Quartet of Holstein bulls graduate to top of proven sire list

A brand-new number one bull headlines the daughter-proven Holstein sire list, published this week (6 April) by AHDB Dairy. Hurtgenlea Richard Charl not only graduates from the genomic list with flying colours, he also leaves a son in number one position amongst the young sires (see separate young genomic sires list).

Charl himself is an early DG Charley son from a Yoder dam, and combines high milk yields (his Predicted Transmitting Ability for milk is 1162kg) with favourable maintenance feed costs (-15) and a Type Merit of 1.61. His Profitable Lifetime Index is £774.

Three further new graduates in the top 10 are led by second-placed De-Su 14222 Kenobi (PLI £758), a Jedi son with a good Calf Survival Index (CS +3), high PTA protein (38.1kg), and favourable calving ease (0.9).

ABS Crimson, a son of Spectre, is new in third position and transmits high fat (50.4 kg, +0.15%), long Lifespan Index (LS +128 days) and good CS (+3). His PLI is £739.

The final new entry ranks fourth, in the high daughter fertility Jaltaoak son, S-S-I PR Renegade. A daughter Fertility Index (FI) of 11.7 helps earn him a PLI of £735.

A former number one £PLI sire, Bomaz AltaTopshot (by Supershot), ranks fifth, now with 99% reliable production figures helping to earn him a PLI of £728. Topshot-sired calves have shorter than average gestations (GL -5 days), while he transmits good Lameness Advantage (2.9) and long lifespans (LS +110 days).

Also former top 10 sires are Westcoast Yamaska (PLI £720), now in sixth position and transmitting favourable milk solids (+0.21% fat, +0.15% protein) and a good FI (9.1), and seventh-ranking Welcome Silver Griff (PLI £715). Griff transmits the highest percentage fat in the top 10 (+0.25%), and is joined by his paternal half-brother, AOT Silver Helix, who moves up to eighth position. Both sons of Seagull-Bay Silver, Helix transmits the more extreme production with a PTA 1273kg milk and 102.9kg combined fat plus protein.

The top 10 is rounded off by two bulls which rank highly for the newly launched HealthyCow (£HC). The first is former number one sire, Westcoast Guarantee, (PLI £706) offering superb udder health (-24 SCC, -4 Mastitis Index), high daughter fertility (FI 11.1) and fantastic Calf Survival (+3.2). These traits earn him an HC of £258.

Even more highly rated for HealthyCow is Seagull-Bay-MJ Applejax, now with a PLI of £700. With nearly 3000 UK milking daughters, this high reliability bull scores a whopping £293 HealthyCow, reflecting his daughters’ outstanding fertility (FI 17.6) and good udder health. Applejax also has the highest Type Merit in the top 10 (TM 1.92).

Marco Winters, head of animal genetics for AHDB Dairy says: “Many bulls in the daughter-proven top 20 have endured for many years, despite the fast pace we now see in genetic improvement. 

“These bulls continue to have a place in breeding strategies on many farms, where a track-record of predictable performance is highly valued.”

A table of the top 20 available Holstein bulls with a daughter proof ranked on the latest PLI (April 2021)appears below. Type Merit is supplied by Holstein UK.

