Exceptional, Outstanding, Superb, Wonderful, whichever word you decide to use, all can describe the performance we have seen from the Cogent speciality breed line up during the April 2025 proof run. With a base change shifting a few things around, Cogent’s line up has remained ultra consistent. This has huge benefits to our customers giving them confidence in their genetic decisions to ensure constant and relentless progress to performance.
British Friesian’s Continue to Excel
Cogent’s Friesian line up has been a shining light for a few years now with our now well established sire team consistently delivering for both commercial and pedigree breeders. Whether it’s production, health, type or cow family, the offering has something for everyone. The headline maker this proof run comes from Newbarton Ready For It, this son of Inch Jake continues to set the pace in Combined Fat and Protein Kgs, with 34.8kgs, a massive 8kgs clear of the next best sire for this trait. He also remains as the No.2 Milk Bull and has made huge improvements to his fertility index lifting nearly 2 points since December.
Ranking domination can be seen from all angles with 4 of the top 10 PLI sires, 3 of the top 5 Fertility Sires, 4 of the top 5 lifespan sires, The top 4 Legs and Feet Sires, The Top 4 Mammary bulls and the Top 4 Type bulls. One sire who features heavily in these is new Release sire Inch Josh. Josh enters the rankings at £211 PLI, he is the No.1 HealthyCow sire at 165, whilst also being the No.1 Lifespan sire with 104 days and No.2 Fertility at 5.6. Josh is a true health specialist whilst still offering a balanced type profile ranking in the top 5 for Mammary and Overall Type. Other sires of note include Inch Mint, No.1 Type, Legs and Feet and No.2 Lifespan and Bankhouse Braveheart, No.1 Mammary whilst Inch Jake (£274), Bankhouse Distinction (£281) and Bradash Trailblazer (£247) have all had exceptional days.
April also brings with it the first proofs for 2 of our well established sires Bradash Contender and Bradash Patriot Red. Patriot Red has added 42 daughters to his production proof, he still offers outstanding production figures with 180kgs Milk and now offers positive fertility as part of his initial proof. Meanwhile Contender’s proof shows 124 daughters, his PLI has increased by £15, with production remaining exceptionally stable, whilst the same can be said for Type and health traits.
Jersey Gold
Since developing a wider UK Jersey programme in 2021, Cogent has been able to continue to offer the very best of both UK and US Jersey genetics and the April 2025 proof run is no different with the top 3 Type sires and top 4 Mammary sires coupled with the No.1 Healthy Cow sire and No.1 CFP sire all calling Cogent home. The highlight of the day is Rivermead Casino Addiction, this sire is now the No.1 Healthy Cow sire beating off strong competition from his Danish counterparts who place a huge emphasis on health performance, Addiction comes out on top with 5.3 Fertility Index, 57 days Lifespan and -5 SCC being the highlights. He is also No.2 for Type and No.3 for Mammary and with his early daughters starting to calve down we can’t wait to see what the future holds.
FB World Classic continues his dominance in the Combined Fat and Protein Rankings with a massive 53.1kgs placing him 4kgs clear of the next bull in the rankings, really highlighting the benefits he can offer breeders to drive production and profitability. Meanwhile Treasure Map and Mr Chrome Laspada cement the dominance of the Type rankings.
The other sire in the top 4 Mammary and top 3 Type sires is a new release sire Unique Billy Mack. This new addition from the Canadian breeding programme is a Dulet Bowlers son and offers exceptional type traits with high levels of production. Billy Mack also combines an outstanding maternal line into his profile with a VG86 2yr Victorious Dam, and 9 generations of VG and EX dams in his maternal line. With a Type Merit of 1.5, Mammary of 2 and a Canadian conformation of 12 this sire is a hugely exciting new addition to the Cogent line up. In addition to this, our UK programme sires have had a strong day with Earl, Erling and Helios, remaining stable.
Montbeliardes & Ayrshires Hit The Headlines
A refreshed Cogent Montbeliarde line-up brings huge appeal with the New No.1 ISU sire now in the cogent line up in Ubaldi with a massive 189 ISU. This sire combines exceptional milk (1243kgs) and solids (113kgs) with extreme health improvements and a balanced type profile, along with a breed leading temperament score of 132 to create one of the most exciting sires to come from France in recent years. He is closely followed by another new sire Ustino at 185 ISU and just outside the top 10 sires in France, this bull is an extreme udder improver at 136 whilst offering balanced frames and extreme productive life. Enhancing the line up further are Troncy, another new genomic sire at 178 ISU and the new proven sire Olivo at 156 ISU.
Olivo also appears in the UK top 10 rankings at No.2 with Cogent offering 3 of the top 10 PLI sires.
Our Ayrshire and Scandinavian Red offerings remain strong, with Whinnow Voltage continuing to lead the way in this offering with an exceptional £427 PLI and the most balanced profile out of the top 10 sires, his daughters are hitting the ground and look extremely stylish, this bull's profile makes him well suited for both pure Ayrshire herds and crossbreeding. Another bull who continues to excel in the Ayrshire line up is Ardmore Jeepers Creepers who at 1.5 for Type and 1.2 for Mammary has added significant improvements to his type traits whilst also adding nearly £50 PLI and now being ranked as the No.2 Healthy Cow proven sire.
April 2025 has been another outstanding proof run for the Ayrshire breed further outlining the strength in depth we have to offer across the whole dairy sector. Whatever the system or breed, Cogent has the answer, be part of the Cogent Difference.