Archive for BERTAIOLA MINCIO

12 Sires to Use in Order to Reduce Inbreeding

top13of2013Inbreeding, and more importantly its consequences, has long been a concern of breeders as it reduces production, lowers fertility, results in more stillbirths and leads to fewer days in the herd.  When genomics was first introduced, the theory was that it could help limit the amount of inbreeding in Holsteins.  In reality it has done the exact opposite.  Research indicates that relationships within respective breeds could be accelerating even faster since genomics’ introduction five years ago and there is also evidence that genetic diversity, another factor of inbreeding, is shrinking.

When you look at the sires of the top 100 genomic young sires lists, you notice a decent variety of sires with 30 bulls siring the top 100 sires.  However, a pedigree analysis on only the paternal side reveals that 90 percent of the bulls either have Oman, Planet or Shottle represented as the sire or grandsire.  The remaining 10 bulls represent genetic diversity.  However, the list needs further refining because 3 of the 10 remaining bulls have Oman’s sire or Shottle’s sire in the pedigree.  That leaves seven bulls with unique sires among the Holstein breed’s elite.

To help guide breeders in dealing with this inbreeding issue, we decided to look for outcross sires either proven or genomic tested sires that would offer breeders the near maximum genetic gain while providing needed diversity.  The word outcross or what constitutes an outcross sire can be tricky depending on where you are located.  For our purposes, we are calling an outcross sire to be one that does not have Oman, Goldwyn, Planet, and Shottle anywhere in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd generation of their pedigree.

Balanced Overall Performance Improvement

When looking for the sire that will help improve your herd across the board, we looked for sires that have a balance of production and longevity.  We also wanted great health and fertility traits that will deliver a low maintenance cow (Read more – Fact vs. Fantasy: A realistic approach to sire selection).  Here are our top three.

  • CO-OP BOSSIDE MASSEY
    MASCOL x PECKENSTEIN FORM BRET x HA-HO CUBBY MANFRED
    Massey is a popular sire of sons combining elite indexes with a great outcross opportunity.  Massey daughters are snug uddered with strong attachments.  Though they should be protected for rump angle (high) and dairy strength, his low somatic cell score, high herd life/productive life and strong fertility make Massey a great sire for your breeding program.
  • COYNE-FARMS DORCY
    SANDY-VALLEY BOLTON X PECKENSTEIN FORM BRET x STARTMORE RUDOLPH
    Look for Dorcy to sire balanced dairy cattle that have great udders and very good feet & legs, though he will need to be protected for dairy strength, fat percent and specifically his body depth and chest width.  While his productive life and low somatic cell score make Dorcy very strong longevity sire, you will want to use him wisely  on virgin heifers as he is not a calving ease sire.
  • CO-OP BOOKEM YUXI
    DE-SU 521 BOOKEM x END-ROAD PVF BOLIVER x PECKENSTEIN FORM BRET
    Yuxi is a great sire for feed efficiency, based on his strong milk production from smaller framed and stature cattle (Read more:  30 Sires That Will Produce Feed Efficient Cows).  While he needs to be protected on loin strength and body depth, his high productive life, low somatic cell score and great calving ease will have his daughters producing milk in your herd for a long time.

Production Improvement

It might be easy to just take the top milk lists or combine the fat plus protein and say those sires are the best for overall production.  We here at the Bullvine would not want to totally forgo type as well as health and fertility, so we are looking for the sires that give you the maximum production gain, without sacrificing everything to get it.

  • KINGS-RANSOM B RUBLE
    SANDY-VALLEY BOLTON x END-ROAD PVF BOLIVER x B-Y-U MANDEL BOMBAY
    A proven sire that maybe has not caught the eye of many breeders, Ruble offers outstanding production improvement from solid type.  While certainly not a calving ease sire, Ruble will greatly increase production from strong uddered cows that have good feet and legs.
  • OCONNORS JAY
    SANDY-VALLEY BOLTON x REGANCREST ELTON DURHAM x HENKESEEN MARCIS MARVELOUS
    Coming from a strong maternal line (Read more: The Bloom is on Oconnors Goldwyn Jasmine) Jay offers great component improvement from solid production.  He also has the ability to improve overall type, especially udder attachments and texture, but should be protected on pin setting.
  • CO-OP MASTER GENO
    BOSSIDE MASSEY MASTER x BADGER-BLUFF FANNY FREDDIE x JOSE
    Talk about a challenge.  In order to find a genomic sire that met our requirements we had to go the 95th sire on our list of production improvement genomic sires.  Much like Yuxi, Geno will also produce feed efficient daughters (Read more:  30 Sires That Will Produce Feed Efficient Cows).  His strong components, especially fat, combined with great udders and strong health and fertility makes Geno a great sire to look at for a solid outcross sire.

