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Canadian cow Miranda wins Global Holstein Cow of the Year

Dave Eastman from Validity Genetic Testing was very excited recently in sharing the news that a cow that he has been involved with from conception to the current day, was recently named Global Holstein Cow of the Year.

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Dave Eastman from Validity Genetic Testing was very excited recently in sharing the news that a cow that he has been involved with from conception to the current day, was recently named Global Holstein Cow of the Year.

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Of special excitement for Eastman is that Calbrett Kingboy Miranda P is the first polled cow to win this worldwide competition that has been taking place since 2005.

A long-time proponent of polled genetics, this win is a validation that these targeted genetics are starting to excel, he said. Another polled cow from Germany was in second place this year, in the competition.

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Third place was a cow bred and owned by Stanton Brothers from Ilderton.

Miranda P was bred by Canadian breeders Cormdale Genetics, Silvercap Holsteins, Al — Be — Ro Land and Cattle, plus Agriber Societa Agricole SRL in Italy.

She sold as a nine-month-old calf in 2015 for $34,000 to the Vogue Cattle Company in Brighton, which bred and sold several polled sires that have had a huge impact throughout the world.

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In March 2021 Miranda P was purchased by livestock photographer Patty Jones of Silvercap Holsteins at Puslinch, and Dr Adam Haight of Braemar Holsteins in St Mary’s.

The only other Canadian-bred and owned cows to win this competition over the past 16 years were two from Braedale Farms and one from Ferme Gillette, both eastern Ontario herds.

The competition, hosted by the European based magazine Holstein International, has a unique judging methodology. A list of 10 cows from around the world is drawn up and ranked by voters.

That tabulation is split evenly, 50/50, between two selected judges and the readers voting.

The two judges this year were Mark Comfort from Select Sires, based in eastern Ontario, and Francesco Veronese, a sire analyst from Italy. They do not have to come to a consensus, and did not this year, but their rankings, combined with the reader rankings, are calculated to produce a winner.

But what is agreed on by everyone is the criteria to make that list and eventually choose a winner.

Comfort stated in Holstein International that the cows have to be, “breed changers that give the breed new momentum.” This influence also has to be spread over a number of cow populations around the world, he said.

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