Captain breaks through £1,000 PLI barrier
The Holstein sire Genosource Captain has remained in the number one position he regained earlier this year in the young, genomic sire ranking, according to AHDB Dairy.
His ranking is emphasised as he improves his Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI) to £1,014, achieving a comfortable lead over his two sons, which take second and third place.
The PLI has been achieved by small improvements across the board. The Calf Survival (CS) ranking of 5.8 establishes Captain as a breed leader; while the 4.9 index for EnviroCow, tops the ranking for green credentials, aided by an excellent feed conversion efficiency (Feed Advantage 257).
In second place is Captain’s son from a Redrock dam, DG Peace. He has a PLI of £962, with high Predicted Transmitting Abilities (PTAs) for milk (1,025kg) and protein (41kg).
Moving up the ranking to third place is Cogent Koepon Rocky; Captain’s son from a Kenobi dam. He offers a PLI of £959. Each of the top three sires is said to score well for resistance to digital dermatitis, meaning they have above-average scores for Lameness Advantage.
New entrants make up the next six places, with Denovo 17835 Lennon-P leading the pack. He transmits high daughter Lifespan Index (+162 days) and strong daughter Fertility Index (FI 13.6), with one of the highest indexes for HealthyCow at 315.
Peak AltaSeverus takes fifth position and is another high fertility bull (FI 15.3) with a strong lifespan (LS 156) and is predicted to transmit shorter than average gestation length at -3 days.
Sixth-placed CherryPenCol HighCloud is a high fat transmitter (54.2kg) with a very favourable Lameness Advantage of 3.7, while seventh and eighth positions are taken by two full brothers – Pine-Tree Denovo Aleo (PLI £946) and Pine-Tree Denovo Avon (PLI £922).
Both are by Aladdin out of the same Legacy dam and offer very high-fat transmission for both weight (56.7kg and 59.6kg fat) and percentage (0.34% and 0.37% respectively). They also score well for Maintenance Index at -26 and -25. For Feed Advantage, Avon has the edge at 263, making him one of the best Feed Advantage sires of the breed.
In ninth place is Cookiecutter Holysmokes (PLI £915). This son of AOT Highjump is the highest type transmitter in the top 20, with a Type Merit of 1.70. Rounding off the top 10 is the Denovo 15953 Chalet son, Denovo 3709 Charter (PLI £912), with good fat transmitting abilities.
Five other bulls which feature in the top 20 are newcomers since the April evaluations. These are Bomaz Waterloo (PLI £906), Peak AltaLinguist (PLI £902), Denovo 17885 Aster (PLI £886), Bomaz Watson (PLI £885) and Peak AltaZeolite (PLI £882).
This revised top 20 gives Holstein producers plenty of scope to add new sires to their breeding strategy, with the usual caution advised to ensure there’s a divergence of bloodlines chosen amongst so many previously unknown names.
“It’s particularly important to take steps to ensure genetic diversity as so many previously unknown sires enter the market and it’s no longer realistic for most to memorise each of their pedigrees,” said Marco Winters, head of animal genetics for AHDB.
“We’d strongly recommend the use of a computer breeding program, such as our own Inbreeding Checker included in AHDB’s Herd Genetic Report. This will ensure a proposed mating does not narrow bloodlines unduly but with this proviso – and the need to spread risk by using a team of young sires rather than focussing heavily on individuals – there’s a wealth of genetic improvement to be made from these high £PLI sires.
“All of the leading bulls and many more have exceptional health, environmental and efficiency credentials, all of which will help breeders improve the welfare, sustainability and profitability of their herds,” he said.
Daughter-proven sire brings improved enviro-credentials
A new frontrunner has emerged in the daughter-proven sire ranking. Bomaz Monument-P takes this position for the first time, as the influence of his early daughters milking outside the UK begins to be felt.
These earned ABS Medley son a PLI of £785, along with high PTAs for fat (43.9kg and +0.22%), daughter Lifespan (LS +134 days) and Calf Survival (CS +3). Monument-P also has the best EnviroCow index of any proven sire, at 3.8.
This means that thanks largely to his ability to transmit high milk solids, with a strong lifespan and improved feed conversion efficiency, his daughters are predicted to create fewer greenhouse gas emissions in their lifetimes for each kilogram of solids-corrected milk they produce.
