Butterfat, Brood Stars, EX-95, or Excellent Daughters? Pick the 2026 Holstein Canada Cow of the Year

Holstein Canada’s 2026 Cow of the Year: four finalists, one crown, one vote per prefix.

One posted a 440 fat BCA. One has 36 brood stars. One is an EX-95 born from a $20,000 hunch. One has six Excellents from her 11 classified daughters.

Each finalist leads the field on a different measure, and each has a second record behind it.

• Boulet Gold Chip Colly EX-93-4E 11*: all 15 classified daughters are VG or EX.
• Garondale Goldwyn Conny EX-94-4E 36*: two of her daughters have gone Excellent six times.
• Belfast Goldwyn Lasenza EX-95-3E 33*: 124,961 kg of lifetime milk, the most in the field.
• Lovhill Jacot Apple Pie EX-92-3E 6*: five straight generations of her family at EX-92 or better.

Holstein Canada will name one of them its 2026 Cow of the Year. Voting closes February 26, 2027. Members vote on the Cow of the Year page by logging in to their member web account and clicking the Cow of the Year banner. Each prefix or client ID gets one vote.

Between them, the four have produced 418,160 kg of milk and 140 classified daughters, all Good Plus or better. Lasenza and Conny were also finalists in 2022.

Boulet Gold Chip Colly EX-93-4E 11*

440 fat BCA. 5.1% fat. 17,782 kg in 305 days. Colly’s lactation as a 6-year-old

Born: March 7, 2014 Sire: Mr Chassity Gold Chip-ET EX-94 
Dam: Boulet Windbrook Cloty VG-85 6* 
Bred by:Ferme Yveclair Inc. and Tailliage de Sabot GF, Sainte-Luce, QC, and Ferme Boulet Inc. (Master Breeder), St. François de la Rivière du Sud, QC 
Owned by: Wenallt Holsteins Inc., Crysler, ON

As a 6-year-old on twice-a-day milking, Colly made 17,782 kg of milk in 305 days at 5.1% fat. That earned a 440 fat BCA and finished 129 fat points over her herdmates. She’s a butterfat factory.

She has seven completed lactations, the most of any finalist, totalling 100,802 kg at 4.8% fat. No other finalist’s lifetime test comes within half a point of hers. She also holds three Superior Lactations and Longtime 100,000 kg status.

All 15 of her classified daughters are VG or EX, with 5 Excellent and 10 Very Good. Bonaccueil Candy Apple Crisp, the top scorer, is EX-93-3E, the same score as Colly. As a group, her classified daughters average 13,814 kg of milk on a mature-equivalent basis.

Three Breeders, One Butterfat Factory

Ferme Yveclair, Tailliage de Sabot and the Master Breeder herd at Ferme Boulet bred her together. Her sire, Gold Chip, is a Goldwyn son. Her maternal granddam is Boulet Goldwyn Chalou EX-96-3E 30*, and her dam is by Gillette Windbrook, out of Gillette Blitz 2nd Wind 74*.

She won the Junior Three-Year-Old class at Belle Chasse in 2017, then went on to Reserve Intermediate Champion and Honourable Mention Grand at the same show. After moving to Wenallt Holsteins in Ontario, she placed third in the five-year-old class at Stormont in 2019.

Why Colly Deserves Your Vote: Components & Consistency

• 4.8% lifetime fat, half a point clear of the field
• A 440 fat BCA in a single 305-day record
• Seven lactations, one more than any other finalist
• No classified daughter below VG

Garondale Goldwyn Conny EX-94-4E 36*

“Endowed with high fertility, she has an incredible ability to transmit her genetics.” Alain Garon, Ferme Garondale, 2023

Born: November 6, 2008 Sire: Braedale Goldwyn 
Dam: Rejoga Dundee Connie EX-92-3E 17* 
Bred by: Rejean Garon, St. Denis, QC 
Registered owner: Ferme Garondale, Saint-Denis-de-la-Bouteillerie, QC

Conny has 36 brood stars and 59 classified daughters, and both counts lead the field. Of her 81 registered progeny, every classified daughter is GP or better, including 16 Excellents.

