A tie for the number one position and three new entrants to the top 10 indicate the vibrancy in the Profitable Lifetime Index (£PLI) ranking for young genomic Holstein sires, which is published today (13 August 2019) by AHDB Dairy.
The Denovo prefix – a joint creation between ABS Global and De-Su Holsteins – starts as it goes on, taking equal first place and featuring five times in the top 10.
Their number one bull is Denovo 8084 Entity, who moves up from sixth position in the April 2019 listing and features a massive Predicted Transmitting Ability for fat of 48.4kg alongside the expected superb daughter health and fertility traits which are characteristic of the high £PLI bulls. Other highlights of this Triplecrown JW Matters son are his transmission of excellent calf survival (+2.7) and maternal calving ease (+2), meaning his daughters are predicted to be easy calving.
Tying in first position is Bomaz AltaCabot, denting Genus’s domination of the top 10. This son of Bomaz AltaTopshot also transmits high fat (44.7kg) and good maternal calving ease (+2.1), while excelling in udder health (-28 SCC and -4 Mastitis) and Lameness Advantage (+2.8).
The PLI of these joint number one bulls is £871.
Holding their places in the top five are De-Su 14673 Appeal (PLI £864) and Denovo 7921 Atrium (PLI £863). With a Type Merit of +2.5, Appeal ranks as the highest type sire in the top 20 and has impressive daughter fertility (+12.8). Atrium also transmits very good fertility (+11.9) and has an outstanding Maintenance score at -12. Both are sons of ABS Achiever.
In equal fifth place is another Achiever son, Denovo Invictus (PLI £860). Born in the UK, Invictus is a new entry in the top 10 and, like his paternal half-brothers, has a good maintenance score, meaning daughters have lower maintenance costs for feed. His Lifespan Index is +0.7, indicating a seven-month, or 213-day longer lifespan than a zero-rated lifespan bull.
Sharing fifth place is the UK-bred Boghill Glamour Persuade, the highest protein transmitter in the top 10 at +34.8kg. He also features the second highest top 10 daughter Fertility Index at +13.3 and has a favourable Lameness Advantage of +2.5.
Denovo 15158 Admiral (PLI £853) is a newcomer in seventh position and is out of a Yoder dam from the well-known Ammon-Peachey Shauna brood cow. Admiral is the highest weight of fat transmitter in the top 20 at 49.1kg (+0.17%).
Also making his debut is eighth-ranking Melarry Frazz Arrowhead (PLI £848), a son of Frazzled, whose solid production transmission is complemented by low daughter maintenance costs (-10), exceptionally low cell counts (-31) and the best daughter fertility in the top 10 (+13.9).
Sharing eighth position is Denovo 14566 Crosby, who retains his top 10 position with the highest weight of milk, at 1,027kg, in this group. His PLI of £848 reflects his daughters’ predicted low cell counts (-28) and the best Lameness Advantage (+3.2) in the top 10.
Rounding off the top 10 is the Danish-bred, VH Bosman Bahrain, whose PLI of £844 reflects low maintenance costs (-16), solid production and health and fitness across the board.
Highlights outside the top 10 include 11thranking newcomer Bomaz Monument-P (PLI £842), a son of Medley and joint highest lifespan improver at +0.8; UK-bred Glamour Boghill Victor, maternal bother to the number five sire, Boghill Glamour Persuade (PLI £835); and finally the newly released Bryhill H-Noon Laval (PLI £833) who transmits the highest daughter fertility in the top 20 at an impressive +16.
“A good number of new entrants within this list indicates the level of investment being made in the Holstein genetics industry and the remarkable success which can be achieved when breeders and businesses combine their forces and focus their efforts,” says Marco Winters, head of animal genetics for AHDB Dairy.
“The qualities of these, and other high-ranking bulls, bring untold opportunities to UK breeders, not only by offering PTAs for fat approaching 50kg, but complementing this with unprecedented improvements in health and fertility.
“I would remind producers who were wary of using Holstein genetics before the advent of health and fitness indexes, that the breed today has much to select from, and – with modern breeding tools at our disposal – offers unprecedented scope for genetic improvement in health and fertility as well as production.”
Viking incursion breaches US stronghold
In a brand-new ranking dominated by US genetics, the Danish-bred Viking bull, VH Balisto Brook, rises to the top, graduating from the young sire genomic ranking with early milking daughters.
