December 2022 bull proofs: latest rankings
The dam of Wilra SSI Faneca Ebersol © John Erbsen
A new number one Holstein bull takes a convincing lead in the young genomic sire Profitable Lifetime Index (£PLI) ranking, published today (6 December) by AHDB Dairy.
Weighing in with a PLI of £1,017, Wilra SSI Faneca Ebersol demonstrates the impressive profit-earning potential of his daughters.
Its breakdown, including outstanding Predicted Transmitting Abilities (PTAs) for fat (56.4kg and +0.27%), udder health (-29 SCC, -3 Mastitis) and daughter fertility (Fertility Index +11.5), indicates the origin of much of their commercial advantage.
Like many of the top £PLI sires, Ebersol is expected to produce healthy, easy-care daughters.
His sire is Badger SSI Lucia Faneca and his dam, by Pine-Tree Legacy, comes from a prolific cow family which features no less than three descendants in the top 20.
Ebersol has dethroned the longstanding number one bull, Genosource Captain, whose PLI of £959 now earns him second position.
However, Captain’s transmission of milk production remains among the highest in the breed, at 1,070kg PTA milk, which he combines with a high Calf Survival at 4.7.
See also: Visit the AHDB website for full details of all of the changes and for the Herd Genetic Report
Moving into third place is Denovo 17835 Lennon-P (PLI £955), one of the best bulls for daughter longevity, transmitting 162 days more lifespan than average.
Also passing on excellent daughter fertility (FI +12.6), he has an outstanding HealthyCow index at 298.
Next up are three sons of long-time leader Genosource Captain.
First is DG Peace (PLI £949), who now ranks fourth and, like his sire, transmits high milk (1,080kg). However, he tops his sire for protein transmission, with a massive 41.5kg.
DG Space is a new entry in fifth place with a PLI of £942. He is an outstanding udder health improver (-27 SCC, -3 Mastitis) and a superb overall health transmitter (HealthyCow 301).
Sharing fifth place is UK-bred Cogent Keopon Rocky, who also ranked in the top five in the August release.
CherryPenCol HighCloud slips one place to seventh (PLI £933) and is one of the best Lameness Advantage sires in the ranking, with a score of +3.7. He also transmits shorter-than-average gestation length (-3).
New in eighth place is Pine-Tree GS Cruzer (PLI £929). Another high milk producer (1,051kg), his superb digital dermatitis score (+0.9) and breed-leading Feed Advantage (271) help earn him the joint highest EnviroCow score at +4.8.
Maternal half-brother to the number one bull, and ranking ninth, is newcomer Wilra S-S-I Conway Stihl.
Displaying fantastic milk quality (+0.32% fat, +0.15% protein), this son of Sandy-Valley R Conway weighs in with a PLI of £926.
Rounding off the top 10 is a bull that featured high in the August run, Peak AltaSeverus, this time earning a PLI of £922. His superb transmission of daughter fertility (+14.8) is the best in the top 20.
Marco Winters, head of animal breeding for AHDB, says: “A glance at this ranking reveals that the breeding industry’s growing emphasis on health and efficiency is reaping rewards, as most of the leading young sires offer greater profit potential through their daughters’ better health, longer lifespans and higher feed efficiency – all alongside the production of quality milk.
“However, while they transmit the traits required for modern dairy production, I’d urge any producers to check their relationship to their own cows – ideally by using the AHDB Inbreeding Checker – before they select their service sires in order to maintain a diversity of bloodlines.”
Download the PDF table of the top 20 available Holstein genomic young sires
Proven Holstein rankings
Bomaz AltaCabot © Lea Jordan
A bull who made his debut as a top 10 young genomic sire four years ago has reached the number one position in the PLI ranking for daughter-proven sires.
Bomaz AltaCabot achieves this feat with 141 UK daughters contributing to his figures, alongside many more milking around the world.
He earns a PLI of £765 and continues to demonstrate his early strengths of high fat production (Predicted Transmitting Ability for fat, 40.5kg and +0.22%) and a good Lameness Advantage (+2.6).