Garondale Airintake Canelle and Garondale Aftershock Conick have each gone Excellent six times. Thirteen of her 16 Excellent daughters have been classified Excellent more than once. Fifty-seven daughters average 13,020 kg of milk on a mature-equivalent basis.

She’s EX-94 four times over herself, with a 96 for Mammary System. Over six lactations she made 101,432 kg at 4.3% fat, and her best came at age six: 16,296 kg in 305 days, 86 fat points over herdmates.

A Legacy of Longevity

She calved a sixth time at 10 years 5 months and gave nearly 20,000 kg in that lactation. Four generations of brood cows stand behind her: her dam, Rejoga Dundee Connie 17*; her granddam, Boulet Juror Chandler 10*; and her great-granddam, Boulet Aerostar Chanel 23*.

Kamouraska named her Grand Champion in 2017. Two years earlier she was Reserve Grand there and won the Mature Cow class. Also in 2017, she placed fifth in Longtime Production at the Royal and was named Reserve All-Quebec Longtime Production.

The Case for Conny: The Ultimate Brood Queen

• 36 brood stars and 59 classified daughters, both the most in the field
• A finalist again after 2022

Members who have already chosen can vote now on the Cow of the Year page. Voting closes February 26, 2027.

Belfast Goldwyn Lasenza EX-95-3E 33*

“When I woke up in the morning I was still thinking about her, so I wrote a check to Lylehaven for $20,000.” Julien Chabot, Mary Inn Holstein, on buying Lasenza’s dam

Born: June 3, 2011 
Sire: Braedale Goldwyn 
Dam: Lylehaven Durham Lekysya-ET EX-92 5* 
Bred by: Belfast Holstein ENR (Master Breeder), Saint-Patrice-de-Beaurivage, QC, and Mary Inn Holstein, Embrun, ON 
Owned by: Belfast Holstein ENR

Alex Chabot claimed Lasenza as her 4-H heifer in 2012. That summer, Lasenza was named All-Canadian 4-H Summer Yearling and Reserve All-Canadian Summer Yearling in the open contest. She calved in May 2013, and that fall she won both the All-Canadian and the All-American Junior Two-Year-Old titles. She went from a 4-H project to national honours in two countries within about a year.

Her lifetime total is 124,961 kg of milk, or nearly 125 tonnes, plus 5,398 kg of fat. Both lead the field. She holds Longtime 120,000 kg status. Her EX-95 rests on a 97 for Dairy Strength, 95 for Mammary System, 94 for Feet & Legs and 93 for Rump.

For most of her career Lasenza was in the embryo program, calving about every two years. Her fifth lactation began at 10 years 1 month and ran 1,399 days, producing 34,206 kg at 5.1% fat.

The $20,000 Hunch That Paid Off

At the Big E in 2008, Julien Chabot of Mary Inn kept coming back to an October Durham calf in the Lylehaven string. He bought her, and his brother Robert, of Belfast, took half. She grew up to be Lekysya EX-92, Lasenza’s dam.

Lasenza was a Belfast favourite with a pleasant demeanour. In their words, she was a “no project” cow that never had a problem with mastitis or her feet.

Of her 75 registered progeny, 55 are classified daughters, all GP or better: 16 EX, 23 VG and 16 GP. Belfast Doorman Lavender is EX-94-5E, one point below her dam. Belfast Doorman Lovestruck, another of Alex’s 4-H calves, was Champion Calf at the Canadian 4-H Classic.

