The ICBF has just launched a new version of the HerdPlus dairy Sire Advice programme, available to all HerdPlus users. The tool helps farmers to select the bulls they wish to use on their herd and match these bulls to the most suitable cows.
Some of the new features include being able to:
Select females for crossbreeding, selective/contract mating, beef mating and culling.Conformation traits now included in sire allocations.The crossbreeding option is used to maximise heterosis.New and improved bull selector options.Bull team reliability calculated as you select your bull team. This factors in relatedness of bulls and herd size.Option to quickly select AI company bull teams.The Sire Advice programme is available in both a standard and advanced format. The standard programme is called ‘‘Manually Enter Bulls’’, while the advanced version is called ‘‘Sire Advice Plus’’.
Quick access
The Manually Enter Bulls form allows users quick access to enter pre-selected bulls or AI company bull teams. Sire Advice Plus allows users to identify cows for culling, beef mating, selective mating and crossbreeding.
Bulls are matched to cows to improve EBI, milk and fertility sub-index, milk kilos and conformation.
The new bull selector feature allows the user to select bulls from over 950 active AI sires.
The filters on this screen can be used to refine the selection, the bulls on the screen will change accordingly. Bulls can be selected for cows, heifers, cows (crossbreeding) and heifers (crossbreeding). There is a wide range of filtering options available to narrow the search including overall EBI, milk, fertility, health, calving difficulty and conformation.
Straws can be allocated by either desired percentage usage of each bull or the actual number of straws of each bull. All Sire Advice selections can then be transferred to AI technician handhelds and HerdPlus breeding charts.
According to the ICBF, farmers should run the sire advice programme before Monday 2 April, so selections can be included in breeding charts.
The ICBF has just launched a new version of the HerdPlus dairy Sire Advice programme, available to all HerdPlus users. The tool helps farmers to select the bulls they wish to use on their herd and match these bulls to the most suitable cows.
Some of the new features include being able to:
Select females for crossbreeding, selective/contract mating, beef mating and culling.Conformation traits now included in sire allocations.The crossbreeding option is used to maximise heterosis.New and improved bull selector options.Bull team reliability calculated as you select your bull team. This factors in relatedness of bulls and herd size.Option to quickly select AI company bull teams.The Sire Advice programme is available in both a standard and advanced format. The standard programme is called ‘‘Manually Enter Bulls’’, while the advanced version is called ‘‘Sire Advice Plus’’.
Quick access
The Manually Enter Bulls form allows users quick access to enter pre-selected bulls or AI company bull teams. Sire Advice Plus allows users to identify cows for culling, beef mating, selective mating and crossbreeding.
Bulls are matched to cows to improve EBI, milk and fertility sub-index, milk kilos and conformation.
The new bull selector feature allows the user to select bulls from over 950 active AI sires.
The filters on this screen can be used to refine the selection, the bulls on the screen will change accordingly. Bulls can be selected for cows, heifers, cows (crossbreeding) and heifers (crossbreeding). There is a wide range of filtering options available to narrow the search including overall EBI, milk, fertility, health, calving difficulty and conformation.
Straws can be allocated by either desired percentage usage of each bull or the actual number of straws of each bull. All Sire Advice selections can then be transferred to AI technician handhelds and HerdPlus breeding charts.
According to the ICBF, farmers should run the sire advice programme before Monday 2 April, so selections can be included in breeding charts.
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