He also gains a high score for the recently launched Feed Advantage (+162), indicating the predicted feed efficiency of his daughters.
AltaCabot descends from the same cow family as the former number one sire, Bomaz Monument-P, who now ranks second (PLI £745).
Monument-P transmits even higher fat at 41.6kg and shares the highest score with AltaCabot for another new breeding index, EnviroCow.
Both bulls score +3.6, reflecting the good environmental credentials expected of their daughters.
A new entrant in third position is Pine-Tree CW Legacy (PLI £739), a former number-one genomic sire whose availability has been limited in the past.
However, Legacy now ranks with outstanding udder health indexes (-29 SCC and -4 Mastitis) and transmits long lifespans to his daughters (+174).
The combination of great health, longevity and daughter fertility (+13.9) earns him one of the best HealthyCow ratings, at 328.
Holding on to his top five ranking in fourth place is Hurtgenlea Richard Charl with the highest milk PTA in the top list (1,004kg) and a PLI of £736.
New in fifth is Aurora Ragnar, a fresh graduate to the proven list who confirms his earlier genomic figures, transmitting good calf survival at 3.3 and earning a PLI of £735.
Now ranking sixth is Topstone, whose strong protein figures (31.3kg) help earn him a PLI of £731.
Aurora AltaAntonio climbs from just outside the top 10 into shared seventh position, now with 271 UK milking daughters and excellent transmission of digital dermatitis resistance (+0.8). His PLI is £723.
At equal seventh, FB 326856 Medley Baynes (PLI £723) is a newcomer to the proven ranking, ahead of another new entrant, Aardema Pistolero (PLI £722), ranked eighth.
Both have good indexes for Calving Ease (+0.9 and +0.6, respectively) and good daughter Lifespan, transmitting 146 and 134 days more than average.
Rounding off the top 10 in shared 10th position are Riethil Summerlake and Silverridge V Einstein. Both are strong production sires with excellent SCCs (-31 and -27, respectively), each earning a PLI of £708.
For the complete list of available bulls, please visit the AHDB website.
Download the PDF table of the top 20 available Holstein bulls with daughter-proven rankings
Block calving index rankings
Progenesis Wimbledon © Patty Jones
Calving will soon be under way in many grazing-based block-calving herds, and the latest across-breed ranking for Spring Calving Index (£SCI) will be the key focus for sire selection for those with an eye on profitability.
At the top of the list are the same two bulls who led the way in the summer rankings, the Holstein Progenesis Wimbledon (SCI £575) and the Jersey VJ Ravninggaard Huus Hamlet D (SCI £533). Both Wimbledon’s transmission of shorter-than-average gestation length and Hamlet’s high fat and protein percentages and low maintenance feed costs are features popular with spring block calving herds.
Level pegging with Hamlet, with a strong move upwards from 14th to equal second position, comes New Zealand’s Digs Hardcopy. With an SCI of £533, this crossbred bull transmits equally well for fat and protein percentage and has good daughter fertility.
The next three places remain unchanged, with fourth place taken by Pine-Tree CW Legacy. He offers low cell counts, good daughter lifespan and an SCI of £532. He is followed by ABS Sassafras (SCI £525), with high fat transmitting abilities, and sixth-placed Jersey Danish VJ Zummit (SCI £523).
Moving up to seventh is Progenesis Unicorn (SCI £522), transmitting the best daughter fertility of the top 10 sires as well as good calf survival and high production. Holstein £PLI front-runner Bomaz AltaCabot moves into eighth (SCI £519), ahead of S-S-I Rolan Brawn, moving up significantly to now rank ninth (SCI £518). He stands ahead of 10th-placed Westcoast River, who is the best cell count improver of the top 10 £SCI sires.
Autumn Calving Index (£ACI)
Block-calving milk producers should head to the dairy breeding and genetics pages of the AHDB website, where they’ll find that the new number one sire for Autumn Calving Index (£ACI) is Pine-Tree CW Legacy. This bull’s high ranking in all three indexes (£PLI, £SCI and £ACI) is a measure of the superb udder health, fertility and lifespan he transmits to his daughters, along with high production.
