New entrant peaks in pole position

A new entrant in the shape of Peak AltaOrvar has hit the number one position on the genomic Holstein sires list, published today (5 December) by AHDB.

Ranked on Profitable Lifetime Index (£PLI), this young bull – sired by AltaZeolite and out of an AltaPlinko dam – is predicted to excel for daughter fertility, with a Fertility Index (FI) amongst the breed leaders, at 12.8. He also has high Predicted Transmitting Abilities (PTAs) for protein at 37.2kg and +0.12%, all contributing to his PLI of £925.

In taking the lead, AltaOrvar edges the former front-runner, Denovo 2776 Leeds, into second position, now with a PLI of £901. Leeds’ PTAs of 1308kg milk and 91.3kg fat plus protein combined, indicates his daughters will have exceptional production.

Moving up into third position is Peak AltaMorpheus (PLI £897), also the highest lifespan transmitter in the top 10. Daughters of this bull are expected to live 168 days longer than average.

Another former leader, Wilra SSI Faneca Ebersol, retains a top five position, now ranking fourth, with a PLI of £889. Ebersol transmits outstanding udder health (-3 Mastitis, -28 SCC), alongside other fitness attributes, making him the highest ranking of the top 10 bulls for the HealthyCow index (£270). This means the improved health he transmits is calculated to be worth an average £270 for each of his daughters over their lifetimes, compared with a sire whose HC is zero.

Progenesis AltaVandyke is a new entry in fifth position (PLI £887), transmitting exceptional weights of fat at 55.6kg, combined with 38.4kg protein. His SCC of -26 is also a standout feature.

In sixth place is DG Peace (PLI £886), transmitting great feed efficiency (260 FeedAdvantage), contributed to by his highly favourable maintenance feed score (-22) as well as high production (1102kg milk).

Another two new entrants rank seventh and eighth, the first of which, Denovo 19495 Hargrove-P (PLI £885), is the best FeedAdvantage bull in the top 10, which in turn helps him earn the breed-leading position for EnviroCow, at 4.9. This indicates that his daughters are predicted to have the lowest carbon footprint of the breed for each kg of milk they produce.

Eighth ranking Progenesis Pineapple has a PLI of £880, reflecting, in particular, his excellent protein transmission (41.6kg, +0.16%). He is also one of the highest type transmitters in the top 10, with a Type Merit of 1.38.

Peak AltaKalon sees little change, now in ninth place, offering a good health profile (£255 HealthyCow) backed up by long daughter lifespans (LS +137 days) and high fertility (FI 11.3), while new entrant, Peak AltaCalabria, rounds off the top 10 with a PLI of £873 and an impressive 92kg fat plus protein.

Other noteworthy bulls in the top 20 are Denovo 80044 Highview (PLI £860), with the highest HealthyCow index of this group, at £308, and Peak BullPocalypse (PLI £858), making his debut in 16th place and offering a TM of 1.47 and high HealthyCow at £292.

Marco Winters, head of animal genetics for AHDB, says: “We know that using £PLI as your primary selection index is the best way to increase profitability on a commercial dairy unit, and the top 100 list shows the remarkable way in which many young sires can help achieve this.

“Most of these bulls transmit impressive production but increasingly, they excel for health, fertility and lifespan, with the average daughter of the best bulls predicted to live over six months longer than those of an average bull.

“All of this contributes to continued improvements in their environmental credentials, seen as their EnviroCow indexes continue to climb, emphasising the role genetics can play in addressing the needs of the industry to cut carbon footprint.” 

For the complete list of available bulls, please visit the AHDB website.

A table of the top 20 available Holstein genomic young sires ranked on the latest PLI (December 2023) appears below. Type Merit is supplied by Holstein UK.

TABLE 1: TOP 20 HOLSTEIN BULLS WITH GENOMIC INDEXES RANKED ON PROFITABLE LIFETIME INDEX (£PLI) DECEMBER 2023

 