Longevity Improvement

For those of you that are looking to breed cattle that stay around  lactation after lactation or maybe you are  having problems with your 2 year olds not coming back for a 2nd lactation, we recommend the following outcross sires, in addition to Dorcy mentioned earlier:

  • SILDAHL JETT AIR
    EMERALD-ACR-SA T-BAXTER x MARA-THON BW MARSHALL x HA-HO CUBBY MANFRED
    This outcross sire offers great longevity improvement combined with strong health and fertility.  While he does need to be protected on protein and milking speed, his great feet and legs, udders and health and fertility, make him an outcross sire you don’t want to miss.
  • BERTAIOLA MINCIO
    SANDY-VALLEY BOLTON x BOSS IRON x CAROL PRELUDE MTOTO
    With  Boss Iron daughters such as Decrausaz Iron O’Kalibra catching the eyes of the world in the show ring (Read more: The All European Champion Show: The Greatest Show On Earth), there are also Iron daughters that are getting the job done as bull mothers.  A great example of this is BEL IRON IRENE, the dam of Mincio.  This high fertility Bolton son combines high type with great production, which is resulting in outstanding results in his current daughter performance.  Watch for MINCIO to sire great udders and feet & legs though you may want to watch him on somatic cell score.
  • RONELEE DORCY DELIGENT
    COYNE-FARMS DORCY x END-ROAD PVF BOLIVER x COMESTAR OUTSIDE
    This outcross genomic sire just spells longevity.  Deligent was bred to deliver long lasting daughters.  With outstanding Herd Life/Productive Life, breed leading mammary systems scores and strong Feet and Legs scores, Deligent is a longevity specialist, though he does need to be somewhat protected for dairy strength.  Look for DELIGENT to combine this longevity with strong production and type numbers.

Health and Fertility Improvement

One area that is not getting enough attention from most breeders is health and fertility.  While there is no question that every breeder knows that more pregnancies equals more profits many of the top ranking sires actually have negative values for health and fertility.  The following are some outcross specialist sires that should help you change that:

  • PENN-ENGLAND STOCKTON
    PURSUIT SEPTEMBER STORM x FUSTEAD EMORY BLITZ x PEN-COL DUSTER
    While you certainly would not use Stockton as a production improvement sire.  His high daughter pregnancy rate, productive life and low somatic cell make Stockton the perfect sire for that high production cow you are looking to breed some health and fertility traits into.
  • CERVI PHONIC
    LATUCH ROLEX x OLMO PRELUDE TUGOLO x SHEN-VAL NV LM FORMATION
    While not a name that most breeders know, Phonic is certainly going to get some attention from breeders looking to breed to where the industry is headed.  With extremely low SCS and high daughter fertility combined with functional type and above average production, Phonic is leaving daughters that are extremely low maintenance.  Tracing back to the great Italian brood cow Cervi FIRESTONE, this family has produced such sires as BUXON, WOODSTOCK and PADERNUS.  Given his high rump angle, it is interesting that he is such a good calving ease sire.
  • BLUMENFELD LEWIS TRUE
    LATUCH FREDDIE LEWIS x LEIF x RAMOS
    Similar to finding an overall performance improver on the top genomic lists, finding a health and fertility genomic sire had us going to number 55 on our list.  Look for True to sire outstanding udders with strong feet and legs.  He will need to be protected on loin strength.

The Bullvine Bottom Line

Choosing the correct sire can be challenging enough.  Finding a sire that also offers an outcross from the main Goldwyn, Planet, Shottle and Oman can be almost impossible.  That is why we compiled these 12 sires to bring to light some outcross pedigrees that many breeders may not have heard of.  It is, certainly worth taking a look at many of these sires, when looking to combat inbreeding in your herd.


