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Pen-Col Drew – a “we-like” story
by Mike Menendez
Have you ever heard of a “we-like” bull? You know, the kind of bull that dairymen can’t get enough of? They can’t stop talking about how much they like the daughters of this bull, no matter what his latest proof says or how his pedigree reads; they would milk a whole herd of them. Alta Genetics has always led the industry in offering “we-like” bulls to our customers. Jed, Astre, Luke, Grand, Bellwood, Mandel, Formation and Boss are just a few of the names that come to mind. Well, Pen-Col Drew was created by combining two more “we-like” Alta bulls: Zee-Cal Commotion and Dixie-Lee Aaron.
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Drew is sired by Aaron (a “we-like” giant!) and from Pen-Col Commotion Deanna, one of my favorite Commotion daughters of all-time. Scored VG-86 as a two year old, Deanna was a silky young cow with tremendous udder attachments and nearly perfect feet and legs. But she was not very big and she ran down hill and I wasn’t sure she would have enough frame to be a bull mother. Boy, was I wrong! During her first lactation, Deanna grew at a staggering rate and, suddenly, size was no longer an issue; I needed a son from this cow. She went on to score EX-91 and made her best record of 36,000 of milk and 4.8% fat when she was five years old. I had the opportunity to take our Product Development team to see the Pen-Col herd during one of our regular meetings and the crowd favorite was Deanna. A “we-like” cow? You bet! |
Commotion Deanna was out of Pen-Col Mascot Deanna, also EX-91 with a lifetime 3.4% true protein. She also was a medium-sized heifer that developed into a massive cow later in life. Her dam was Pen-Col Cleitus Dawn, then Bell Dream, Conductor Devine, Wayne Deena and Elevation Destiny, all great brood cows of their day for the Pen-Col herd. It’s easy to see why Commotion Deanna was a great individual and why Drew is sure to sire the next generation of “we-like” cows.
Drew offers solid production with plus components, is good for health traits and is calving ease. He also has pleasing type numbers and a good linear, being especially potent for udder cleft and teat placement, a Commotion specialty (does “money traits” come to mind?). And he is highly reliable with 149 daughters already on his first proof. Protect Drew on strength but expect his daughters to grow quickly during their first lactation, just like Commotion Deanna. And then get ready to tell your Alta rep how much “we-like” the Drew daughters!
Posted Mar 4th
