Isobel 38th would probably be in my top ten list. She has has the phenotype and and also has the production to make prove herself. Shortyisqueen you picked a couple of my favorites as well. I have always thought that Green Ridge DP Mary and her daughter Mary 905 have been incredible females.When DP Mary sold as a calf in the Green Ridge sale, I was the runner up bidder and this is another regret I have had since, that I did not bite the bullet and go farther on her. She is from the same Una cow family that our former herd sire, Irish Mist comes from. I understand that DP Mary died this winter of natural causes,( I think she was 15 or 16 years old). Right at the moment, I am waiting for some embryos from Mary 905 to arrive here.
When I saw that Mark Ebling at Hi-View Ranch in Texas had actually had embryos out of 905 washed when they were collected, so that they were exportable, I bought them immediately. I am not sure why most Americans do not take the extra step and trypsin wash embryos when they are collected, as it is a simple procedure and veyr inexpensive. What this does is it makes embryos exportable to many countries. It is also a good thing herd heath wise as it has been proven that a simple washing procedure makes embryos completely sterile.... and thus they are completely disease free. This why we could still access the US market, as well as many other world markets when the US border was closed to Canadian cattle . The cost of doing this is so minimum that our ET vets do not even charge extra for doing it and it really doesn't take more than a few extra minutes to wash all the embryos from a flush. Embryos are becoming the " method of choice" for transporting genetics between countries. I have seen many embryos offered , in the US, that I would like to add to my herd, but when I have checked into them, they are not exportable.
Some of my top ten list of cows would not be house hold names to most breeders. I am often really surprised when I stumble upon a super cow, oftentimes in a small herd, and oftentimes the owner does not realize just how good this cow is. Two years ago, I made a whirlwind 3 day tour of Ontario and we must have looked through at least 20 herds. I saw some cows in some relatively unknown herds that were very impressive individuals. Occasionally, I find one that will knock another cow out of my top ten list, and take her place. I am much like Shortyisqueen, in that I also am a bit biased, but the cow pictured on my avator is one of my present day favorites. She is Prairie Lane Sparkle 1K and I found her in a herd of 11 cows less than 100 miles from my farm. She is also the dam of one of my herd bulls, Wolf Willow Major Leroy 1M x, who is now being marketed in over 100 countries by Semex. ( Semex has purchased the world rights in him). Sparkle is a tank, and resembles a Kenworth on a Volkswagon frame. She is a medium framed cow, probably at 5.5 to 5.8, yet she still weighed 1740 right off pasture the day her calf was weaned. When she is pregnant I cannot get her through my chute as she is too thick. Some really big bulls have made it through this chute. This cow alone has made me realize how important easy fleshing ability is in a cow herd. If I had 100 cows like her, keeping a cow herd would be rather simple. I know that if I had a few more cows like her, I could have a much smaller herd and still generate as much income each year. In 2007 every embryo this cow produced was sold to Scotland. She has just calved again, a week ago with a super heifer calf, and we have people lined up wanting to flush her. Right now I have 4 flushes spoken for, from the US, Canada and New Zealand.... and somewhere in here, I would like to get some embryos for myself.
Sparkle is not a show cow. What I like about her is she possesses so many traits that are important to commercial beef producers. Like Shortyisqueen's Lillian 69J cow, she can work in all parts of the industry. The picture of her was taken in late October a few days after she returned from a sale where we sold a flush in her. The reason she looks like she is clipped... is because she was. Since I put this picture on my website, I probably have had over 20 inquiries about embryos from her... which says a lot about the power of the internet.
My point is that there are more cows like this out there, and some really great cows have never had a show career or been a part of a leading breeders herd. Cows like this can be found, but it does take time as you will go through many herds before you find one. It is a lot like searching for diamonds. You have to sift through a pile of junk, but if you are persistent, you can end up with the occasional gem.