No comparison
Block-calving producers are reminded not to compare the component figures of the £SCI or £ACI with those used in the calculation of Profitable Lifetime Index. This is because £PLI is calculated at a breed level, whereas the seasonal indexes are expressed across the breeds and use a different average.
Download the PDF table of the top 20 bulls ranked on £SCI and £ACI
Other breeds
British Friesian
A minor reshuffle among the British Friesians sees Inch Persistent take over the top spot. Now with 163 UK daughters contributing to his figures, he achieves a PLI of £348 alongside a high HealthyCow index (253), thanks to good daughter lifespans (143) and fertility (4.8).
Moving into second place is Manorpark Google (PLI £330), transmitting higher production potential to his daughters, with Predicted Transmitting Abilities for milk of 517kg, 22kg fat and 17.5kg protein.
Catlane Cromwell now ranks third (PLI £289) and moving into the top five at fourth is Aintree Penrod, who transmits good udder health (-9 SCC, -3 Mastitis). Penrod’s PLI is £271.
Rounding off the top five is Carrickshock GTW. He transmits high protein (15.2 kg and +0.08%) and earns a PLI of £261.
Jersey
The River Valley Cece Chrome daughter Unique Chrome Jakarta © Patty Jones
There’s continued long-term stability at the top of the Jersey rankings too, as River Valley Cece Chrome holds his number one ranking, now earning a PLI of £443. Production remains very high for Chrome (758kg PTA milk), and he now has 521 UK milking daughters contributing to his figures.
Maintaining second place is VJ Ravinggaard Huus Hamlet, a higher milk quality sire (+0.10% fat, +0.16% protein) with strong daughter fertility (11.4). His PLI is £427.
A new entrant in third position is JX River Valley Chief, whose very high production figures (736kg milk, 35.2kg fat and 24.4kg protein) help earn him a PLI of £414.
Moving up to rank fourth and fifth are VJ Oestermarie Haare Hays (PLI £374) and Primus Craze Starlord (PLI £364). Like many of the leading Scandinavian sires, Hays transmits high milk quality (+0.18% fat, +0.14% protein) and good daughter fertility (10.5), whereas Starlord typifies many US Jerseys, transmitting higher volumes of milk (520kg).
Ayrshire
VR Alatalon Flame Feton retains his dominant position at the top of the Ayrshire rankings (PLI £479) with superb daughter fertility (17.4) and a high HealthyCow index of 258.
VR Vilano, ranked second, is one of the stronger production transmitters of the red and white breed, with 357kg of milk. He combines this with a good daughter lifespan (104) and earns a PLI of £411.
New in third place is the excellent all-rounder VR Venom, whose PLI of £355 keeps him ahead of VR Viljar Vilperi (PLI £337) and VR Fabu (PLI £314), ranked fourth and fifth. Both are milk quality bulls, Vilperi with the higher fat percentage at +0.22, while Fabu transmits the best udder health of the top five sires (-22 SCC, -3 SCC) and superb lifespan (159).
Better genomic indexes for Guernseys
Genomic predictions for the Guernsey breed have undergone enhancements through the inclusion of females in the population which is used as a reference for their calculation. This has improved reliabilities for Guernsey bulls and enables AHDB to officially publish Guernsey female indexes for the first time.
This means the Guernsey reference population (for production) has grown from just 551 males in August to 4,154 males and females.
“This is an important step for Guernsey breeders who can now select young bulls with more confidence, even if their indexes don’t contain daughter performance information,” says Marco Winters, head of animal genetics for AHDB. “However, it’s worth noting that because of these changes, young genomic Guernsey bull proofs have also changed a little more than usual.”
AHDB publishes other dairy breed indexes online at ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/dairy-breeding-and-genetics, where the Montbéliarde, Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Shorthorn and Fleckvieh are all represented.
Download the PDF tables for non-Holstein breeds