Earlier this year, members of the Cogent salesforce embarked on an extraordinary journey to the United States, joined by some of our key accounts and prospects. The group had the privilege of exploring the cutting-edge facilities of our parent company, ST Genetics. Hear from Genetic Consultant Richard Pearce, about his experience across the pond.
'The journey served as a valuable opportunity to witness the product advancements and gain insights into the continued growth trajectory of our field.’ Richard commented. He added that ‘the tour also got the group thinking about all the ways producers can grow and improve, prompting them to implement necessary changes to mirror the success of the businesses they observed and learned from’.
Among the trip's standout moments was the visit to prominent partner herds associated with ST, notably Genosource, Farnear and San-Dan Holsteins. These stops provided a firsthand look at the impressive progeny of renowned sires such as Miami, Hardball, and the iconic Captain. The team gained valuable insights into the internal breeding programme that has solidified ST Genetic’s reputation in recent years.
A pivotal aspect of the journey was the exploration into the heart of the EcoFeed program, with a dedicated day spent at the state-of-the-art Ohio Heifer Center. This allowed our team to witness firsthand the sheer size of data collection efforts, and the innovative research methodologies that are feeding into the EcoFeed index .
The journey was capped off with a visit to the Fon Du Lac Stud, showing the team the world class facilities including the vast sorting labs and bull barns. They even had the opportunity to get a snap with the great Genosource Captain himself.
'To see a legendary bull like Captain in the flesh was a personal highlight, as he is an individual who is having a huge impact on my customer's herds' added Richard.
The impact of the trip extended beyond enriching the knowledge base of the team; it spurred one customer to take actionable steps. Inspired by what they witnessed, the customer opted to complete embryo work on one of their elite females, mating to Captain and Thorson. Subsequently these embryos were implanted into lower-ranked cows identified through PrecisionDNA and PrecisionMAP. Thus allowing the customer to maximise the genetic progress over a single generation, demonstrating further applications of the Ultimate Breeding Strategy.
‘In its entirety, the trip unfolded as a truly enlightening experience. From marvelling at the awe-inspiring sights of the EcoFeed program, to delving deep into diverse breeding decisions surrounding top-tier genetics within the internal breeding programme, every moment proved to be an eye-opener.’
‘This trip not only expanded our horizons but also kindled a renewed dedication to our mission at Cogent. The firsthand exposure to the groundbreaking research and development at STGenetics left an indelible mark. This further reinforced the value of the acquisition made in 2017, boosting our ability to provide producers with innovative solutions to their daily operations.’
If you are interested in applying the Cogent Difference in your business, contact your local genetic consultant.