Second generation farmer Doug Lund manages Elm Tree Farm, North Yorkshire alongside his wife Helen. The farm is home to 150 Holstein and Holstein cross cows averaging 8,500 litres per annum on an Arla milk contract. The pair have been incorporating Cogent Beef Visions sires into their herd since the programme was first launched.

Cogent Beef Visions was developed to improve the national herd by providing reliable information collected across a vast array of farming systems. It helps validate the genomic predictions for young bulls. This aids improvement in the quality, productivity and profitability of their herds, as well as strengthening the national genetic base.

The farm is run on an all-year round calving system, which Mr & Mrs Lund aim to ensure that their heifers first calve at the age of two years old.

The Lund's have used a selection of Cogent Dairy sires including Mr Moviestar Mardi Gras, Endco Argo and O'Connors Soccer Ball. When selecting sires to use on their cows Doug says "Fat and protein kgs are the most important components for us because we are on an Arla contract, however I like to look at all factors when choosing a bull".

Doug also went onto explain that Mardi Gras was one of their favourite sires "we liked Mardi Gras calves, so much so we kept a bull calf off him to run with our lower yielding cows".

In total, Elm Tree Farm, is home to 115 youngstock of which a small proportion are sired by a Cogent Beef Visions sires each year. Helen says "Bringlee Ecstasy was one of our favourite sires that we've used, the calves were really good quality". Bringlee Ecstasy is Grand Sire to the Kelowna Jimbo sired calves pictured below.

All the calves leave the farm from the age of 10 days and go to a local suckler farmer where they are generally sold as stores or finishers. However, Doug explains "the suckler breeder is so impressed with some the calves that he is keeping the heifers as replacements for his herd".

In the last 12 months, Kelowna Jimbo and Kelowna Johnnie have been used within the herd, and have produced good quality calves. Helen explains "we would definitely use Jimbo and Johnnie again, the calves are a good shape".

Elm Tree Farm is run as a closed herd to prevent disease from entering. As Doug explains "we have been a closed herd now for the last 10 years and to get new genetics into the herd we purchase embryo's rather than buying in stock". Mr Lund then implants these embryo's into their own cows and rear them on as calves.

With Mr Lund using Beef Visions sires for several years, he and Helen have returned many calving surveys for numerous British Blue bulls. This is beneficial for Cogent's Beef Visions Programme as it means they have real data to back up the quality of proven bulls.

In the future, the Lunds are aiming to look at using Ultra Sexed Semen 4M on their best cows to produce heifers as replacements for their herd.

For more information on Cogent Beef Visions products please call one of the Cogent Team on 0800 783 7258.