DairyCo

There's been change at the top of the Holstein bull proof rankings published this week (6 December 2011) by DairyCo Breeding+, with the high production bull, ALH Dakota moving up to number one position.

Ranked on Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI) and demonstrating exceptional all-round performance, this Oman son manages to combine high daughter production (Predicted Transmitting Ability for milk, 1035kg and protein, 33.5kg) with outstanding health and fitness traits. Daughters continue to demonstrate low cell counts, although it is improvements in their fertility (Fertility Index 0.8) and lifespan (LS 0.5) which have elevated Dakota from second position. This Lifespan Index is amongst the best of the top 50 PLI bulls, and his PLI is now an impressive £258.

Dakota is proven in The Netherlands and is out of the well-known Markwell Durham Daisy EX92.

Former number one sire, Lynbrook Jancen, shares Dakota's exceptional transmission of longevity although is edged into second position with a PLI of £242.

Best for daughter fertility

Climbing into third position is Oman grandson, Morningview Levi, who made his debut in April 2011. Sired by Buckeye and out of Morningview Oman Libby, he is the best daughter fertility improver (FI 5.1) in the top 10.

Full brothers

In fourth place we find one of two full brothers (Oman x BW Marshall) to feature in the top 10. Co-op Oman Logan (PLI £227) just outperforms his brother, Co-op Oman Loydie, ranked ninth (PLI £217) and at -23 SCC, Logan is a strong cell count improver.

Timmer Tyson (PLI £224) and Mainsteam Manifold (PLI £222) are familiar names in the top 10 and retain their positions. Both bulls have strong showings for the all important fitness traits of SCC, lifespan and fertility and Tyson (only available in Northern Ireland) continues to feature as a milk quality improver.

UFM-DUBS AltaEsquire moves up and into seventh position, gaining 13 points PLI to £220. He transmits extreme fat yield (PTA fat 37.2kg) for which trait he is the highest available in the UK. He stands one PLI point ahead of Long-Langs Oman Oman at PLI £219.

Best of the British

Best of the British breeding and convincingly earning his place in the top 10 is Ballycairn Tiergan, who is establishing himself amongst the very best bulls worldwide. Now with 71 UK daughters milking in 47 herds, he improves his SCC Index to -18 and with a Type Merit of 1.8, he is the highest type transmitter of the top 10 PLI bulls. Also the highest ranking Goldwyn son and the highest ranking bull without Oman blood, he weighs in with a PLI of £216. Bred by Andrew McCollum in Northern Ireland, Tiergan is out of the UK's former number one PLI cow, Ballycairn Garter Tinnie VG87.

Other high ranking UK bulls are Cogent Twist (by Shottle) at £199 PLI, and Ballycairn Linus (Oman x Jocko), the highest ranking newcomer. From the same herd as Tiergan but bred from a different cow family, he combines good production figures with solid fitness indexes and reaches a PLI of £192.

Ranking fourth, fifth and sixth amongst the UK top bulls, are Sinatra son, Bidlea Padbury (PLI £157), standing out for his good daughter fertility (FI 5.1); Goldwyn son, Abbeyhouse Mr Gold (PLI £156) with 2.1 Type Merit; and Mascol son, Moet Baldric (PLI £155), a newcomer out of a Lookout dam from the famous Cadet's family.

"British bulls have performed particularly well in this proof run," says Marco Winters, head of genetics with DairyCo. "We have a genuinely world class performer in the shape of Tiergan and others hard on his heels.

"Progeny testing is a numbers game, and although good breeding decisions need to be made at the outset, it's commendable that the UK companies, aided by the support of the UK dairy farmers taking part in progeny testing and milk recording, are faring so well.

"In the context of the thousands of Holstein bulls tested around the world, to have three UK bulls in the top 30 demonstrates a good return to AI from the bulls tested in the UK."

Tables of the top 20 availableHolsteinbulls (and top five UK-tested bulls) ranked on the latestPLI(December 2011)appear below. Type Merit is supplied byHolsteinUK.

Ends

For further information:

N:    Helen Fina                         T:     02476 478696             E:     helen.fina@dairyco.ahdb.org.uk

N:    Marco Winters                 T:     01978 760797             E:     marco.winters@dairyco.ahdb.org.uk

Notes for Editors:

DairyCo's aim is to promote world class knowledge to British dairy farmers so they can profit from a sustainable future.

To achieve this DairyCo aims to:

• Ensure farmers have access to world class information needed to improve competitiveness, GHG reduction and productivity
• Ensure farmers have access to direct and indirect support to help them improve their profitability through better business management
• Ensure that dairy farming is reducing its impact on the environment
• Ensure farmers understand the benefits of breeding and use the related tools

DairyCo is funded entirely by milk producers, via a statutory levy on all milk sold off-farm, at the rate of 0.06p per litre.  This provides an annual income of around £6.5m.

DairyCo is a division of the statutory levy board, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).

See tables below.