The Dairy Breeders No BS Guide to Genomics

 

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30 Sires that will produce Feed Efficient Cows

2013ecttop13of2013Commercial milk producers want to breed cows that have high feed conversion efficiency, that avoid culling and that take the least care or staff time (Read more – Feed Efficiency: The Money Saver).  The well known and widely used total merit indexes, TPI*TM  and LPI, rank sires according to which ones leave the most profitable ideal or true type cow. However the factors in those indexes and the assumptions that are made when calculating them do not address feed, culling or low maintenance.   Milk producers are left to fend for themselves when it comes to selecting sires that will leave their kind of cows.

What’s Being Heard

Milk Producers say: “All I want is a trouble free cow that efficiently converts forages to the kind of milk my milk buyer wants.

Veterinarians say:  “Cows must get in calf, have minimal feet problems and must not be prone to having production limiting diseases (reproduction problems, mastitis, metabolic disorders or  ..etc.).

Farm Workers say:  “Sick animals, calving problems and animals that do not work easily within the farm system waste my time.

Feed Advisers say: “Test your forages, feed the rumen, get the most out of your forages and the use of nutrients for both production and maintenance must be considered simultaneously (i.e. medium sized cows yielding the same as large cows are more feed efficient).

Milk Processors say: ”Except for the milk we sell as a drink, we want the solids not the water.

Financial Advisers say:  “Make decisions based on profit per cow, per litre, per hectare, per pound of feed consumed, per worker, …etc.

Consumers say: – Well in fact we may not be listening to consumers (Read more – Milk Marketing: How “Got Milk?” became “Got Lost”)

There are even more voices speaking in producers ears and more words appearing on the computer screens that producers read.  With all the information that is currently available, selecting sires that best meet the needs of milk producers can be a daunting task.

Getting Started

Milk producers do not wish to deal all the numbers that appear on proof sheets. That can be a very time consuming exercise with no definitive answers at the end of it.

The Bullvine decided to research what is available today on selecting sires for feed conversion efficiency, for freedom from major known reasons for culling and for minimal extra care. We recognize that down the road there will be genomic indexes that are based on the relationship between yet to be recorded on-farm cow performance data and the DNA make-up of cows for these three areas. But today those genomic indexes do not exist.

Bullvine Efficiency Index (BEI)

Based on the information from a number of countries that we have been able to access, the Bullvine has developed the following formulas:

  1. BEI = Production (45%) + Durability (35%) + Health & Fertility (25%)
  2. Production = 30 Fat Yield + 50 Protein Yield + 10 Fat% + 10 Protein%
  3. Durability = 17 Herd Life + 42 Mammary System + 25 Feet & Legs  – 8 Body Depth – 8 Stature
  4. Health & Fertility = 46 Somatic Cell + 23 Daughter Fertility + 23 Udder Depth + 8 Milking Speed

Notes:

  1. Milk Yield is not included as it contributes to more udder strain and added milk haulage or on-farm water removal costs.
  2. The negative weightings on Body Depth and Stature reflect that larger cows  require extra feed to grow to that size and to maintain that larger size each and every day compared to cows of more moderate size.

Sire Rankings

Using CDN’s Custom Index Calculator  the following sires came to the top of the list,

CANADIANINTERNATIONALYOUNG SIRES
LONG-LANGS OMAN OMAN-ETCO-OP BOSSIDE MASSEY-ETFARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHMONEY-ET
CRACKHOLM FEVERCOYNE-FARMS DORCY-ETSOUTHERN-HILLS BAYARD-ET
BRAEDALE GOLDWYNDE-SU  CIMARRON-ETFARNEAR-TBR-BH CASHCOIN-ET
ALLYNDALE-I ATTICUSBADGER-BLUFF FANNY FREDDIEMR LOOKOUT P ENFORCER-ET
LIRR DREW DEMPSEYCERVI ALLEMAR ETCO-OP BOOKEM YUXI-ET
DE-SU GILLESPY-ETDE-SU GULF-ETCO-OP MASTER GENO-ET
GEN-I-BEQ BRAWLERBERTAIOLA MINCIO ETAMIGHETTI NUMERO UNO ET
GILLETTE JORDANGUARINI-ETTEEMAR OBSERVER ADAM-ET
GEN-I-BEQ TOPSIDEDE-SU FORK-ETDE-SU DISTINCTION 11130-ET
ENSENADA TABOO PLANET-ETDE-SU WATSONDE-SU UNO 11446-ET

Please note: Due to the fact that CDN’s Custom Index tool only allows quires by Domestic Canadian, MACE and Genomic individually it is not possible to do an overall ranking.

