Top young sire confirms his green credentials

Young sire, Genosource Captain, reaffirms his credentials as the leading Profitable Lifetime Index sire in the genomic £PLI ranking, published today (10 August) by AHDB Dairy. 

Weighing in with a PLI of £944, at the same time, he also stakes his claim as the leading sire ranked on the newly launched EnviroCow index, with a score of 5.1. Contributing to this is a remarkable Feed Advantage score of 260. This means his daughters are predicted to save 260kg of dry matter intake during each lactation, compared with daughters of a bull of comparable production whose Feed Advantage is zero.

Both EnviroCow and Feed Advantage (see panel, below) are published for the first time ever with this month’s AHDB rankings, and are revealing that many of the top £PLI sires have superb environmental and feed efficiency credentials alongside their general outstanding performance.

“This association comes as no surprise, as in £PLI, we are already identifying the most efficient production animals with the best health,” says Marco Winters, Head of Animal Genetics for AHDB. “However, EnviroCow and Feed Advantage help pinpoint those with the best environmental credentials including efficiency of converting feed into milk.”

Number two in the £PLI ranking is the new entrant, Wilra Knowhow (PLI £909). This Kenobi son, transmits solid production alongside favourable health traits, and is another bull with excellent Feed Advantage and EnviroCow credentials.

Climbing up the rankings into third place is Denovo 16219 Aladdin (PLI £906). With a massive Predicted Transmitting Ability (PTA) for fat of 57.1kg, this bull also shows highly favourable Maintenance and Feed Advantage indexes.

Peak AltaPlinko consolidates the top five ranking he achieved in April, now with a PLI of £895 and superb production, including one of the highest PTAs for weight of protein in the Holstein breed, at 43.4kg.

Denovo 3303 Citizen moves up into fifth, (PLI £880) thanks to strong indexes for somatic cell count (-21), daughter fertility (12.2) and lifespan (+159 days). This performance contributes to Citizen’s excellent score of £300 for HealthyCow. This index was launched last April and rolls all of the health traits into one financial figure, which represents the saving each bull is predicted to pass to his daughters in their lifetimes through their better health.

Next up is Progenesis Mahomes (PLI £875), another strong health transmitter (HealthyCow £275), with an exceptional milk PTA, at 1,023kg.

UK-bred Boghill Glamour Applaud ranks seventh, with a PLI of £871. His outstanding Lifespan (+183 days) and daughter Fertility Index (12.9) are specialist features of this Appeal son.

New in eighth place is Badger SSI Big Al Newman. This udder health specialist (-28 SCC, -4 Mastitis) also ranks well for Fertility Index (12.5), contributing to a remarkable daughter Lifespan of 244, meaning his daughters are predicted to live 244 days longer than a bull scoring zero for LS. It’s no surprise to see these scores rolled into a high index for HealthyCow, which, at £358, is one of the best in the breed. Newman also transmits the highest type in the top 10, with a Type Merit of 2.23.

Ninth ranking Siemers Brave (PLI £865) is a production specialist with 1,204kg milk and 44.3kg protein, while 10th place (PLI £863) is claimed by three bulls. First is the newcomer and all-rounder, Denovo 16441 Millennium; next is high EnviroCow ranking Denovo 16325 Sentiment, who also transmits one of the highest PTAs for fat weight at 60.2kg; and then comes Bomaz Episode, one of the best milk quality transmitters at the top of the rankings, with +0.38 fat% and +0.15 protein%.

Newcomers just outside the top 10

Also new to the top 20 since the April release are 14th-ranking Progenesis Phenomenon (ABS Crimson x Progenesis Marius) with a PLI of £856 and equal 17th, Denovo 15969 Atlantis (Denovo 7921 Atrium x De-Su 13050 Spectre), with a PLI of £854.

Not to be missed is the highest-ranking newcomer of UK breeding, Huddlestone Slindon (PLI £834), whose daughter Fertility Index of 14.7 is amongst the best of the Holstein breed. Sired by Denovo Invictus and from a Seagull-Bay-MJ Applejax dam, this bull with a thoroughly international pedigree hails from the Gue family’s Sussex herd, providing proof that an individual dairy producer can still compete with the might of the international breeding programmes.

New indexes: EnviroCow and Feed Advantage

EnviroCow is a new genetic index designed to help farmers breed more environmentally friendly cows, launched by AHDB Dairy with the August genetic evaluations. It incorporates cow lifespan, milk production, fertility and the brand-new index, Feed Advantage. Expressed on a scale of about -3 to +3, the highest positive figures are achieved by bulls whose daughters are predicted to create the least greenhouse gas emissions in their lifetimes for each kilogram of solids-corrected milk they produce.

Feed Advantage is a new genetic index which will help producers breed animals which use the least amount of feed for their production needs. Expressed as a Predicted Transmitting Ability (PTA), the index represents the kilograms of dry matter intake (DMI) saved during each lactation. The index has been developed following decades of research on the Langhill herd at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC). From DNA patterns identified in the most feed-efficient cows, genomic indexes have been developed. 

A table of the top 20 available Holstein genomic young sires ranked on the latest PLI (August 2021)appears below.

Type Merit is supplied by Holstein UK.

