UK breeding company Cogent is celebrating its strongest and broadest line-up of bulls following the launch of the December 2013 Holstein indexes.
Not only does the company feature heavily in the UK’s official Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI) and Type (PTAT) rankings for proven bulls, but it also has several interesting young genomic sires that are excelling for numerous traits.
Daughter-proven sires
Amongst the proven sires, Cogent Twist (Shottle x Major) continues to feature, now with second crop daughters and remaining one of the top sires ranked on PLI at £249. Dunnerdale Kestrel (Bolton x Allen) has had an equally solid proof run, offering £186 PLI, 591kg of milk, high fat percentage, along with negative cell counts, positive lifespan and excellent locomotion.
New release sire, Errolston Zeus (Bolton x Zenith) stands out as a high type Bolton son who will transmit an abundance of milk and high protein solids.
“With negative cell counts, high milking speeds and one of the highest locomotion scores in the Cogent stud, he has everything most dairy farmers are seeking,” says Tom Peters from Cogent. “His generally black daughters with slight set to the leg, add to the farmer attraction as many are finding their cows’ legs are becoming too straight.”
No Shottle, Planet or Goldwyn in his pedigree and a UK PTAT of 2.7 further widens Zeus’s potential appeal.
Genomic sires
Younger still than Zeus is the latest crop of genomic sires, with names such as Wiltor Cruise (Iota x Planet), De Volmer Elmo(Windbrook x Baxter) and Cogent Diego (Bookem x Baxter) attracting particular interest.
“Cruise is a PLI sensation at £248, reflecting his transmission of outstanding milk, fat and protein production alongside excellent daughter fertility and low cell counts,” says Tom. “With a UK PTAT of 2.23, this Iota son – from the highly desirable Larcrest C family – is pretty much the complete package.”
World’s leading Windbrook gTPI son
Also new to the stud is Elmo (now the world’s number one Windbrook son ranked on the USA’s genomic TPI) at 2233 and the number two Windbrook son ranked on Net Merit, at $637.
With high type (US PTAT 3.07), remarkably high fat and protein percentages, low cell counts and good daughter fertility, this outcross bull has wide appeal among all types of Holstein breeder.
“Then we have Cogent Diego,” continues Tom. “He’s a Bookem out of a Baxter from a bull-breeding French cow family with exceptionally high type transmission at PTAT 3.08.
“He transmits huge volumes of milk with high weights of fat and protein, and has the added bonus of being a BB kappa casein sire.”
With daughters predicted to have strength through the chest and wide rumps, it’s no surprise to see Diego score highly for Lifespan Index too.
“We’re delighted our stud looks so well-balanced with this new index run,” says Tom. “We have always sought to blend the transmission of sound conformation alongside high health and economic milk production and we’re pleased to see how this has come together in a selection of bulls that has such strong farmer-appeal.”