Key Findings

  • Except for the Domestic Canadian list only a small difference exist between bulls
  • The rankings do not always follow TPI* TM or LPI due mainly to the negative weighting on body depth and stature and increased emphasis on SCS, daughter fertility and udder depth.
  • Although Braedale Goldwyn, Sandy Valley Bolton and Picton Shottle progeny are prominent on these listings, they are from different cow families so inbreeding using the sires on these lists should not be a problem, providing a breeder does not focus on just one of them

Highlights

  • Braedale Goldwyn appears on the listings himself. As well he has six sons on the lists and is the maternal grandsire of three of the genomic bulls.
  • Sandy Valley Bolton has seven sons on the listings
  • Picton Shottle is the maternal grandsire of nine bulls on the listings
  • Oman sons Long-Langs Oman Oman and Badger-Bluff Fanny Freddie both appear on the listings, as do one son and one maternal grandson of each of them
  • De-Su Observer, yet to be daughter proven, has three sons and one maternal grandson on the genomics listing

The Bullvine Bottom Line

Commercial milk producers often want the decisions on which sires to use to be as simplified as possible. That is why the Bullvine has produced these BEI listings. With due consideration to avoid inbreeding, milk producers can expect BEI to rank bulls for them for production, durability and health & fertility with emphasis on the sires that can convert intake into milk production.

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GOING OFF THE MAP: 14 Outcross Holstein Sires That Don’t Include GPS

With the increased genetic similarity coming from genomic selection and the accelerated rate of genetic advancement, the need to pay attention to outcross sires is important. Never before has it been so difficult to find outcross sires, even though there is a much larger global marketplace. As the world genetics market has grown, the variance in genetic offerings has actually decreased. In most countries genetic indexes are either getting more and more similar or breeders are starting to speak a more common language such as TPI or Net Merit.

As a follow up to our The Top 12 Holstein Genomic Young Sires to Use for Maximum Genetic Gain, we decided to look for outcross sires either proven or genomic test sires that would offer breeders the maximum genetic gain while providing needed diversity. The word outcross or what constitutes an outcross sire can be tricky depending on where you are located. For our purposes, we are calling an outcross sire something that comes off the GPS map, or the Goldwyn, Planet, and Shottle map, if you will. That means that they do not have any of these three great sires anywhere in the 1st or 2nd generation of their pedigree.

Please note that we did leave Man-O-Man and his sons in our list because we felt that in relation to the total population base he received limited use due to his limited semen supply. He was used fairly heavily for contract matings but has only 393 daughters in his production proof and 190 daughters in his type proof in the USA

Overall Performance Improvement

While there is no question Man-O-Man offers outstanding overall genetic gain in a relative outcross package, here are some other sires to consider when looking for overall performance improvement:

