All-round Holstein Sire Choice Widens In Latest UK Bull List
15/02/05

The choice of all-round improving internationally-proven Holstein sires available to British dairymen has increased from 25 to 30, according to the latest MDC Evaluations quarterly bull proofs published this week.

Holstein UK short-listing using the independent web-based Bull Selector tool freely available through www.holstein-uk.org , identifies a total of 91 sires with a reasonable improvement base of at least £50 PLI combined with a milk proof of 400 kg or more and a fat percentage proof better than - 0.15%.

Excluding CVM positive bulls cuts this list to 81 animals. Of these there are 30 who also rate at least +1.0 for both Mammary and Legs & Feet, providing a secure starting point for specific bull selection.

“Short-listing sires in this way gives you the security that any individual you choose is unlikely to have a major deficiency in some aspect of his breeding,” pointed out Chris Shepherd of Holstein UK. “It also ensures you have enough bulls to choose from to meet your own particular herd needs.

“If your priority is fat percentage improvement, for instance, you'll find fully 10 bulls on the initial shortlist with positive fat percentage proofs. The most impressive of these continues to be Urnieta Zelatii II (£73 PLI) who combines a 0.16% fat proof with 557 kg milk, a Type Merit of 1.21 and SCC of -14.

“Alternatively if you want fat and protein percentage improvement, Delta Peridot (£67 PLI) stands out at 0.14% fat, 0.02% protein and 1.87 Type Merit, albeit with a milk proof of only 441kg.”

Herds looking more towards yield will find 16 bulls with production proofs of 600 kg or more on the shortlist. Picston Shottle (864 kg milk; 4.04 Type Merit; -19 SCC; £87 PLI) is the clear leader here, with Latuch Convincer Farley (802 kg milk; 2.16 Type Merit; 6 SCC; £72 PLI) and Silverpost Sinatra (790 kg milk; 2.39 Type Merit; 2 SCC; £69 PLI) also looking good.

Equally, those keen on particular type improvement can choose from 14 bulls with both Mammary and Legs & Feet scores in excess of 1.5. Leaders in this case are Picston Shottle (3.39 Mammary; 3.73 Legs & Feet), Braedale Goldwyn (2.61 Mammary; 2.95 Legs & Feet) and Manager (2.58 Mammary; 2.78 Legs & Feet).

“If especially reliable proofs are essential then you have 10 bulls rated at 87% production reliability or more and seven with a 87%+ type proof reliability,” Chris Shepherd added. “The most reliable of these is Crichel Principal (at 99% reliability for both production and type) bringing a 724 kg milk improvement with a Type Merit of 2.28 and PLI of £63.

“Sadly, no bulls feature on all four of the more specific shortlists,” he observed. “But Picston Shottle, Crichel Principal, Silverpost Sinatra and Moet Lapley (£51 PLI; 405 kg milk; 0.04% fat; 0.03% protein; 1.51 Mammary; 2.12 Legs & Feet) all appear on three.”