Heat stress is a major challenge to many dairy farmers, especially those in the southeastern United States where months of high temperature in conjunction with high humidity wreak havoc on productivity. The detrimental impact is seen most commonly in youngstock performance, reproductive efficiency, and output in the milking parlor. Estimates for yearly economic loss due to heat stress on dairies range widely, with the low end estimating a total loss of 900 million to the high end putting that estimate at just over 5 billion. Producers have long strategized on facility modifications to maximize heat abatement. Others have found advantages in simple alteration in herd makeup through crossbreeding. However, a new and finally tangible approach may be to further change the animal’s genetic makeup through specific gene selection. Cows with the “slick” gene, first identified in Senepol cattle, display a very short, slick coat. This slick coat is controlled by a single dominant gene located on bovine chromosome 20, which contains the prolactin receptor. Cows displaying the slick phenotype have a truncated prolactin receptor, caused by a single base deletion and an accompanying frame shift that results in an earlier stop codon on the prolactin receptor. Slick coated cattle are shown to have lower vaginal temperatures, lower respiration rates, and higher rates of sweat production. Most importantly to a producer’s bottom line, slick coated cattle experience a less dramatic drop in production during the warmer months. Two heterozygous registered Holstein bulls are currently being marketed to producers to introduce the phenotype into US herds. There is no evidence to suggest that the gene exists naturally in the base female Holstein population, so calves produced from the heterozygous bulls have a 50% chance of displaying the slick phenotype. As the breeding program continues, it is anticipated that homozygous bulls and females will quickly develop allowing producers to have a cow that, along with facilities, can maximize heat abatement and hopefully the producer’s financial profit potential.