There was sad news last week in the world of animal breeding. Toystory, the bull that set the world record for producing offspring, died.
The Wall Street Journal did a fascinating front-page story on this randy beast: “Rare is the bull with the genes and testicular fortitude to sell a million units of semen.”
In the cutting-edge world of cow insemination and reproduction, Toystory was a legend. He sired offspring in 50 countries. He was the Bill Clinton of international bovine relations.
My first reaction to the news was that the hulking Holstein had been shot to death by a jealous rival bull, but no. He was bred for years, earning tens of millions of dollars for his owners. These days, bulls put to stud yield more than Treasury bonds in our high-tech farming business.
He lived a productive life, fathering an estimated half-million offspring. I would imagine he is in line for posthumous induction into the NBA Hall of Fame.