Rank	£PLI	Bull name	£PLI Rel%	Milk kg	Fat kg	Ptn kg	Fat %	Ptn %	SCC	Mast	LAdv	CS	LS	FI	GL	TB Adv	£HC	Feed Adv	Env Cow	TM	Sire x maternal grandsire	Supplier GB/NI
1	925	PEAK ALTAORVAR	66	804	44.8	37.2	0.14	0.12	-17	-1	1.7	-0.5	128	12.8	-3	0.7	231	181	4.5	0.65	AltaZeolite x AltaPlinko	ALT
2	901	DENOVO 2776 LEEDS	66	1308	50.9	40.4	-0.02	-0.03	-19	-2	1.5	2	146	5.1	0	0.7	205	208	4.7	0.65	Laker x Free Billy	GEN
3	897	PEAK ALTAMORPHEUS	66	695	46.5	30.5	0.21	0.08	-23	-2	1.3	2.4	168	10.6	-1	2.6	267	161	4.4	-0.18	Curfew x Crimson	ALT
4	889	WILRA SSI FANECA EBERSOL	67	668	48.1	27.9	0.24	0.07	-28	-3	2.9	1	119	10.1	0	2	270	198	4.1	0.7	Faneca x Legacy	WWS
5	887	PROGENESIS ALTAVANDYKE	66	937	55.6	38.4	0.2	0.08	-26	-2	2.7	0.7	110	2.3	-1	0.4	171	129	4.4	0.69	AltaZemini x AltaPlinko	ALT
6	886	DG PEACE	67	1102	46	41.1	0.02	0.05	-15	-2	1.2	1.4	95	4.4	-3	2.8	158	260	4.6	0.59	Captain x Klutch	CBL
7	885	DENOVO 19495 HARGROVE-P-ET	66	758	50.7	38.4	0.22	0.15	2	1	1.9	2.3	82	4.1	0	2.2	103	276	4.9	0.42	Memorial P x Acura	GEN
8	880	PROGENESIS PINEAPPLE	66	831	49.7	41.6	0.18	0.16	-16	-1	2.1	0.9	98	1.5	-2	2.5	141	112	4.3	1.38	Holysmokes x AltaSohot	SMX
9	877	PEAK ALTAKALON	66	595	40	32.8	0.18	0.15	-21	-2	1.9	1	137	11.3	-4	2.7	255	171	4.2	0.66	AltaKevlow x AltaZazzle	ALT
10	873	PEAK ALTACALABRIA	66	819	51.4	40.6	0.2	0.15	-15	-1	2.1	0.5	67	4.5	-4	2	146	106	4.1	0.83	All Access x AltaZazzle	ALT/AIS
11	871	PINE-TREE PEAK ALTAHAJI	66	864	51.2	35	0.18	0.07	-22	-2	2.1	1.5	104	5.1	0	0.6	178	221	4.5	0.39	Greycup x Paco	ALT
12	863	PEAK ALTASEVERUS	67	766	40.5	34.2	0.11	0.1	-25	-3	1.1	-1.4	146	16	-2	1.8	251	143	4.2	-0.28	AltaPlinko x Crimson	ALT
13	862	COGENT KOEPON ROCKY	67	954	43.6	37.4	0.06	0.06	-15	-2	1.9	1.9	88	5.5	-3	3.4	172	248	4.4	0.45	Captain x Kenobi	CBL
14	860	DG SPACE	66	747	41.4	33	0.13	0.09	-23	-3	1.4	2.8	95	9.8	-2	1.6	261	128	3.7	1.16	Captain x Charl	CBL
14	860	DENOVO 80044 HIGHVIEW	66	371	40.7	25.6	0.3	0.15	-22	-3	1.7	2	186	14	0	3.6	308	117	4.1	0.47	Elver P x Acura	GEN
16	858	PEAK BULLPOCALYPSE-ET	66	782	42.1	32.8	0.12	0.08	-22	-2	3.9	2.2	140	11.2	-4	0.8	292	60	3.7	1.47	AltaGadzook x No Excuse	UKD
17	857	PROGENESIS RADIOWAVE	66	817	43.3	33.3	0.12	0.07	-22	-2	2.8	1.1	143	11.3	-1	1.9	266	97	3.9	0.9	Royalflush x AltaPlinko	JSG
18	852	PEAK POWERHOUSE	66	979	49.6	42.5	0.11	0.11	-12	-2	1.4	0.8	107	1	-1	2.9	139	100	4.3	1.26	Wheelhouse x AltaZazzle	UKD/AIS
19	850	HUL-STEIN DEMETRUIS	66	648	49.6	28.1	0.27	0.08	-18	-1	1.6	3	116	5.2	0	0.6	205	250	4.4	0.7	Hercules x Charl	GEN
20	848	DENOVO ACTIVATE	66	581	46.2	31.3	0.26	0.14	-5	-1	1	1.3	137	9.2	-1	3.4	205	163	4.3	0.58	Aladdin x Heroic	GEN

 

Source: AHDB Dairy.  ALT = Alta; CBL = Cogent Breeding; GEN = Genus ABS; JSG = Jetstream Genetics; UKD = UK Sires Direct; WWS = World Wide Sires UK. £PLI = Profitable Lifetime Index; Rel = Reliability; SCC = Somatic Cell Count; Mast = Mastitis; LAdv = Lameness Advantage; CS = Calf Survival; LS = Lifespan; FI = Fertility Index;  GL = Gestation Length; TB Adv = TB Advantage; £HC = HealthyCow; Feed Adv = Feed Advantage; Env Cow = EnviroCow; TM = Type Merit.