Rank	£PLI	Bull name	£PLI Rel%	Milk kg	Fat kg	Ptn kg	Fat %	Ptn %	SCC	Mast	LA	CS	LS	FI	GL	TB Adv	£HC	Feed Adv	Env Cow	TM	Sire x maternal  grandsire	Supplier GB/NI
1	944	GENOSOURCE CAPTAIN	63	1148	56.8	39.6	0.11	0.02	-12	-2	2.7	0.9	137	9.6	-4	2.1	235	260	5.1	1.40	Charl x Sabre	CBL
2	909	WILRA KNOWHOW	64	908	49.3	39.3	0.14	0.10	-20	-2	1.6	0.8	88	8.0	-2	1.1	196	238	4.7	0.41	Kenobi x Spectre	GEN
3	906	DENOVO 16219 ALADDIN	63	846	57.1	36.6	0.25	0.10	-8	-1	1.5	1.6	128	7.3	-2	0	193	195	4.8	1.24	Acura x Lopez	GEN
4	895	PEAK ALTAPLINKO	64	1043	53.1	43.4	0.12	0.10	-15	-1	1.9	1.1	85	5.1	-3	-0.2	153	153	4.5	0.77	Marius x Altatopshot	ALT/AIS
5	880	DENOVO 3303 CITIZEN	64	835	51.5	30.8	0.2	0.04	-21	-2	2.3	3	159	12.2	0	1	300	130	4.2	1.28	Crosby x Spectre	GEN
6	875	PROGENESIS MAHOMES	63	1023	43.4	36.1	0.03	0.03	-22	-2	2.1	1.7	137	10.1	-1	2.2	275	106	3.9	1.74	Eldorado x Milktime	SMX
7	871	BOGHILL GLAMOUR APPLAUD	63	738	48.5	30.1	0.21	0.07	-19	-2	1.2	-0.3	183	12.9	-1	1.6	274	123	4.3	1.21	Appeal x Medley	GEN
8	867	BADGER SSI BIG AL NEWMAN	63	785	46.9	24.8	0.17	-0.01	-28	-4	0.6	1.8	244	12.5	0	0.7	358	177	4.5	2.23	BigAl x Jodandy	WWS
9	865	SIEMERS BRAVE	63	1204	46.5	44.3	-0.02	0.05	-13	-1	1	0.6	95	7.4	-1	1	169	169	4.4	1.13	Timberlake x Trajectory	SMX
10	863	DENOVO 16441 MILLENNIUM	63	596	56	24.9	0.36	0.06	-21	-2	2.2	-0.3	174	10.0	-5	2.2	257	140	4.2	0.91	Heroic x Medley	GEN
10	863	DENOVO 16325 SENTIMENT	64	956	60.2	39.4	0.24	0.09	-8	-1	1.1	-0.1	143	3.1	-1	1.6	141	133	4.7	1.74	Acura x Spectre	GEN
10	863	BOMAZ EPISODE	63	588	56.8	32.8	0.38	0.15	-14	-2	0.6	-0.4	128	11.3	-1	2.6	208	62	4.1	0.46	Entity x Altarobson	GEN
13	860	BOMAZ PLATT	63	419	51.1	26.7	0.39	0.15	-23	-1	1	-0.2	131	14.3	-3	2.8	258	38	3.6	0.83	Prince x Samuri	GEN
14	856	PROGENESIS PHENOMENON	63	687	40.6	31.4	0.15	0.10	-23	-2	1.4	2.5	180	13.0	-1	2.5	305	122	4.2	0.85	Crimson x Marius	SMX
15	855	DENOVO 14566 CROSBY	66	998	46.8	36.2	0.07	0.04	-27	-3	3.2	3.7	110	3.5	0	3.1	239	167	4.1	0.8	Charley x Rubicon	GEN
15	855	PINE-TREE BUTCH	63	757	58.8	35.8	0.32	0.12	-6	0	2.8	2.3	76	5.3	-3	1.3	162	137	4.2	1.92	Heroic x Skywalker	GEN
17	854	DENOVO 3409 CALLEN	63	770	52.1	29.7	0.24	0.05	-24	-3	1.2	2.6	149	12.5	0	1.8	290	55	3.8	0.60	Crimson x Matters	GEN
17	854	DENOVO 15969 ATLANTIS	64	632	55.8	28.5	0.34	0.09	-12	-2	2	-0.1	162	6.8	-1	1.6	214	149	4.4	1.94	Atrium x Spectre	GEN
19	846	DENOVO 3426 AVERY	63	776	58.1	31	0.3	0.06	-13	-1	1.6	2.2	146	7.2	-1	1.7	218	134	4.4	1.41	Crimson x Yoder	GEN
20	844	DENOVO 1549 EDISON	64	707	60.5	30.6	0.36	0.08	-14	-2	2.2	0.4	122	7.1	-1	1	195	103	4.1	0.85	Entity x Spectre	GEN
20	844	STGEN BETTERMENT	63	640	43.4	28.6	0.2	0.08	-23	-3	2.8	1.5	143	11.5	-3	1.3	286	117	3.8	0.92	AltaZarek x Achiever	CBL

Source: AHDB Dairy.  AIS = AI Services; ALT = Alta; CBL = Cogent Breeding; GEN = Genus ABS; SMX = Semex; WWS = World Wide Sires. £PLI = Profitable Lifetime Index; Rel = Reliability; SCC = Somatic Cell Count; Mast = Mastitis; LA = 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.