"Dynasty Mayotte is a cow we never really notice, she just gets on with the job without problems, the type that just fits in."

"I used MOET Melody over a period of time on both maiden heifers and cows, they all calved without any problems and I was fortunate to be left with 17 heifer calves. These Melody daughters are now milking in their first lactations and I am extremely pleased with their consistency and performance. When considering that their dams are all so different, the uniformity of the group is truly incredible. His daughters really stand out in the herd for their fantastic udders and tremendous legs and feet, they are so easily managed and I am really pleased with them."

"We used Melody as a reasonably priced calving ease sire. His daughters appear well balanced with good protein yield. I believe they will prove durable on our grazing/high grain system."

"Our Lookout cows are trouble free cows and blend in. The UK has been breeding for health traits a lot longer than we have here in the US and its definitely something that needs to be considered for the future. Lookout daughter 9835, has a projected ME milk of 27,800 pounds with 28,000 somatic cell count and bred on the first service. Lookout daughter 9751, is projected at 25,300 with 880 pounds of fat with a low somatic cell count score and has also bred back easily. They are medium sized cows with no health problems at all. They are the kind of cows I am looking to breed more of!"

 Steve Britton, Hellwath Herd, Yorkshire

Steve has a 225 cow herd who are fed on a TMR based diet with cows split into two groups, high and low yielders. The cows are grazed in the summer with high yielders allowed assess to the trough. "I've been a member of Cornerstone Breeding Club since it began. I became a member so that I was able to use the latest genetics and be 'ahead of the game', getting to see how daughters progress before others," said Steve.

He uses young bull semen on repeat breeders, those cows that have not held to their second service.  The most influential sires for Steve, in recent years, has been MOET Nansen and Genus Janner. Both these bulls were used initially as young sires from the Cornerstone Breeding Club. Their daughters impressed him so much that they have become the main service sires. Steve now has two MOET Nansen daughters in the herd, Alison and Helen. Both cows are scored VG, with Alison being one of the stars of the Genus ABS progeny group at the 2006 Dairy Event. Alison is actually off one of the poorer cows in Steve's herd, proving to him the strength of Nansen as a sire. But he actually prefers Helen, the other Nansen daughter, due to her greater stature and better cow family. Steve has mainly used Nansen to add power and strength to the herd. 

"One of my best milking heifers at the moment is a Riverdance daughter, a UK bull that has a promising proof. Other favourites include some of my Janner and Larky daughters," commented Steve.

Steve's future breeding aspirations are to breed for type and production to work towards more lifespan, with cows with more body and carry a bit more flesh. "Genus ABS are good to us and good to deal with offering value for money sires, which are producing daughters that are doing a good job in the herd," concluded Steve.

 Lucia Perdisa, Valletta herd, Bologna, Italy

Lucia Perdisa runs and owns the Valletta herd in Bologna, Italy. They milk 200 cows on a 200ha farm, with an average production of 11,394kgs at 3.90% fat and 3.20% protein. The milk is sold to Granarolo at an average price of 0.35 Euros/litre, which is then used to make Parmesan cheese. The ration includes mixed hay, alfalfa hay (lucerne), grass silage and corn silage.

The Valletta herd has been an ABS young sire user since 1994, mainly on problem breeder cows. Since 2003 they have been on the GMS mating programme, using 100% ABS semen. Lucia's breeding objectives are to continue to breed high yielding cows, using sires such as Bolton and Sheva to achieve their goal. The herd currently houses two of the best Sheva daughters in Italy, a result of the ABS Cornerstone Programme.

Jake and Jay Koetsier, Koetsier Dairy, Tulare, California, USA

Jake and Jay had been farming for 28 years in Chino valley, USA but in 1990 relocated to Tulare, where they expanded their herd from 800 cows to 1600 cows, with 900 followers. They have 10 employees who work with the family.
 
They have a rolling average of 24,000lbs milk, or 10,900kgs on twice daily milking, and a somatic cell count of 130. The herd is fed on a ration based on home grown winter wheat, maize and supplemented with bought alfalfa (lucerne) and purchased grain.
 
The Koetsier's have been a member of the Cornerstone Breeding Club for 12 years. After the first service, all their repeat services are AI'd with Cornerstone young sires. Jake and Jay feel confident with the sort of genetics we work with, and are pleased with the well rounded combination of US and international pedigrees.  They want to be at the cutting edge of the industry and the Cornerstone Breeding Club brings them the opportunity to use new sires with the latest genetics.