Stability and UK daughters bolster proven Holstein indexes

Stability at the top of the proven Holstein rankings sees Westcoast Guarantee hold on to the number one position in the Profitable Lifetime Index rankings, published today (1 Dec).

With a PLI of £697 Guarantee transmits excellent udder health (-27 SCC, -4 Mastitis) and strong calf survival (+3).

From the same herd, Westcoast Yamaska remains in second position (PLI £672) with strong Predicted Transmitting Abilities (PTAs) for fat and protein percentages (+0.22% fat, +0.14% protein) and 1.9 Type Merit.

A former number one proven sire, Bomaz AltaTopshot takes equal third position (PLI £655), now with 268 UK daughters contributing to his figures. He transmits high yields, most notably for protein (32.7kg), and has the best Lameness Advantage in the top 10 at +3.6.

Equal third ranking is the high fat producer, Welcome Silver Griff with 46.6kg and 0.23% fat.

Two bulls also tie for fifth position, both with PLIs of £651. Both View-Holme Littlerock and new entrant, Bomaz Damien Kanzo transmit good daughter Lifespan Indexes (+153 and +156 days respectively), and their calves are predicted to be easily born (direct calving ease, 0.6 and 0.8 respectively).

Hoanster Zanzibar now ranks seventh, with a high daughter Fertility Index of 13.6 and good Calf Survival at +3 and a PLI of £648.

Moving up to eighth position is Seagull-Bay-MJ Applejax (PLI £645), now with nearly 2,000 UK milking daughter contributing to his high reliability figures. He transmits outstanding daughter fertility (FI 18) and a high Type Merit of 2.07. He is the second son of Cogent Supershot in the top 10 proven sires list, alongside his paternal half-brother, AltaTopshot.

The equal ninth ranking Stantons Close up and Endco Supreme, complete the top 10, with PLIs of £640.

Marco Winters, head of animal genetics for AHDB Dairy comments: “Producers using Holsteins will find a wealth of choice within the breed, as it continues to make rapid genetic improvement, particularly for health and fitness traits.

“It is encouraging to see so many bulls near the top of this list which have daughters milking in the UK, indicating how this country’s dairy farmers are making good use of young sires at the earliest opportunity when they were offered with genomic indexes.

“Eight of the top 10 have daughters milking in UK herds, which is a credit both to UK producers and the genomic evaluation system through which the bulls have graduated.”