Denovo 2776 Leeds is the new number one young sire in the genomic index rankings for Holstein bulls, published today (8 August) by AHDB. 

This Sandy-Valley Laker son increases his Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI) to £914, thanks to a massive Predicted Transmitting Ability (PTA) for milk of 1,307kg, which he combines with high weights of fat and protein at 52.1kg and 40.6kg respectively. 

Leeds also scores well for Feed Advantage (215), which can be attributed to his effective transmission of feed conversion efficiency and a favourable reduced Maintenance feed index (-10). With the additional help of his good daughter Lifespan (LS) index, he earns impressive green credentials and an EnviroCow index of 4.7.

Second position sees the arrival of new entrant, Denovo 80044 Highview (PLI £902), a transmitter of high milk components at +0.30% fat and +0.15% protein. This Winstar Elver son also transmits excellent mastitis resistance (Mast -3), long lifespans (LS +186 days) and outstanding daughter fertility (FI +14.0) – a combination, which earns him the highest HealthyCow index in the top 20 (HC 313).

Former number one sire, Wilra SSI Faneca Ebersol, now ranks third (PLI £896), and has earned the best overall udder health credentials in the top 20. Ebersol combines -28 SCC with -3 Mastitis, as well as a high udder composite score of 1.50. 

Moving up to fourth from seventh position is Peak Powerhouse, now with a PLI of £893. The highest protein improver in the top 20, he transmits an impressive 42.9kg.

DG Peace edges down into fifth place, with a great daughter Maintenance index (-21) and a high Feed Advantage (254), demonstrating all-round feed efficiency.

Sharing sixth place are stablemates, Peak AltaSeverus and Peak AltaKalon, with PLIs of £884. AltaSeverus has the best daughter Fertility Index in the top 20 at 15.4 while AltaKalon excels in protein percent (+0.15%) and has a HealthyCow index of 255.

In eighth place, with a PLI of £878, is Winstar Maserati P. One of the strongest fat transmitters amongst the leading sires (54.9kg and +0.33% fat), he is followed closely by his paternal half-brother, Denovo 17835 Lennon-P (both by Mendel P) in ninth place (PLI £875). Lennon transmits good lifespan (159) and is the highest udder conformation transmitter in the top 20 at 2.58.

The new entrant, Pine-Tree Peak AltaHaji, rounds off the top 10, transmitting a solid weight of fat (50.8kg) and low cell counts (SCC -22). He has a PLI of £872, which is matched by his stablemate, Pine-Tree Denovo Aleo. Aleo’s PTA for fat is high at 51.4kg and +0.29%, which he combines with excellent Maintenance (-26).

Other new entrants in the top 20 are Progenesis Radiowave (PLI £869), ranking 12th, and Peak AltaMasquerade (PLI £856) who ranks 19th.

“The new generation of young sires offers so many of the traits required for commercial milk producers to edge down both costs of production and their environmental impact while cost-effectively producing milk,” says Marco Winters, head of animal genetics for AHDB. “High fat is a recurring theme, as are long daughter lifespans, good daughter fertility and feed efficiency, all of which are important contributors to economic milk production.

“Many of these traits contribute to both HealthyCow and EnviroCow, which we’d recommend are considerations in every breeding strategy. Each of these indexes gives an at-a-glance figure of the bull’s likelihood of breeding, respectively, healthy daughters with the least environmental impact – factors which are growing priorities of both milk buyers and dairy producers.” 

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 (August 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) AUGUST 2023