  • LEOTHE DEXTERMAN (Man-O-Man x AltaBaxter)
    If you cannot get Man-O-Man, why not go for what is arguably his best son, LEOTHE DEXTERMAN? DEXTERMAN offers outstanding component improvement, though he should not be expected to significantly improve overall production. Not surprising considering his dam LEOTHE BAXTER DAPHNEE VG-86-2YR-CAN just squeezed out 10,799 kgs in a 365-day record. DEXTERMAN’s maternal line shows generation after generation of solid conformation with average production. Look for DEXTERMAN to offer solid durability and health traits with balanced conformation. DEXTERMAN will fit the bill when looking for extreme component improvement. Look for him to breed much as his maternal line strong conformation, outstanding components, but needs protected on overall production.
  • MOUNTFIELD MSY MAURICE (Massey x Boliver)
    If you are looking for more of an outcross or have used lots of Man-O-Man try MOUNTFIELD MSY MAURICE. MAURICE and his Dorcy brother MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL offer a great outcross option. MAURICE has high TPI, NM$ and Type scores making him a great option for overall performance. Though based on his genomic numbers you will need to protect him on dairy strength and a little on rumps.
  • CO-OP BOSSIDE MASSEY (Mascol x Bret)
    If you are looking for a proven sire option, you cannot go wrong with CO-OP BOSSIDE MASSEY. The current #1 daughter proven sire in the US, MASSEY breeds long-lasting cows that work well in all environments. Watch for MASSEY to sire even better production numbers than his proof would indicate, as well as being a little dairier and stronger than expected, but he will need to be protected on Rumps.
  • ZANI BOLTON MASCALESE (Bolton x O man)
    For those looking for a bloodline not as well known to North American breeders, try ZANI BOLTON MASCALESE. With a dam that has a MACE index of over +4000 MLPI, it can be new territory for many breeders to use a MACE sire that is so high. Concerns that his proof is all parent average and genomics are not unusual. However, when it comes to MASACLESE. his daughters are actually backing up what his family and genomics would indicate. His young sire proof estimates (65% Genomics and 35% Parent Average) would be +3019 MLPI and his MACE proof has him at+ 2972, telling you that, while his daughters are slightly lower, they are not far off. Look for MASCALESE to transmit outstanding balance and type though do be careful on his component percentages.

Production Improvement

For those of you that are more commercially focused or maybe those of you who have not focused enough on production and the milk check is showing it, here are our recommendations other than Man-O-Man for overall production, and genomic sires MAURICE & DEXTERMAN for components to use to gain the greatest production increase:

  • DE-SU ALTAGOALMAN (Bolton x O man)
    ALTAGOALMAN is a proven sire from the high Genomic Index De-Su herd. With a PA MLPI of +1960 and DGV MLPI of +2710, ALTAGOALMAN’s official proof MLPI is +2887, indicating that his daughters are significantly outperforming PA expectations for both type and production traits. Though ALTAGOALMAN will sire outstanding production both his genomic proof and his daughter information would indicate that he needs to be protected on dairy strength.
  • UFM-DUBS ALTAESQUIRE (O man x AltaSam)
    Another proven sires option is ALTAESQUIRE. ALTAESQUIRE’s 2nd crop daughters seem to be outperforming his first crop proof. Watch for ALTAESQUIRE to sire more production, components as well as better mammary systems than his current proof would indicate. Currently ALTAESQUIRE’s proof is held back significantly by his low parent average MLPI of +1763, that is 1171 points lower than his current official MLPI proof of +2934. With the addition of more daughters watch for his official CDN proof to have him among the top 2-3 LPI spots. While offering dairy strength and rump improvement ALTAESQUIRE needs to be used cautiously on mammary systems and feet and legs, but if you are looking to put a production punch in a good uddered and legged cow/heifer ALTAESQUIRE will do the trick.

Longevity Improvement

For those of you that are looking to breed cattle that last lactation after lactation or maybe you are having problems with your 2 year olds not coming back for a 2nd lactation we recommend the following outcross sires:

  • RONELEE DORCY DELIGENT (Dorcy x Boliver)
    RONELEE DORCY DELIGENT just spells longevity (Dorcy x Boliver x Outside x Rudolph), he was bred to deliver long lasting daughters. With outstanding Herd Life/Productive Life, breed leading mammary systems scores and strong Feet and Legs scores, DELIGENT is a longevity specialist, though he does need to be somewhat protected for dairy strength. Look for DELIGENT to combine this longevity with strong production and type numbers.
  • MOUNTFIELD SSI DCY MOGUL (Dorcy x Marsh)
    From the same family as MOUNTFIELD MSY MAURICE comes the Dorcy son MOGUL. Much like MAURICE, MOGUL combines high TPI, NM$ and Type scores as well as breed leading longevity scores. With a PL +7.1, +3.29 UDC. +3.13 FLC, +1.22BD and +1.62 Dairyness, MOGUL really is the complete longevity package. Combine that with over +1,000 lbs. of milk and plus components and MOGUL daughters will be producing for many years.
  • COYNE-FARMS DORCY (Bolton x Bret)
    Well if you don’t want to use genomic young sires, you can always use the sire that is producing those sons, COYNE-FARMS DORCY. While DORCY’s actual daughter numbers are slightly below his Genomic and Parent averages (Read – The Effect Genomics has On the August 2012 New Release Daughter Proven Sires) he is proving to be an outstanding longevity improvement sire, both through his sons and daughters. Breeders interested in a Bolton son from an outcross pedigree, top-notch udders, very good feet & legs and functional traits may consider DORCY. Dairy Strength and Rump are only slightly above breed norms.
  • BERTAIOLA MINCIO (Bolton x Boss Iron)
    For breeders looking to go a little further off the GPS map, there is BERTAIOLA MINCIO. This high fertility Bolton son combines high type with great production, which is resulting in outstanding results in his current daughter performance. Watch for MINICO to sire great udders and feet & legs though you may want to watch him on somatic cell score.

