A former number one genomic sire, Denovo 14566 Crosb, has become the leading daughter-proven sire this week in the AHDB Profitable Lifetime Index (£PLI) rankings.

With a PLI of £777, he takes pole position with an exceptional Calf Survival Index of +6%, great udder health indexes (-22 SCC, -2 Mastitis) and solid Predicted Transmitting Abilities (PTAs) for production. A son of DG Charley, Crosby also transmits good resistance to bovine TB, with a TB Advantage of +4.4.

In second position is a former number one proven sire, Westcoast Yamaska, whose outstanding protein PTAs (35.1kg, +0.18%), high fat (+0.23%), and good daughter Fertility Index (+9.1) help earn him a PLI of £761. Yamaska now has 887 UK milking daughters contributing to his figures.

A new entry in third position is Bomaz Montreal (PLI £747), the highest fat transmitter in the ranking at 54.7kg and +0.36%. He also has a good Lameness Advantage (+3.0) and a strong rating for EnviroCow (+3.6).

Fourth position was clinched by S-S-I PR Renegade (PLI £729), with a high daughter Fertility Index of +11.1, and 32.8kg PTA fat.

Pine-Tree-I Pursuit moves up to fifth position, featuring high daughter lifespan (LS +162 days), a good HealthyCow Index of 247 and the highest Type Merit in the top 20 at +2.06.

A joint sixth place was awarded to stable mates ABS Zebedee and Denovo 8084 Entity at £709 PLI. Zebedee transmits the higher production (925kg milk, 48.3kg fat and 34.5kg protein), with Entity rating better on HealthyCow (196).

Another exceptional fat transmitter at 51.8kg is ABS Crimson, the bull which now ranks in eighth position (PLI £705). Crimson shares this place with UK-bred Stowey Magician, himself strong for daughter fertility (FI +16.2), which contributes to his high HealthyCow of 271.

Rounding off the top 10 is Melarry Frazz Arrowhead, another newcomer to have previously held a high ranking position with his genomic figures. This calving ease sire (1.5 direct CE) is expected to transmit long daughter lifespans (+174 days), a high HealthyCow Index (275) as well as a good score for Feed Advantage (192).

Rolling base

There’s a reminder this month that all genetic evaluations are now the subject of a rolling base. This means that the average animal against which all bulls are benchmarked now changes each year, in April, rather than every five years as was previously the case. The use of this ‘rolling base’ means there’s a slight drop in £PLI every year as the national average moves up.

For 2022, Holstein females born in the UK between 2014 and 2017 are used as the average population, (or genetic base), such that any genetic index above zero is better than average.

The major changes for April 2022 are:

  • The addition of Feed Advantage to the £PLI (only for Holsteins).
  • The addition of a genetic index for Digital Dermatitis (DD) to £PLI for all breeds.
  • DD is also added to the calculation of £SCI (Spring Calving Index) and £ACI (Autumn Calving Index).
  • A change in formula for £SCI which more heavily penalises larger cattle for spring calving, grazing based systems