The Case for Lasenza: Lifetime Volume & Show-Ring Pedigree

• EX-95, the highest classification in the field
• 23,529 kg more lifetime milk than the next-highest finalist
• All-Canadian and All-American Junior Two-Year-Old in the same year
• 55 classified daughters, led by Lavender EX-94-5E

Lovhill Jacot Apple Pie EX-92-3E 6*

6 Excellent daughters from 11 classified. The youngest finalist in the field. Apple Pie’s daughter record

Born: June 1, 2018 
Sire: Jacot-Red 
Dam: Ms Apple Arusha-ET EX-92-3E 4* 
Bred and owned by: Crestomere Holsteins, AB; Charlyn Farms, ON; Lovholm Holsteins, SK

At 8, Apple Pie has made 90,965 kg of milk and 4,011 kg of fat over five lactations. Her record includes three Superior Lactations, a Super 3 and Longtime 80,000 kg status.

Six of her 11 classified daughters are Excellent and the other five are VG. That 55% EX rate is the highest in the field. Mirand has worked best on her so far, with four of her five classified Mirand daughters scoring Excellent.

Five straight generations of her family have classified EX-92 or better, and no other finalist’s line can match that. It starts with her third dam, Kamps-Hollow Altitude EX-95, then runs through KHW Regiment Apple-Red EX-96-4E DOM 43*, her dam Arusha, Apple Pie herself and her daughter Lovhill Mirand Peach Pie EX-92-2E. At 8, she has already carried the Apple-Red line through two more generations.

Nearly every daughter carries a pie or apple name, from Peach Pie and Pecan Pie to Pumpkin Pie, Popcorn Pie, Candy Apple and Apple Sauce. Spot one on a show card or in a sale catalogue and you know the family. That’s built-in brand recognition for the Apple-Red line.

The Three-Province Partnership

Lee Simanton runs Crestomere Holsteins in Alberta. Sandy Kingdon runs Charlyn Farms in Ontario with her husband, John. Jess Lovich runs Lovholm Holsteins in Saskatchewan with her husband, Michael. The three siblings own Apple Pie together, and several of her daughters, along with her son Lovhill Arrow, are registered to all three herds.

The siblings grew up at Crestomere with Acme Star Lily, their parents’ three-time Royal Grand Champion and the 1998 World Dairy Expo Grand Champion. Since then, Lovholm has bred two more Madison Grand Champions under the Lovhill prefix that Apple Pie carries.

The Case for Apple Pie: Youth, Depth and the Apple-Red Line

• A 55% Excellent rate, 22 points above the next-best finalist
• Six Excellents from 11 classified daughters, with eight more still to be scored
• Five straight generations of EX-92 or better on her maternal line
• Junior Champion at the 2019 Alberta Dairy Congress Red & White Show

The Four Finalists at a Glance

To qualify, a finalist must be Canadian-bred and classified at least 92 points, and must meet minimum thresholds for lifetime milk, fat and brood cow stars.

Lobby for Your Queen

Members: voting closes February 26, 2027, on the Cow of the Year page. Log in to your web account and click the Cow of the Year banner. Each prefix or client ID gets one vote. The winner will be recognized during the National Holstein Convention in Brantford, April 20–24, 2027.

Non-members: post your pick in the comments, along with the one stat that decided it.

Continue the Story

• Rotaly Goldwyn Allegria EX-96 5E 5 Crowned 2024 Holstein Canada Cow of the Year* – Every contender chases a ghost. Walk a parallel path with the 2024 champion, Allegria, who synthesized extreme production with a flawless EX-96 frame. This is the historic blueprint today’s finalists are measured against when battling for the crown.
• Apple-Red Makes History: The First Red Holstein with Over 100 EX Daughters – Apple Pie’s elite pedigree didn’t materialize by accident. Dig into the staggering legacy of her granddam to understand the massive market forces and aggressive breeding vision that built the most dominant Red & White maternal empire on earth.
• Lovholm Holsteins: The Only Farm to Breed 2 World Dairy Expo Holstein Champions Milks 72 Cows in Tie-Stalls – Step inside the barn with Apple Pie’s Saskatchewan co-breeders. See how a stubborn, radical belief in cow sense over genomic fads built a tie-stall dynasty, and meet the three daughters carrying this gritty philosophy forward.

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