The next three places are all occupied by sons of the popular mating sire, DG Charley, who now has four sons in the top ten. The first of these is Denovo 14566 Crosby, the former frontrunner from the April run of genetic evaluations.
Now in second place with a PLI of £737, his index features strong udder health (Somatic Cell Count -25 and Mastitis -3), with breed-leading Calf Survival (CS 6.1).
Moving up to the third position is Hurtgenlea Richard Charl, with a PLI of £730. This high milk bull (PTA milk, 966kg) also features a very favourable Maintenance Index of -16. New in fourth place is Neal, the best Feed Advantage bull in the rankings with a score of 197. Neal also features a good genetic index for Digital Dermatitis, at 0.7, which helps earn him the best Lameness Advantage in the top 20, at 3.5.
Westcoast Yamaska appears in equal fifth position, his 1,183 UK daughters milking in 223 herds helping to earn him a PLI of £723. He shares this position with Riethil Summerlake, who features the best udder health data in the top 20 (SCC -30, Mastitis -4) and is the top 10’s fourth son of Charley.
Topstone is a new entry in the seventh position, with a PLI of £722. A son of Bomaz AltaTopshot (who incidentally still ranks in the top 20 himself, with 1,757 UK daughters), Topstone transmits long daughter lifespans (LS +165 days) and a short Gestation Length (-4).
Eighth and ninth places are held by bulls which were also high-fliers in the previous index run. Both are sired by De-Su 13050 Spectre and both are said to offer outstanding fat transmission, the first is ABS Zebedee (PTA fat 49.6kg), with a PLI of £706, ahead of ABS Crimson. With even higher milk solids, Crimson weighs in with PTAs of 50.9kg fat and 33.2kg protein and a PLI of £703.
The highest daughter fertility bull of the top 20 is UK-bred Stowey Magician. He rounds off the top 10 with a Fertility Index of +16.6 and a PLI of £700.
“Sires in the daughter-proven top 10 ranking come with £PLI reliabilities ranging from 70% to 97%, offering the highest level of predictability in their breeding performance,” said Mr Winters. “This provides reassurance for producers who prefer to use tried-and-tested bloodlines, which they may choose to mix with a team of high £PLI young genomic sires to make the greatest genetic gains.”
New sires for block calvers ready for the autumn
Producers calving in a block this autumn and now turning their attention to sire selection will find the Autumn Calving Index (£ACI) highlights sires most suited to their needs. At the top of this ranking is Bomaz Monument-P, who makes his debut as a proven sire.
Also leading in the separate Profitable Lifetime Index (£PLI) ranking for year-round calving herds, he is a strong contender he is across a range of UK farming systems. In particular, he offers high milk fat, long daughter lifespans and good calf survival, all of which are requirements of any successful dairy enterprise.
Monument-P’s ACI of £661 is 15 points ahead of second-placed Progenesis Wimbledon (ACI £646) who is also the leader in this month’s Spring Calving Index (£SCI) ranking. In third place is the UK-bred Holstein, Boghill Glamour Persuade (ACI £637). With ten milking daughters contributing to his index, he just qualifies for these daughter-proven rankings on early data.
VH River Ramsey moves up to fourth position, with an ACI of £634, transmitting good udder health in particular. In joint fifth position are ABS Sassafras and VH Bosman Bahrain (ACI £626), Sassafras transmitting the better milk components, while Bahrain is higher for milk volume.
Westcoast Yamaska, who led the rankings previously, is now in seventh position (ACI £616). He now has almost 1,200 UK milking daughters confirming his high fat and protein transmission.
A second UK-bred sire, Stowey Magician, now ranks in eighth position (ACI £610) and demonstrates strong daughter fertility ratings. And rounding off the top 10 are Peak AltaKlaebo who climbs to ninth position (ACI £604), and the strong lifespan transmitter, Melarry Frazz Arrowhead, now ranking 10th (ACI £592).
Spring Calving Index (£SCI)
Holstein sire Progenesis Wimbledon takes the lead in the £SCI rankings, thanks to high fat and protein percentage transmission and a significant improvement in his daughter’s Fertility Index. He now has an SCI of £557 and will shorten his calves’ gestation length – a feature often beneficial to tight block calving herds.