Health and Fertility Improvement

One area that is not getting enough attention by most breeders is health and fertility. While there is no question that every breeder knows that more pregnancies equals more profits many of the top ranking sires especially the GPS sires actually have negative values for health and fertility. The following are a couple of specialist sires that should help you change that:

  • ALL-RIEHL PAXTON (O Man x Rudolph)
    While ALL-RIEHL PAXTON has a little older sire stack, he does possess the highest combined values for Somatic Cell Score, Udder Depth, Milking Speed, Daughter Fertility and Lactation Persistency. PAXTON daughters are shallow uddered with strong rear attachments and walk on strong feet and legs. While not big, or deep bodied they do possess good width of chest and nice slopey rumps. For those looking for show type and angularity, PAXTON is not the sire for you, but for those looking for easy to manage daughters that have long term profitability PAXTON will do the trick.
  • S-S-I DOMAIN LITHIUM (Domain x Bolton)
    S-S-I DOMAIN LITHIUM has some of the highest DGV’s for health and fertility. Lithium is from one of the top genomic cows in the breed, GLEN-TOCTIN BOLT LUCILLE VG-87-DOM. Combining high herd life, low Somatic Cell counts and high daughter fertility with over 1600 lbs. of milk, 110 of fat and protein and 2.5 points on type makes Lithium a great choice when looking for improvement. It is interesting to note that his DGV’s for health and fertility are almost 8% higher than the next highest genomic young sire (BRANDT-VIEW ALTAOTIS) and 50% higher than his own official index, indicating that he really is the sire to use when wanting to address this area that has flown under the radar far too long.

Type Improvement

Finding a top type sire that has no Goldwyn in it’s pedigree is next to impossible (Read – 7 Sire to Use in Order to Breed the Next World Dairy Expo Champion). Finding ones with no Planet or Shottle as well was almost ridiculous. In addition to MOGUL and MINICO, you could also consider:

  • SIEMERS TOYS HERO 9701 (Toystory x Durham)
    While HERO’s pedigree does not have some of the big time show cow’s like many of the other popular type sires in the breed today, he does have strong genomic test results for Conformation, and specifically udders. Look for HERO to sire extremely shallow udders that have strong ligaments though he could be protected a little on teat placement. While larger than average, HERO will not sire your big tall show winners with the deep ribs, instead he offers wide rumps that have slightly high pins and average chest width. He really is an udder specialist with average legs and dairy strength.
  • TOC-FARM DUPLEX GLAUCO (Duplex x Allen)
    For those looking for a more well-known pedigree there is TOC-FARM DUPLEX GLAUCO. His dam, TOC-FARM ALLEN AMYLY EX-96-ITA, was All World Cow in 2008. She herself is from the great breeding cow, SUNNYLODGE SKYCHIEF AMY EX-95-2E-GBR 5*. Look for GLAUCO to sire tall deep-bodied cows with wide chests and strong udders. His big boxcar rumps will catch many breeders’ eyes, though you may want to protect him on rump angle a little.

 The Bullvine Bottom Line

Choosing the correct sire can be challenging enough. Finding a sire that also offers an outcross from the main GPS (Goldwyn, Planet, Shottle) sires can be almost impossible. That is why we compiled these 14 sires to bring to light some outcross pedigrees that many breeders may not have heard of. Hope this helps you find your way to your best outcross bull.


The Dairy Breeders No BS Guide to Genomics

 

Not sure what all this hype about genomics is all about?

Want to learn what it is and what it means to your breeding program?

Download this free guide.

 

 

 

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