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Holstein bull Larcrest Commend has moved up the rankings of several UK-based breeding indexes in the latest run of genetic evaluations published by AHDB Dairy this week.
Commend moved to the top spot in the proven Holstein sires list, with a Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI) of £777. The Balisto son has maintained high Predicted Transmitting Ability (PTA) for milk quality, with fat and protein at +0.22% and +0.11% respectively; and as more of his daughters enter lactation, milk volume has moved upwards to +519kg.
Weigeline Jacey Tabasco has moved from fifth to second (PLI £734) in the proven Holstein sires list, with high PTAs for milk (+1,054kg) and protein (+34.5 kg). Mocon, who led the way in the previous index run in August, now ranks third, with a PLI of £726.
Larcrest Commend also topped the Autumn Calving Index (ACI) rankings at £653. Bulls from across dairy breeds are ranked in this index and more weighting is given to fertility, milk quality and lifespan to suit block autumn-calving systems.
Commend then ranked third in the Spring Calving Index (SCI), with an overall value of £466. Rickland Pickford 765 became the first Holstein bull to top the SCI rankings in the latest genetic evaluations, with an overall value of £490. In second place was the British Friesian bull Catlane Caleb, with an SCI of £471.
There was no change at the top of genomic Holstein sire rankings. Pine-Tree CW Legacy remains the top-ranking young genomic bull, with a PLI of £906.
Denovo 7921 Atrium is again in second place with a PLI of £878. Ranked third with a PLI of £871 was a new entrant, Peak AltaLeap.
Several top-ranking bulls in the latest lists have also scored well for lifespan, maintenance, lameness and calf survival sub-indexes. Marco Winters from AHDB said that farmers should consider using these sub-indexes to narrow sires down after an initial screening.
“This can help improve replacement rates and lower costs,” he maintained.
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