Holstein daughters start to make presence felt
Holstein daughters start to make presence felt
By Marianne Curtis
HOLSTEIN bulls appearing in the PLI top 10 of the latest proof run remain broadly similar to February. Several, notably Manat, have confirmed strong positions with large numbers of daughters coming through.
Elite Mountain Donor rises from second to first place with a slight increase in PLI from £83 to £85. However, this bulls marketability is limited because of his negative type merit score, according to Semen World product manager John Cochrane. "Although he has no serious faults on type, if he scored plus 0.5 it would make all the difference."
Although having no such type troubles with a score of 3.3, Manat, in equal second place with Ricecrest Marshall, has dropped a little on production with a fall in PLI from £89 to £83. Manat offers 962kg milk with 26.8kg fat and 28.2kg protein. This bulls proof is strengthened by 376 recorded daughters in Germany, according to Evan Drayton of Dairy Daughters.
"He does fluctuate a little on production, but has a widespread commercial proof. Semen availability has also improved due to a US ban on European semen exports because of foot-and-mouth."
Lorak moves up to fourth place with a PLI increase of £5 to £78. This bull is particularly strong on protein, offering 32.4kg. Another bull strong on milk quality, but this time fat, is Delta Webster, scoring £77 on PLI and offering 32.5kg fat. Although shunned by breeders for the past decade, Avoncroft livestock officer Emrys John believes there is renewed interest in higher fat bulls.
"Many breeders believed fat content could be maintained by feeding. However, as they see a decline in fat levels below 4% they are beginning to keep a closer eye on bulls fat characteristics. We are seeing far less interest in bulls with -0.3% fat or less. Breeders are looking to be as close as possible to a positive score on fat."
Cogents bull Principal enters the top 10 with a PLI of £73, an increase of £6 since the last proof run, according to the companys Martin Hall. "Principal has 23 daughters in his production proof and 142 in his type proof. He is particularly strong on feet and legs."
Both Principal and stablemate Joy, with a PLI of £72 have high reliabilities, says Mr Hall. "Principal and Joy are 95% and 92% reliable, respectively." *
Top 10 available Holstein bulls ranked on PLI (May 2001)
£PIN £PLI Type Price Supplier merit (£)
Elite Mountain Donor 82 85 -0.3 22 Semen World
Manat 69 83 3.3 42 Dairy Daughters
Ricecrest Marshall 75 83 1.9 30 Alta
Lorak 80 78 1.7 25 Supersires
Delta Webster 68 77 1.9 25 Avoncroft
Eastland Festival 79 76 0 17 Avoncroft
Crichel Principal 70 73 1.9 12 Cogent
Joyce Mountain 72 72 -0.8 9 Cogent
Ricecrest Lantz 71 71 1.9 32 Genus
Lexvold Luke Hershel 65 71 1.7 30 Alta
Source: Animal Data Centre and HUKI