Vikings dominate new interest among non-Holstein sire bull proofs

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Vikings dominate new interest among non-Holstein sire bull proofs

Transmission of high health and efficiency are hallmarks of a new wave of leading Jersey bulls in the breed 拢PLI rankings

Katie Jones

02 April 2024 鈥� 4 min read

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A daughter of VJ NR Hauggaard Nibali Nibiru, the new number one Jersey sire.

The new number one is the Danish-bred VJ NR Hauggaard Nibali Nibiru, which is an impressive udder health improver (-22 SCC, -2 Mastitis) and climbs six places, with a PLI of £462.

The high milk quality VJ Groenbjerg Lobo Lobster edges upwards into second place, with Predicted Transmitting Abilities (PTAs) for fat and protein of +0.37 per cent and +0.26 per cent respectively. The bull has a PLI of £431 and 137 UK daughters contributing to its production figures, also earning an outstanding daughter Fertility Index of 14.0.

Third position is taken by VJ Kibsgaard Jocko Jojo (PLI £425), graduating for the first time on to the proven bull list and confirming its earlier genomic predictions. This sire is the highest HealthyCow bull in the top five.

JX River Valley Chief ranks equal third, and is by far the highest yield transmitter on the Jersey list, with 853kg milk and 63.6kg fat plus protein, again with a PLI of £425.

Another new entrant, VJ Ulvsbjerg Giant Giga, has graduated from the genomic ranking and completes four Scandinavian bulls in the top five. The bulls earns a PLI of £403 and has the best score for lowering cell counts on the list, at SCC -29.

Ayrshire

The Ayrshire list also sees a changing of the guard with VR Venom taking over the lead, up from second place, last December. This sire's PLI now exceeds £500 for the first time and despite an annual base change, weighing in at £513. This is thanks to additional UK daughters (there are now 159) which help it earn high fat PTA (+0.23%) and good health credentials, including a Fertility Index of 16.9.

The longstanding VR Vilano has been edged down into second position with a PLI of £428, sharing this score with new entrant, the UK-bred Whinnow Origin. Although Origin only has a limited number of milking daughters, they are enough to graduate to the proven list. They show great milk potential and help earn this bull PTAs of 671kg milk and 62.2kg fat plus protein.

Tontine Astorwell climbs up into fourth position (PLI £420), and is another high production UK-born sire (622kg milk) with good SCCs, at -11.

VR Solvarp Hjuve Hosea rounds off the top five with a similar SCC (-11) and good daughter Lifespan Index (+76 days), earning a PLI of £408.

Friesian

A largely unchanged Friesian list sees Bloemplaat Hoeve Ewoud retain first place with a PLI of £318.

Inch Hearty retains second place (PLI £281), now with 102 daughters, and a strong Lifespan Index (110). This bull also has the highest Type Merit in the top five, at 1.74.

A new entrant in third spot is Goonhilly Seb, with high protein transmission (15kg, +0.10%) helping it earn a PLI of £279.

Catlane Cromwell retains fourth position (PLI £256), and has the highest HealthyCow index of the top five (£176).

Rounding off the top five is the popular Lakemead Jingle, now with 2,334 UK milking daughters and further improving itd high milk transmission (386kg). His PLI is £254.

"Health and fitness are increasingly coming to the fore among some of the non-Holstein breeds, offering producers the chance to cut cell counts and improve fertility through breeding, as they may have struggled to do in the past," says Marco Winters, head of animal genetics for AHDB.

"As always, it is important to remember in these breed-specific rankings that the figures for one breed cannot be compared with another, but should producers wish to do this, they can refer to the across-breed lists where rankings are based on Spring or Autumn Calving Index [£SCI or £ACI]."

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