Bulls with improved fat and protein, combined with low maintenance costs and longer lifespans are continuing to make their mark on the Profitable Lifetime Index (£PLI) genetic rankings for daughter-proven Holstein bulls, according to the latest listing.

The rankings, published this week by AHDB Dairy, show the Planet son, Kings-Ransom Erdman, has regained his No 1 position, with a £PLI of £645 and breed-leading Lifespan transmitter score of an amazing +0.9, which is equivalent to an extra nine months of productive life. Erdman also shares the strongest Maintenance score of -22 in the top 20, meaning he breeds small, efficient daughters with the lowest predicted maintenance feeding cost, calculated through a combination of stature and other body traits.

As well as leading the proven Holstein sires, Erdman ranks fourth in the multi-breed Spring Calving Index (£SCI) rankings, underlining the benefits his lower-maintenance daughters, fertility (+12.3 Fertility index) and low SCC score (-20) bring to spring block calving herds.

New entry in second place is the all-rounder Shamrock son, Lepacha Loberry. He confirms his earlier genomic predictions with a £PLI of £618, and transmits a good balance of production and fitness traits with a strong Maintenance score of -17.

Former No 1, Gen-I-Beq Lavaman moves to third place. Now with 531 UK daughters contributing to his production proof, he is the highest ranked reliability sire, transmitting high milk quality (+0.14 for both Fat% and Protein%) and with the best TB Advantage score in the top 20 – around 2.8% fewer of his daughters are predicted to become infected during a TB Another new entry is in fourth, in the shape of De-Su Rookie 11057 with a £PLI of £608. A Bookem son which transmits high Fat at +37.9kg and an excellent SCC score (-21), he is also the third-highest Type Merit transmitter in the top 20 at +1.81 – the highest being +1.98 from another Bookem son in S-S-I Bookem Morgan, which comes in at No 12.

High Protein at +24.2kg and +0.10% help Delta G-Force to No 5 in the rankings, and holding his position at No 6 is United-Pride Erdman Evan, a son of the top sire Erdman which matches his sire’s excellent Maintenance score of -22.

Co-op Robust Cabriolet climbs to seventh with high Fat% (+0.19) and excellent direct and maternal Calving Ease scores at +1.4 and +3.2 respectively. This Robust son ranks just ahead of his paternal half-brother and great daughter-Fertility Index transmitter (+14.5) De-Su Ransom in eighth.

Completing the top rankings are Tollenaars AltaMicro at ninth and Teemar Shamrock Alphabet at 10.

Commenting on the genetic trends amongst the Holstein bulls, Marco Winters, head of animal genetics for AHDB Dairy, says: “The strengthening in Fat kg, Fat% and Protein% scores within the top 10 bulls show the response to the changing milk contracts and will afford plenty of choice to farmers aiming for these traits.

“But notable overall is the quality of fitness traits displayed by the top £PLI sires, in particular in the Fertility Index, which is now having a direct impact on cow fertility in the national herd. The Fertility Index calculation is based on insemination data, calving interval and condition score, and the improvements we see in bulls being used since the index was introduced in 2005 represent a reduction of around 2.5% in the 56-day non-return rate and six fewer days in calving interval.”

See table below

?

TOP 20 DAUGHTER-PROVEN HOLSTEIN BULLS RANKED ON PROFITABLE LIFETIME INDEX (£PLI) AUGUST 2016

Rank £PLI Rel % Bull name Milk kg Fat

kg Ptn kg Fat

% Ptn

% SCC LS FI dCE

% Maint TB Adv. TM Sire Supplier

GB/NI Avail sexed GB/NI

1 645 84 KINGS-RANSOM ERDMAN 513 24.2 15.2 0.05 -0.02 -20 0.9 12.3 0.5 -22 0.7 0.36 Planet BUL/AIS Y/N

2 618 74 LEPACHA LOBERRY 588 26.2 19.4 0.04 0.00 -14 0.5 10.2 1.2 -17 2.8 1.12 Shamrock SMX N

3 610 95 GEN-I-BEQ LAVAMAN 276 22.4 20.7 0.14 0.14 -3 0.2 12.7 0.6 -5 2.8 1.39 ManOman SMX N

4 608 76 DE-SU ROOKIE 11057 630 37.9 21.5 0.15 0.01 -21 0.4 7.4 -0.2 10 1.0 1.81 Bookem WWS N

5 597 80 DELTA G-FORCE 478 26.6 24.2 0.09 0.10 -14 0.5 4.7 0.6 5 1.48 ManOman CRV/AIS N

6 596 73 UNITED-PRIDE ERDMAN EVAN 578 26.0 18.7 0.04 0.00 -17 0.6 11.9 0.2 -22 1.5 -0.30 Erdman AIS N

7 595 79 CO-OP ROBUST CABRIOLET 431 33.1 18.3 0.19 0.05 -3 0.5 7.4 1.4 -16 0.5 0.99 Robust BUL/AIS Y/N

8 590 79 DE-SU RANSOM 122 15.0 11.5 0.13 0.09 -12 0.7 14.5 1.2 7 1.0 1.35 Robust TAG Y

9 589 75 TOLLENAARS ALTAMICRO 466 21.2 17.7 0.03 0.03 -16 0.5 13.4 1.1 -10 0.6 0.38 Plan ALT/GG Y

10 587 77 TEEMAR SHAMROCK ALPHABET 496 16.4 17.7 -0.04 0.02 -6 0.6 13.6 2.4 -17 2.3 0.42 Shamrock GEN N

11 585 77 S-S-I SHAMROCK MYSTIC 499 22.8 17.8 0.04 0.02 -19 0.5 13.5 -0.5 2 2.2 1.14 Shamrock WWS Y

12 575 80 S-S-I BOOKEM MORGAN 642 27.0 21.2 0.02 0.01 -14 0.5 10.3 -1.0 10 0.7 1.98 Bookem WWS N

13 573 80 NO-FLA EMULATE 767 33.2 22.3 0.03 -0.03 -12 0.5 9.9 -0.9 10 1.0 1.41 Bookem WWS N

14 570 76 CO-OP ROBUST JITTERBUG 103 20.9 9.9 0.21 0.08 -13 0.5 13.1 2.0 -9 0.1 1.18 Robust BUL/AIS Y/N

15 567 75 DENROB JRS PAPANICK 378 15.0 14.9 0.00 0.03 -18 0.6 8.7 0.1 -18 2.4 1.33 Shamrock GEN N