New genetic choices for spring grazing herds

The calving season is approaching for many grazing-based producers and the new ranking for Spring Calving Index (£SCI), published today by AHDB, is where they’re advised to look for their service sires.

New at the top of this across-breed ranking is the high health and fertility Jersey sire, VJ Groenbjerg Lobo Lobster who has 94 UK daughters contributing to his excellent milk solids figures and earns an SCI of £583. He also has the highest daughter lifespan of the top 20 sires and high daughter fertility.

Equally impressive on daughter fertility is the Holstein sire, Progenesis Wimbledon (SCI £582), who ranks second. A higher kg milk transmitter than the number one placed Jersey, he also rates well for udder health.

Holstein sire, Denovo Invictus, stands third and is on a par with Wimbledon for daughter fertility. Just tipping Wimbledon for SCC improvement, he earns an SCI of £571.

In fourth place is the next Jersey sire, VJ Hoeholt Jern James, who transmits a very favourable low maintenance feed index, and good milk components (both fat and protein) and earns an SCI of £559.

Westcoast Guarantee ranks fifth (SCI £544), with impressive udder health ratings and the best index for Calf Survival in the top 20.

High fat and daughter fertility are amongst the qualities of the sixth ranking, Holstein-bred Denovo 7921 Atrium, who now has 3718 UK milking daughters contributing to his SCI, which stands at £539.

In seventh place, VJ Haugstedgaard Choko Chief (SCI £533), rates well amongst his Jersey peers for kg fat, but the New Zealand-bred Jersey, Shelby Integ Labyrinth, has the highest milk quality figures of the top 20 sires (fat and protein percent). A favourable mastitis rating help earn him eighth place, and an SCI of £530.

The final two sires in the £SCI top 10 are the Holsteins, FB Kenobi Targaryen (SCI £528), and Aardema Pistolero (SCI £526), Targaryen transmitting the highest production of the top 20 leading sires.

£ACI

Producers calving in a block in autumn can refer to the Autumn Calving Index (£ACI) to shortlist their sires, where, retaining his position as leader, is Progenesis Wimbledon (ACI £678). This Holstein bull also has the highest combination of fat and protein percentages of the top 20, and leads for Lameness Advantage across this group.

Westcoast River climbs a few places to reach second position (ACI £677), and stands out for his good udder health traits and daughter fertility.

A new entry in third is FB Kenobi Targaryen (ACI £664), who becomes the highest protein transmitter of the group.

In fourth place, Westcoast Guarantee also transmits excellent udder health as well as calf survival, and has an ACI of £660.

Calving ease sire, Aardema Pistolero now ranks fifth (ACI £657), and is followed by the favourable low maintenance feed index sire, Denovo Invictus (ACI £651), who also transmits excellent daughter fertility.

Seventh ranking Denovo 14744 Ginetta offers tremendous fat and protein production and an ACI of £646 while the number one proven £PLI sire, Genosource Captain, ranks in eighth position (ACI £644).

Also a long-term feature of the £PLI rankings is Pine-Tree CW Legacy, who led the young genomic sires five years ago and now ranks ninth for ACI at £635. Legacy transmits the best lifespan of the top-ranking sires, as well as all-round strong ratings for health and fertility. He stands ahead of high daughter fertility bull, Peak Mauney, who, at £626, rounds off the £ACI top 10.

Marco Winters, head of animal genetics at AHDB, said:

"These block calving indexes have been formulated specifically to meet the needs of producers calving in tight blocks in either spring or autumn respectively.

"Some of these herds – particularly those calving in spring – will be using more than one breed, all of which can be compared on these seasonal calving rankings.

"For spring calvers, they will find bulls which tend to transmit less stature, higher milk quality and better fertility, with a strong emphasis on efficiency, durability and ease of management.

"Meanwhile, £ACI is formulated around the higher production generally required of an autumn block calving herd and takes account of the cost of winter feed,” he says. “For this reason, we recommend producers choose the index to suit their farming system to maximise their profitability."

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 as £PLI is calculated at a breed level, whereas the seasonal indexes are expressed across the breeds, and hence, use a different average.

Progenesis Wimbledon is in second spot