Young genomic bulls may be stealing the limelight in the Holstein breeding industry, but Cogent has just launched a pack of daughter-proven sires that’s giving the youngsters a run for their money.
Amongst them are:
• Rich-Banks He-Man and Cookiecutter Henry: the first proven sons of Man-O-Man;
• Trione Colb Tesser: a complete outcross sire whose pedigree will inject new vigour into the bloodlines in common use on UK farms; and
• Springhill-OH Iron J Pirate: a top-10 type sire which blends Planet and Boss Iron in what’s been described as a ‘perfectly complementary sire stack’.
All originating from World Wide Sires in either the USA or Italy, the four bulls are about to make their presence felt on UK farms.
The two Man-O-Man sons, He-Man and Henry both originate in the same US cow family, being sons of two sisters: Cookiecutter Gold Harbour and Cookiecutter Gld Holler – both daughters of Goldwyn.
Earning a Type Merit (TM) of 2.66 and a Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI) of £177, He-Man transmits dairylike and balanced frames to his daughters, with extremely high and wide rear udders and a near-ideal set to the rear legs. With plenty of milk production and good health and fitness traits, daughters are known for their calving ease, as both calves (direct) and as dams (maternal).
Henry’s breeding profile is similar to He-Man’s, with a Type Merit of 2.73 and a PLI of £165. Although daughters are more moderate in stature, they have a similar blend of health, fertility and production, with exceptional udder conformation and very correct legs. Henry also transmits ease of calving, both direct and maternal.
“He-Man and Henry are the first proven sons of Man-O-Man to be offered for sale and we hope that at a realistic price and with the availability of sexed semen from He-Man, we can get these world-leading bloodlines into UK herds,” says Bryan Challenor from Cogent. “Many breeders missed out on Man-O-Man himself as he was in such limited availability due to his huge world-wide demand and the widespread view that he was Oman’s best son.”
Tesser will also have an important place on UK farms, as a son of Colby and out of the Italian-bred cow, Trione FBI Milene, herself a daughter of Gillette Brilea FBI.
“These bloodlines aren’t particularly familiar to all UK breeders, and they will inject some hybrid vigour into UK herds,” continues Mr Challenor. “He’s a high production outcross sire that gets away from Oman, Shottle, Goldwyn and Planet, and when you look at his daughters and his breeding pattern you can see why he will appeal.
“The heifers I have recently seen in Italy were medium in stature with good chest width – they look the type whose frames will develop as they mature and their outstanding udders also looked built to stand the test of time.
“His sire, Colby, produced similar cows that worked well in large scale commercial environments, although Tesser will breed better udders. I’d suggest he’d work well on End Story daughters.”
Tesser offers a TM of 2.89, a PLI of £143 and improves all health and fitness traits.
The last bull of the quartet is the Planet son, Pirate, which, out of a Boss Iron dam, brings strength and dairyness together.
“Boss Iron was a great bull who made great mature cows that went on and on,” says Mr Challenor. “So – blended with the dairyness of Planet – this is one of those matings that makes a lot of sense.”
The result is a sky-high Type Merit which at 3.78, ranks Pirate in the UK and international top 10. A leading udder specialist, transmitting high and wide rear udders with strong central support, Pirate also transmits tremendous frames with deep bodies and open rib. His PLI is £174.
For more information about the Cogent stud, please call Cogent on 0800 783 7258.