Dany-Pierre Rondeau bought FARNEAR BROCADE P BUFFY at the Regancrest sale in May 2010. He explains how it came about, “Before the sale, we went to Farnear farms and had the chance to see Brocade herself.” This visit turned out to be a determining factor. “We were extremely pleased with her and she had many good looking daughters on the ground.” Rondeau gives several good reasons for why they were interested in Brocade. “We really liked the fact that she combines extreme type, high index and an irresistible sire stack. The popular bull Braxton is confirming that type is being transmitted into this family. By adding Planet to Goldwyn and Durham, we thought that was the perfect mating to increase production and healthtraits. The Barbies are a hot commodity and we are thrilled to work with arguably the hottest branch of the family.”
Set To Shine
FARNEAR BROCADE P BUFFY VG-87-2YR-CAN
With such a good start, you might expect that Buffy’s owners would rush her to market but that isn’t what has happened. “So far, we haven’t over-advertised Planet Buffy. We did sell some of her embryos as a heifer but we liked her potential so much that we wanted to have calves on the ground as fast as we possibly could. Currently, she is 2/2 with her daughter being #1 GPA LPI Windbrook and her Hill son going to Semex! Now being 87 points as 2 yr old only 64 days fresh, she is confirming her elite status and we look forward to working intensively with Planet Buffy.”
Pretty, Polished and Persistent
As she matures, Dany is quite pleased. “Planet Buffy is a youthful cow with a tremendous mammary system. She has a lot of Brocade in her, which is a good thing. She is the kind of cow that will always look good even late in the lactation. Mostly black, she has style, length and great feet and legs. Her udder is the best part about her: perfect texture with exceptional height and width and a strong median suspensory that translates into an ideal teat placement. With her strong appetite, we are confident that she will have a great persistency throughout her lactation.”
REGANCREST G BROCADE EX-92-4YR-USA
To Infinity and Beyond
Buffy is set to get lots of attention. Dany reports, “Recently, Oakfield Corners in NY sold an AltaIota heifer for 140 000$ from Buffy’s full sister. Since then, the demand has been increasing. Buffy will have her own indexes in April and more people will be aware of her unlimited potential.” In the meantime he outlines her progress. “We have used Windbrook and Hill on her. So far, the best cross has been Windbrook. Her daughter Cleroli MP Windbrook Bluffy is #1 GPA LPI Windbrook at +3155 DGV +3489 and she is also tied at #1 GTPI at +2257! Using Windbrook on Buffy was a “perfect match”, Planet has tremendous health traits and Windbrook would protect the feet and legs and adds strength. We have flushed her twice as a heifer and will start a flushing program shortly into her lactation.”
The Mating Plan? Aim Sky High!
We will decide which sires we will use after reviewing April’s proofs. We will keep an eye on milk because this is only thing we need to protect on the Barbies. Secondly, we will use bulls with great sire stacks that will help us to create the next generation of outstanding individuals with sky high indexes. Bullvine followers can provide us mating suggestions!
We will try to develop the next generation of outstanding individuals with sky high indexes.
IVF, GENOMICS — focus on the best branch available
“With technologies like IVF and genomics, it is crucial to have the best family branch available. Also, we put a huge emphasis on sire stacks and proven cow families. Furthermore, we still think conformation matters and having high scoring 2 yrs old like Planet Buffy VG 87 and Baxter Caramel VG 89 2yrs old will always remain attractive. Those 2 elite young cows will stay appealing for a longer timeframe because they proved to be outstanding individuals.
THE BULLVINE Bottom Line
“The market always wants to go faster and reduce the generation interval but at the end of the day, we are all in this business to work with cows like Planet Buffy!” Out of this world.
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