Published today (13 August 2019) by AHDB Dairy, Brook’s Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI) of £794 is the highest of the available proven bulls and reflects the high fat and protein percentages in his Predicted Transmitting Ability (PTA), at +0.23% and +0.12% respectively. He combines this with breed-leading udder health figures (-40 SCC, -5 Mastitis), reflecting the significant emphasis placed on these traits over many years in the Nordic countries.
Also graduating from the genomic young sire ranking is the new entry in second place, Bomaz AltaTopshot (PLI £766). This Cogent Supershot son transmits high production figures with 1,187kg milk and 71.2kg combined fat and protein.
The familiar name of Co-op Robust Cabriolet features in third place, now with 684 UK daughters contributing to his production figures. He excels in calf survival (+4.2), Lameness Advantage (+4.2) and maintenance index (-21), earning him a PLI of £755 at a reliability of 95%, the highest in the top 10.
Former number one sire, Larcrest Commend, now ranks fourth in this elite group of bulls, with a PLI of £752. With over 100 UK daughters, he transmits high milk solids at 0.20% fat and 0.18% protein.
New in fifth place is the Mr Mogul Delta son, Siemers Bloomfield, a high daughter Fertility Index bull (+13.1) with good calf survival (+4.1) and long daughter lifespans (+0.7). His PLI is £749 and Type Merit of +2.6 is the second highest in the top 10.
Sixth ranking View-Home Littlerock maintains a top-10 position with a PLI of £719, as his UK daughter numbers rise to 124.
German-bred Mocon retains seventh position (PLI £715) while eighth ranking De-Su 12147 Allstar is propelled into the top 10 as 111 more UK milking daughters contribute to his PTAs. This son of Balisto (one of four in the top 10) features a massive 40.3kg protein, to help earn him a PLI of £714.
Ninth placed Cookiecutter Harper (PLI £713) is a former top 10 sire, while the Mogul son, EDG Rubicon rounds off the top 10. A massive 52.6kg fat (78.4kg fat plus protein) helps to earn him a PLI of £709. With +3.26 points for type, he is also the highest Type Merit sire in the top 10.
Just outside the daughter-proven top 10, newcomer, AOT Silver Helix may cause a stir, with a breed-leading 88.2kg fat plus protein, while some serious daughter fertility improvements can be expected from the highest FI bulls in the top 25. These bulls – Teemar Shamrock Alphabet (PLI £682) and S-S-I Mogul Multiply (PLI £676) – have Fertility Indexes of +19.6 and +19.1 respectively.
Commenting on the proven bulls, Marco Winters, head of animal genetics for AHDB Dairy, says: “Every one of these daughter-proven bulls has graduated at some point from the young sire genomic ranking, each bull helping to build confidence in the UK and international dairy sire proving systems.
“Producers who choose to keep a few, high-ranking, daughter-proven bulls amongst their service sires can do so in the knowledge that these sires have a reliable track record. But they also serve as a reminder that genomic evaluations are proving their value, as one tranche of young sires follows the next into the proven rankings.”
Crushabull keeps pressure on top type bulls
OH-River-SYC Crushabull remains the top type bull in the UK with +4.16 Type Merit at 56% reliability. He is a son of Marverick Crush out of the Mogul daughter, OH-River-SYC-Mogal Brylan.
Now in second place is Siemers Lambda HANIKO (Lambda x Monterey) at 4.06 TM (54% Rlb).
The full brother of the top bull, COL DG Crushtime is next at +3.94 TM(56% reliability).
Another Crush son, this time out of a Beemer dam, Calori-D CS Crush Pileup is next with 3.92 TM.Two long-term high-ranking bulls are next; Stantons Applicable at +3.85 and Wilt Emilio (+3.84).
Top among UK born bulls are two youngsters bred in the Relough herd in Northern Ireland, Drafter and Carlos at 3.34 and 3.05 TM respectively.
Daughter proven sires
Delaberge Pepper (Mogul x Planet) remains the leader among UK daughter proven sires with +3.97 overall Type Merit at 92% reliability. This excellent all-rounder now has 121 UK classified daughters in his type proof. Pepper is a big improver for mammary, legs & feet and body traits.
Second in this category and now with 21 UK daugthters is Bovo Bomba, an Italian Doorman son, with 3.96 TM at 79% reliability.
Moving up to third is Luck-E Absolute AWESOME-RED, at 3.68 TM and 84% Rlb.
Willsbro Abbott is still the best UK bred proven bull at +3.25 TM and 88% Rlb.
