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AltaMERCHANT – Genetics you can TRUST
A few short years ago, he was the new kid on the block. His proof included excellent ratings for overall Type improvement especially in the Udder department. Bred from the logical combination of AltaWADE strength and exceptional udders onto the dairy frames and production ability of AltaBELLWOOD; the result, AltaMERCHANT emerged as a true Type specialist promoted from the beginning as having the ability to make that special one.
It’s been three and a half years since AltaMERCHANT burst onto the scene and today his milking daughters around the world total in the thousands. They are tall and stylish young cows, sometimes a bit immature early in first lactation, but with snugly attached udders that reflect the promise made by his early evaluation. In fact, AltaMERCHANT’s TPI rating today is essentially identical to that of November 2002, his second full evaluation. Positive feedback on his daughters is being generated all around the world, including European locales such as Germany and France. In Canada he is among the leaders for %GP and Better daughters, sporting a very pleasing 63% rating.
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Apart from the pleasing second crop proof results in the US, the special ones are also starting to emerge. One such cow is Miss Vandyk Radiant VG-88-2-yrs, EX-90 MS. Radiant is owned by Vandyk-K Holsteins, the same Lynden WA based dairy that produced the two-time Supreme Champion at World Dairy Expo, Vandyk-K Integrity Paradise EX-96 2E. Operated by Kent & Kyle Vandyk and their wives Tricia and Alison, this breeding establishment continues to generate the very marketable kind adding weight to the statement by Kent that “besides Paradise’s clone, Radiant is the most exciting young show prospect that we’ve had in a while.” |
What’s more, Radiant hails from Holstein Royalty, tracing back to none other than Roxy herself. Her dam is an EX-90 Approval out of an Integrity who was lost as a 2-yr-old to mastitis. Backing her is a Broker daughter of C Hanoverhill Tony Rae EX-96-3E, who in turn traces through Hanoverhill TT Roxette EX-94, then A Mil-R-Mor Roxette EX-90, to the infamous Glenridge Citation Roxy EX-97 4E herself. “She’s big enough to show”, states Kent, referring to this latest product of the Roxys. “Probably about 61 inches”, he continues. According to Vandyk, she will be scored again before the International Review on May 6th and her heifer calf is slated for a sale in Utah the middle of May.
Radiant pictured here early in her first lactation shows a world of promise and is the clearest demonstration yet that indeed AltaMERCHANT can get the job done. She and the many other fine AltaMERCHANT daughters out there make good on one of Alta’s key commitments: to build trust with breeders. Our congratulations are extended to the Vandyks on developing Radiant; we wish them great success with her in the coming years.
Posted Apr 4th
