Ferme Mont Comi

The Mont Comi prefix is being awarded its third Master Breeder Title. The Ferme Mont Comi is owned by Mr. Gilles Fournier and Ms. Martine Trudel. The farm is located in St-Donat, near Rimouski, in the beautiful Bas-Saint-Laurent region. Over the past 10 years, many things happened. In 2004, their small family was already on the way: Louis-Émile was 18 months old, and Martine was pregnant with Marc-Antoine. Today, their sons are respectively 11 and 9 ½, and they provide almost daily assistance with the farm chores. Because of his health, Denis, Gilles’ brother, had to review his objectives in 2007 and finally decided in 2013 to redirect his career toward farming machinery sales. In 2010, another step was taken:  Martine became 50-50 owner with Gilles. At the end of 2012, life at the farm was disturbed. Marius, Gilles’ father, died in an accident at the farm. Marius’ premature departure and Gilles’ more progressive one forced them to make major changes to their work organisation. It took almost two years of thinking and trial and error before finding their winning formula. A third Master Breeder title, just 10 years after the first two, is the result of rigour and consistency with respect to their established breeding objectives. The typical Mont Comi cow is powerful, solid, and productive. In more specific terms, this cow lives long, often well beyond three lactations. Mont Comi cows have solid limbs, well-attached udders, an adult weight nearing 650 kg, and a production of more than 10,000 kg in their third lactation. At the Ferme Mont Comi, Gilles bases his sire selection, first and foremost, on results: results in the milk tank, in classification, and in sustainability, at their farm or elsewhere. Concretely, they use 50% of proven sires whose progenies are appreciated, and the remainder is made of young sires with pedigrees deemed strong. At their farm, most genetics suppliers are represented, but only bulls meeting their objectives are accepted. Throughout the years, the Farm has been successful at developing their market.  The sale of cows destined for milk production, especially to Holstein breeders, accounts for an increasingly growing portion of their revenues. Over the last few years, the Farm has received many high distinction certificates for their milk quality, which greatly helps with sales. At the farm, all animals are for sale, at various prices, needless to say. Gilles has a great interest for shows, although, due to lack of time, he was been away from the show rings for the past few years. During the 2000s, many banners were won by the Mont Comi herd at the Rimouski Regional Show, as well as four All-Canadian Nominations. Among their cows, Mont Comi Trident EX 92 6E 3* still has numerous high-quality descendants in the barn, including two Mont Comi Big Foot. Mont Comi Conn Kendo EX 90 3E, Mont Comi Poker Ultimate  EX 90, and Mont Comi Captain Untop Ex 90 also figure among their most inspiring cows. As for bulls, Mont Comi Shockwave, at TAG, and Mont Comi Soundwave, at Select Sires, are harbouring high hopes. Ayrshire Canada offers its most sincere congratulations to Ferme Mont Comi for its Master Breeder Award.