAB statistics show that domestic dairy semen sales are dropping, and beef semen sales are going up drastically. This is how technology has changed the industry very quickly.”

Another trend is that more semen has

continued from page 9 been exported from the United States than sold domestically industrywide, and he believes this trend will also continue.

Since Covid, logistics and semen shipping have been the company’s greatest challenges. “Product is transported to China via flights, and we have to find flights available,” Earl explained. “There just aren’t as many flights as before Covid. China has shut down some ports and semen must fly under hazardous materials designation. China has an embargo on hazardous goods, so we just don’t know when the next flights are.”

Health protocols on international semen shipments are understandably complex, and a full-time person is dedicated to tracking, scheduling and verifying vaccinations, blood draws and other procedures, which can vary between sires.

Beyond the barns and lab, he noted the operation is more of a manufacturing process focusing on inventory control, packing and shipping. Five employees manage lab and processing while three others work the barns, including semen collection. Collections are done four days a week and each bull housed at the farm is collected twice weekly, and twice on each day it is scheduled.

It takes a solid workforce to manage a fast-paced detailed environment such as GLSS. The office staff is led by Melissa, who manages payroll, domestic shipments and accounts payable/receivable. The organization employs 22 individuals, plus five summer interns this year. Each intern is rotated through duties in the barn, lab and office to give them a complete experience.

A few employees were hired through recruiting agencies, including the U.S. skilled guest worker program. Animal science was once Earl’s degree of choice when it came to new hires; however, he and Melissa both realized that office and lab employees who were the most effective possessed soft skills such as attention to detail and spreadsheet knowledge.

“We’ve learned to hire personalities in that area, and we can teach the basics of ag they need to know for the job,” he said.

Earl and Melissa have four children ages 13 to 26. Their youngest, a daughter, currently works in the laboratory while the others are pursuing careers away from the business.

Collections are done four days a week and each bull housed at the farm is collected twice weekly, and twice on each day it is scheduled.

Fall 2022