Clydebank Allen Leonie’s youngest daughter, Clydebank Dempsey Leonie EX-90: Her three milking daughters are all scored VG and include a VG-88 Cogent Superstyle owned by R&J Gordon.
Two cows from the Lass family at Clydebank – the three-quarter sisters Gay Lass EX and Gay Lassie VG-88 – both rank among the top-10 star-brood-cows of the breed in Australia. Family member Clydebank Allen Leonie EX-94 was named as Australia’s Cow of the Year for 2022, adding her name to a list of previous winners that includes Somerelle Leader Lassco EX-91, who claimed the title almost a decade ago. Success grows where ever the Lass family goes.
DOUG SAVAGE
The 300-cow Clydebank herd at Timmering, near Rochester, Victoria, about 2 hours north of Melbourne, is owned by Ross and Linda Somerville. Over the years their sons Brad (Melaleuca Holsteins), Tim (True Blue Holsteins), Dale and daughter Brooke (prominent photographer) have also been strongly involved at Clydebank. Many of the leading members of the herd today trace back to foundation females purchased from the famous Andes herd of Howard Smith. ‘We purchased 10 older cows from Andes in 1976, and among those was the Whynot family that has done well for us,’ explains Ross. ‘Then the following year we returned and purchased the heifers Rose Lass and Rosebloem and they became the base for the leading families of our herd. Over the years the best cows in our herd have usually been the result of combining those two lines.’
FOUNDATION
In addition to these foundation females, the bull Andes Starlite 3rd, a son of Roybrook Starlite, had a major impact on the Clydebank breeding program. ‘There has probably been no other bull that has done as much for us,’ comments Ross. ‘He was the bull that gave us the platform to build on.’ Indeed, two daughters of Starlite 3 became super brood cows, with both from the Lass family. Clydebank Gay Lassie VG-88, a 29-star brood cow, was out of Andes Rose Lass 5th EX, while Clydebank Gay Lass EX, with 40 stars, was out of a daughter of Rose Lass 5th. Both cows would earn a place among the top-10 star-brood-cows in the country, with the 40-stars for Gay Lass earning her time as Australia’s Nr.1 brood cow. ‘The typical member of the Lass family has a wide muzzle, good depth of rib, and good strength throughout,’ explains Ross. ‘Like a lot of the Andes bloodlines we started with, they don’t usually make our biggest records as 2-year-olds but steadily improve year after year and become our best older cows. That’s exactly the kind of cow we prefer, a cow that has the strength to handle the stress of our variable climate and extreme temperatures in the summer. Grazing is the most profitable way to make milk under our conditions so we try to breed a cow with a wide muzzle that is best suited to converting pasture into milk.’
The Australian Cow of the Year 2022, Clydebank Allen Leonie EX-94. In addition to being a top brood cow she was also one of the top producers in the herd with a record of 13,514kg/29,793lb 3.4% fat 3.0% protein.
LONGIVITY
A good example of the longevity of the Lass family came with the naming of the 2015 Australian Cow of the Year, when the 18-year-old Somerelle Leader Lassco EX-91 took the title. The Somerelle herd, also at Timmering in Victoria, is owned by Ross’s brother Scott Somerville and wife Nirelle. They bred the white Comestar Leader daughter from a VG-88 Prelude out of Clydebank Gay Lass. Lassco had 8 classified daughters, including a 92-point Rich-Ro Mark Sam, three EX Talent daughters, and an 89 Stormatic. Lassco also produced the EX Stormatic son Somerelle Laser, who was used at Somerelle as well as some other herds.
ICON
The transmitting power of Clydebank Gay Lass again came to the fore in 2022 when another descendant Clydebank Allen Leonie EX-94 became Australia’s Cow of the Year. ‘Canyon-Breeze Allen was a bull that worked really well for us. We had 6 EX Allen’s in the herd, and they were outstanding cows with a number becoming great brood cows too,’ comments Ross. Allen Leonie is from an EX Storm that traces back another 5 generations to Gay Lass. Although Allen Leonie is gone now, she was the icon of the herd for a number of years and the legacy she leaves behind includes 5 EX daughters.
CHAMPIONS
The Somerville’s do not do a lot of showing though the Lass family has certainly provided their share of successes. Allen Leonie and her highest scored daughter Clydebank Braxton Leonie EX-93 have both been Grand Champion at the Rochester show, as was the foundation cow Gay Lass: Three generations of champions from the Lass family! The Somerville’s do compete regularly in the prestigious On-Farm Challenge competition where Allen Leonie also had success winning the mature cow class for the North-West sub-branch in 2011 and again in 2013. At the Holstein Australia Centenary Sale in 2014 her 15-month-old daughter Clydebank Shottle Leona sold as the top priced animal for $12,750. Leona was purchased by Brent & Kim Mitchell of Mitch Holsteins at Bamawm, Victoria, and has now gone on to score EX-90. A group of young daughters out of the Shottle in the Mitch herd include an 87-point Dempsey and an 87 Deceiver. The Somerville’s also have another EX Shottle, Clydebank Shottle Leonie, as well as another daughter Clydebank Gillespy Leonie EX-91. The youngest daughters of Allen Leonie are a pair of Dempsey’s, with one now scored EX-90 and the other VG-85.
SUCCESSFUL SIRE
In addition to the successful daughters, Allen Leonie also produced the bull Clydebank LeDamion EX-93 (<Damion), who has proven to be a very successful sire at Clydebank and in a number of other herds. ‘He would probably rank along with Allen and Andes Starlite 3rd as our favorite bulls over the years,’ comments Ross. ‘We do try to use the best bulls available in the breed, but we are also not afraid to make use of our own bulls too. It works out that most of the time our best old cows are sired by our own bulls. With bulls from your own breeding, you know a lot more about them and so have a better idea on how to make best use of them. That’s how we have bred many of our best, long-lasting, and most-profitable cows.’ l
Clydebank Gillespy Leonie EX-91: One of 5 EX daughters from Clydebank Allen Leonie EX-94.
