Cogent’s reputation as a source of the highest calibre sires has been enhanced this week as the April genetic indexes are published by both DairyCo and Holstein UK.
The company has excelled in the quality of dairy bulls in its portfolio, and has played a particularly strong card when it comes to conformation.
In fact, the stud leads the way with a remarkable six of the top seven bulls – of both UK and international breeding – when ranked on Type Merit (TM).
The bulls – which come from Cogent via their international partners, World Wide Sires Ltd – are as follows:
McCutchen – the number one bull with a TM based on daughter performance at 3.64, and a bull who makes his debut as a proven sire, having been introduced as a young sire on the strength of his genomic figures;
Mincio – a long-standing type leader whose TM of 3.4 reflects the extreme quality of his daughters which – despite their striking appearance – are of moderate size and easy to work with;
Bradnick – another former genomic sire who has met every early expectation now he has daughters milking, weighing in with a TM of 3.37;
Brokaw – an Atwood son whose upstanding, eye-catching daughters are everything that was hoped from his exceptional pedigree and earn him a TM of 3.32;
Heavenly Golden Dreams – a UK-bred full brother to Atwood whose daughters have earned him an international reputation and a TM of 3.29;
Mogul – another high-flying genomic introduction to the UK, who has lived up to every expectation as his first daughters come into milk, with a TM of 3.19.
Added to these bulls who have earned their place on the strength of their international performance are those which now have UK indexes based on UK daughter performance. Cogent have also excelled here, with two of the top five bulls in the shape of Atwood (TM 2.75) and Gold Chip (TM 2.39), who have gone from strength to strength.
But Cogent’s success with this proof-run extends far beyond the top of the Type Merit lists, seen in bulls like Grafeeti, Milo and Twist.
“The Freddie son, Grafeeti, is proving to be a truly exceptional all-rounder, who is still in the top 10 ranked on Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI) at £504, yet is light-years ahead of his top 10 counterparts when it comes to conformation,” says Andrew Holliday from Cogent.
“With 2.72 points for Type Merit he is well over one point ahead of his nearest rival in the top 10 PLI ranking, and by combining this with daughter health, fertility and quality milk he enters a league of his own.”
Meanwhile, Milo continues to show a superbly balanced index and remains high in the PLI rankings (PLI £411); has a moderate, workable linear profile in every way; and excels in every area required by profit-driven farmers – for SCC, lifespan, calving ease and fertility.
Cogent’s long-term flagship sire, Twist, continues to cement his reputation with this proof-run as some 765 UK daughters are added to his index, taking the total to over 2,000 and reliability to 99%.
“Users of Twist speak highly of his daughters’ performance which is little surprise when even today – now that the bull is 10 years old – he remains one of the top 10 fat transmitters in the world, always producing profitable daughters,” says Mr Holliday.
Summarising Cogent’s performance in the April proof-run, he continues: “The importance of selecting bulls with the correct conformation to suit your farm system has never been greater. In the race to increase figures which has been a feature of cattle breeding for many years, it’s easy to overlook the basics. The cow needs the constitution to withstand the rigours of modern production systems and have a long and trouble-free herdlife, and that’s a fundamental consideration at Cogent whenever we are selecting and breeding sires.”
Picture shows Grafeeti daughter: Kings-Ransom Graf Double
