HerdAdvance semen voucher criteria
The semen voucher is part of the HerdAdvance project, which falls under the Dairy Improvement Programme.
Farmers who have completed and passed the Genetics tutorial will recieve a semen voucher as part of this project to spend according to the below criteria.
How to spend your voucher
You must spend all £1500 of your voucher in one purchase. In addition to this the following criteria apply for using this voucher;
1. Bulls bought using this voucher must be in the top 25% of their breed, if selecting on the £PLI, or top 25% of the £SCI or £ACI bulls available to the UK market. Please read further to determine which index you should be using and what the minimum £PLI, £SCI and £ACI to qualify for the top 25% is following the latest full UK genetic and genomic evaluation run.
2. Bulls must be marketed by the following companies;
Alta Genetics |
Mastergen |
Cattle Services (Ayr) Ltd |
Semex UK |
Cogent Breeding |
Shorthorn Sires UK |
CRV Avoncroft |
UK Sires Direct |
English Guernsey Cattle Society |
Viking Genetics |
Genus Breeding Ltd |
World Wide Sires |
LIC |
|
Minimum criteria for bulls to be included in voucher purchase
All bulls you are looking to purchase using the HerdAdvance semen voucher must be in the top 25% of the breed for £PLI or top 25% for £ACI or £SCI. The index you select will reflect the calving pattern of your herd;
- Profitable Lifetime Index (£PLI) - all year round calving
- Autumn Calving Index (£ACI) - autumn block calving
- Spring Calving Index (£SCI) - spring block calving
The table below outline's the minimum £PLI, £ACI or £SCI a bull must have to be included the top 25%;
Index | Breed | Top 25% minimum |
£PLI |
Holstein | 579 |
Friesian | 221 | |
Ayrshire | 302 | |
Jersey | 313 | |
Guernsey | 11 | |
Shorthorn | 18 | |
Montbeliarde | 145 | |
Fleckvieh | 132 | |
Brown Swiss | 294 | |
£ACI | All breeds | 437 |
£SCI | All breeds | 292 |
This table will be updated following each full UK genetic and genomic evaluation run in April, August and December. Current figures are calculated from December 2020 young genomic and daughter proven lists available from AHDB Dairy.
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