Rank	£PLI	Rel%	Bull name	Milk kg	Fat kg	Ptn kg	Fat %	Ptn %	SCC	Mast	LA	CS	LS	FI	dCE %	£HC	GL	Maint	TB  Adv	TM	Sire	Supplier GB/NI
1	774	75	HURTGENLEA RICHARD CHARL	1162	48.4	35.0	0.02	-0.03	-13	-1	1.6	0.2	88	6.7	0.3	174	-2	-15	1.2	1.61	Charley	CBL
2	758	69	DE-SU 14222 KENOBI	981	38.1	38.0	-0.01	0.06	-16	-2	1.6	3.0	79	3.6	0.9	170	-2	2	2.3	1.03	Jedi	GEN
3	739	69	ABS CRIMSON	919	50.4	29.5	0.15	-0.01	-15	-1	1.6	3.0	128	6.1	-0.9	190	-1	0	1.4	0.61	Spectre	GEN
4	735	67	S-S-I PR RENEGADE	820	44.7	33.8	0.13	0.08	-11	0	1.3	0.0	110	11.7	-1.4	198	0	19	2.2	1.44	Jaltaoak	WWS
5	728	94	BOMAZ ALTATOPSHOT	976	43.1	35	0.04	0.03	-18	-2	2.9	1.1	110	1.1	-0.5	137	-5	-6	-0.5	0.24	Supershot	ALT/AIS
6	720	85	WESTCOAST YAMASKA	560	40.7	31.7	0.21	0.15	-6	-1	1.2	1.8	70	9.1	-1.2	176	-1	13	4.4	1.78	Afterburner	SMX
7	715	85	WELCOME SILVER GRIFF	794	54.2	34.3	0.25	0.09	5	2	1.9	1.6	70	6.1	-0.6	96	-1	9	2.0	1.19	Silver	WWS
8	710	94	AOT SILVER HELIX	1273	60.4	42.5	0.10	0.01	-2	2	-0.3	0.3	27	-2.3	-0.4	-1	-2	3	0.5	0.92	Silver	WWS
9	706	85	WESTCOAST GUARANTEE	488	29.1	25.0	0.11	0.10	-24	-4	1.6	3.2	110	11.1	-0.4	258	-1	-14	1.6	-0.45	Boastful	SMX
10	700	97	SEAGULL-BAY-MJ APPLEJAX	704	31.5	26.0	0.04	0.03	-21	-2	1.1	-0.2	104	17.6	0.0	293	-1	10	2.0	1.92	Supershot	GEN
11	695	93	VIEW-HOME LITTLEROCK	729	29.4	27.7	0.00	0.04	-16	-2	1.7	1.3	131	10.3	0.8	226	2	-20	-1.5	0.54	Cashcoin	SMX
12	691	88	ENDCO SUPREME	812	33.9	36.4	0.01	0.11	-25	-4	2.0	1.3	76	-2.9	-0.7	125	-1	0	3.3	0.42	Cashflow	CBL
13	687	94	SEAGULL-BAY JO DANCER	665	51.1	28.1	0.27	0.07	-20	-2	0.4	1.7	107	-1.7	-0.4	121	-1	1	2.9	1.06	Josuper	GEN
13	687	94	COOKIECUTTER HARPER	431	37.3	31.8	0.23	0.20	-6	-1	5.0	1.0	67	3.1	0.1	137	-1	7	-4.1	0.93	Balisto	GEN
15	680	81	DE-SU 13530 SEVILLE	691	34.9	28.1	0.08	0.06	-14	-1	0.6	2.1	64	12.0	1.0	211	-4	8	2.1	0.78	Supershot	GEN
16	679	84	LEANINGHOUSE HELIX 22137	662	33.6	27.7	0.08	0.07	-23	-3	2.1	-0.3	76	9.1	-0.5	237	-1	8	1.7	2.64	Hang-Time	WWS
17	677	96	SANDY-VALLEY AFTERBURNER	436	28.9	25.9	0.13	0.13	-23	-2	2.2	1.5	79	13.2	-0.7	261	-2	9	6.2	1.29	Flame	SMX
18	668	88	MR SEAGULL-BAY MALDEVES	749	49.3	29.8	0.21	0.06	2	2	2.5	1.5	43	5.0	-0.6	96	-1	4	-0.4	1.97	Altaspring	GEN
19	661	95	HOANSTER ZANZIBAR	573	27.2	25.3	0.05	0.07	-16	-2	2.9	3.1	143	12.3	0.1	242	-1	5	1.2	-0.98	Armitage	SMX
20	658	73	PINE-TREE JEVSTAR	675	29.2	26.1	0.02	0.04	-29	-2	1.9	3.0	146	4.2	-0.6	239	-1	3	3.1	1.21	Jedi	GEN

Source: AHDB Dairy. AIS = AI Services; ALT = Alta; CBL = Cogent Breeding; GEN = Genus ABS; SMX = Semex; WWS = World Wide Sires. £PLI = Profitable Lifetime Index; SCC = Somatic Cell Count; Mast = Mastitis; LA = Lameness Advantage; CS = Calf Survival; LS = Lifespan; FI = Fertility Index; dCE% = direct Calving Ease; DCI = Dairy Carcase Index; Maint = Maintenance; TB Adv = TB Advantage; £HC = HealthyCow; GL = Gestation Length; TM = Type Merit.