Stability at the top of the proven Holstein rankings sees Westcoast Guarantee hold on to the No 1 position in the new Profitable Lifetime Index rankings.

With a PLI of £697 Guarantee transmits great udder health (-27 SCC, -4 Mastitis) and strong calf survival (+3).

The new rankings published by AHDB Dairy this week also show Westcoast Yamaska from the same herd retains his No 2 position (PLI £672) with strong Predicted Transmitting Abilities (PTAs) for fat and protein percentages (+0.22% fat, +0.14% protein) and 1.9 Type Merit.

The former first placed proven sire, Bomaz AltaTopshot stands equal third (PLI £655), now with 268 UK daughters contributing to his figures. He transmits high yields, most notably for protein (32.7kg), and has the best Lameness Advantage in the top 10 at +3.6.

Equal third is the high fat producer, Welcome Silver Griff with 46.6kg and 0.23% fat.

Two bulls also tie for fifth, both with PLIs of £651. Both View-Holme Littlerock and new entrant, Bomaz Damien Kanzo transmit good daughter Lifespan Indexes (+153 and +156 days respectively), and their calves are predicted to be easily born (direct calving ease, 0.6 and 0.8 respectively).

Hoanster Zanzibar now ranks seventh, with a high daughter Fertility Index of 13.6 and good Calf Survival at +3 and a PLI of £648.

Moving up to eighth position is Seagull-Bay-MJ Applejax (PLI £645), now with nearly 2000 UK milking daughters contributing to his high reliability figures. He transmits great daughter fertility (FI 18) and a high Type Merit of 2.07. He is the second son of Cogent Supershot in the top 10 proven sires list, alongside his paternal half-brother, AltaTopshot.

The equal ninth sires Stantons Close Up and Endco Supreme, complete the top 10, with PLIs of £640.

“Producers using Holsteins will find a wealth of choice within the breed, as it continues to make rapid genetic improvement, particularly for health and fitness traits, said Marco Winters, head of animal genetics for AHDB Dairy.

“It is encouraging to see so many bulls near the top of this list which have daughters milking in the UK, indicating how this country’s dairy farmers are making good use of young sires at the earliest opportunity when they were offered with genomic indexes.

“Eight of the top 10 have daughters milking in UK herds, which is a credit both to UK producers and the genomic evaluation system through which the bulls have graduated.”