Small reshuffle for Friesians and stability for Jersey and Ayrshire breeds

A minor reshuffle amongst the British Friesians sees Inch Persistent take over the top spot in the Profitable Lifetime Index rankings, published today (6 Dec) by AHDB. 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).

Friesians

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 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, transmitting high protein (15.2 kg and +0.08%) and earning a PLI of £261.

Jerseys

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 at 258.

VR Vilano, ranked second, is one of the stronger production transmitters of the red and white breed, with 357kg milk. He combines this with good daughter lifespan (104) and earns a PLI of £411.

New in third place is the good all-rounder, VR Venom whose PLI of £355 keeps him ahead of VR Viljar Vilperi (PLI £314) and VR Fabu (PLI £256), ranked fourth and fifth. Both are milk quality bulls, Vilperi with the higher fat% at +0.22, while Fabu transmits the best udder health of the top five sires (-22 SCC, -3 SCC) and superb lifespan (159).

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 pushed up 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 today, so improving the breed’s reliabilities.

“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.”