Meet Darlin-D Denim 3967

By: Morgan Kliebenstein, Genex Dairy Procurement Specialist

Meet Darlin-D Denim 3967, she is just one of the nearly 3,000 or so cows currently being milked at GENESIS Cooperator Herd, Dykstra Dairy, in Maurice, Iowa. Most days, you wouldn’t notice this 1HO10218 DENIM daughter, as she goes about her business eating, drinking, lounging and doing other normal cow stuff. As low-maintenance as she is, having no health events, and being a medium-framed, correctly-built, functional cow, she just doesn’t stand out… 

But that’s what makes her so great! 

If you were to look at her cow card on the dairy’s DairyComp305, you’d walk away never forgetting her. That’s because you’d see the epitome of the ideal commercial cow. Not only did 3967 calve in at just 2-0, but she then proceeded to get flushed several times, breed back with only one service and continued on to have a stellar lactation. At 340 DIM, she is on track to make 30,000 lb of very high quality Milk with an average of 4.4% Fat, 3.2% Protein and only 63,000 SCC, all of it done without taking any sick days! Not only does this cow look good on paper, but her solid functionality, great udder and modest frame earned her a final score of GP-84 on classification day. After hearing all of this, you shouldn’t be surprised to learn that 3967 is genomic tested at +$841 ICC, proving that the Ideal Commercial Cow index truly does promote profitable, healthy, trouble-free cows with functional type. Owner Darin Dykstra is one of her biggest fans: “She really is the ideal cow for a commercial herd. She has high components, a great udder, feet, and legs, and was bred back on the first service. What more could you want?”  We here at Genex agree.

Important Darlin-D Denim 3967 facts:

• +$841 ICC, +$685 LNM
• Nine daughters averaging +$735 ICC
• Denim x Freddie x Clover (100% Genex breeding)
• Clover grandam made over +140,000 Milk in her lifetime
• Calved in at 2-0
• Took one service to get pregnant
• No health events (i.e. never had to be treated, was never lame, no calving issues)
• Only one test (her first) over 100,000 SCC
• 340 DIM and has made +29,290 Milk +1288 Fat and +933 Protein (only one test under 4.0% fat)