This pushes the previous Jersey frontrunner, VJ Ravninggaard Huus Hamlet (SCI £548) into second position. Moving up to take third place is another Jersey in the shape of VJ Groenbjerg Lobo Lobster. His SCI of £542 reflects his daughters’ high milk solids and good lifespans.
The Holstein sire, ABS Sassafras gains a few places and now ranks fourth (SCI £539), transmitting a higher milk volume than the three bulls ranking above him.
Danish Jersey VJ Zummit retains his fifth position (SCI £523), while the new Holstein £ACI and £PLI frontrunner, Bomaz Monument-P, makes his appearance in joint sixth position (SCI £522) and is one of the higher production sires in this list. Level-pegging VH Balisto Brixton has the best Lameness Advantage of the top bulls.
Another new entry in eighth place is the UK-bred Holstein, Boghill Glamour Persuade (SCI £519). VH Bosman Bahrain (SCI £515) moves up to ninth and the final new entry in the top 10 is the New Zealand-bred Jersey, Shelby Integ Labyrinth (SCI £513).
Mr Winters commented: “With both £SCI and £ACI expressed on an across-breed basis, these rankings allow those who wish to assess the strengths and weaknesses of bulls from different breeds to make ready comparisons, which is especially useful for those with crossbred herds.
“However, it’s important to note that because the figures are expressed against an across-breed average, they must not be compared with any breed-specific £PLI lists.”
Two newcomers rank high in non-Holstein rankings
The daughter fertility improver, Catlane Caleb maintains his long-held lead in the British Friesian ranking with a slight increase in his £PLI. Now at PLI £373, he also offers high milk components with PTAs of 0.26% fat and 0.16% protein. His daughter Fertility Index (FI) is 12.1, on the Friesian breed scale.
Retaining his second place is Inch Persistent (PLI £352), the highest type transmitter of the breed, with a Type Merit (TM) of 2.32. He combines this with a good index for HealthyCow, at 255.
Irish-bred Raheenarran BCG Sochar moves up one place into third position, with a PLI of £314. He now has close to 900 daughters milking in the UK and has the best genetics for Somatic Cell Count in the breed’s top 10, at -13.
Climbing to fourth is the highest milk volume transmitter, Manorpark Google (PLI £304). He stands just ahead of Catlane Cromwell, which has a PLI of £303 and a favourable Calf Survival rating of 6.2.
Jerseys
Stability at the top of the Jersey rankings sees the high milk volume River Valley Cece Chrome hold on to the top spot with a PLI of £478. His 493 UK daughters confirm his production (PTAs are 765kg milk and 57.5kg combined fat plus protein), while he also has the highest TM of the top five bulls at 2.1.
In second place is VJ Ravninggaard Huus Hamlet (PLI £447). High daughter fertility (FI 11.7) and the transmission of good overall health earn him a HealthyCow index of 213.
Danish VJ Raastrup Hihl Gislev (PLI £417) remains in the top three, while newcomer VJ Goenbjerg Lobo Lobster makes his first appearance with a PLI of £393. Lobster is a high component bull (0.39% fat, 0.23% protein) with favourable udder health (-23 SCC).
Holding on to fifth position is JX Spring Creek Marlo Stoney (PLI £371), whose green credentials – including long daughter lifespans – earn him the highest EnviroCow of 2.8.
Ayrshire
The Ayshire rankings show no change in the top three places with VR Alatalon Flame Feton retaining the number one position. He features a strong daughter Fertility Index (17) and a PLI of £480. Feton is followed in second and third by VR Gobel (PLI £422) and VR Vilano (PLI £416).
Both bulls offer favourable environmental credentials with EnviroCow indexes of 2.7 and 2.6 respectively.
New in fourth place is genomics graduate VR Viljar Vilperi (PLI £374). He confirms his genomic predictions as a good milk components sire (PTA fat at +0.18% and protein at +0.15%) which he combines with good daughter fertility (FI 14).
As he did in the previous, April, proof run, VR Fabu rounds off the top five. He transmits long daughter lifespans (+156 days) and has a PLI of £332.
Mr Winters offered the usual reminder when it comes to selecting bulls from the non-Holstein breeds. He says: “Please remember the indexes of one breed cannot be compared with another in the £PLI rankings, as each animal’s index is expressed against its own breed average, or base.”
However, breeds can be compared using either of the across-breed indexes (Autumn and Spring Calving Index) which are published in a separate ranking and particularly useful in crossbreeding herds.
