The 16 Sires Available in 2015 That Every Dairy Breeder Should Be Looking At

With weekly evaluations now being released, it can be hard to sort out exactly what sires are available and which ones you should be using. To help you sort through the confusion, we have compiled the 16 sires that we think all breeders should consider using. Instead of producing one generic list, we looked for the four top sires in each key breeding area.

Overall Production

When looking for the sire that will help improve your herd across the board, we looked for sires that have a balance of production and longevity and, most importantly, a proven pedigree that ensures that their performance will last. We also wanted high health and fertility traits that will deliver a low maintenance cow (Read more – Fact vs. Fantasy: A realistic approach to sire selection). Here are our top four:

Mogul

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Mountfield Ssi Dcy Mogul-ET TR TY
Dorcy BY x Marsh x O Man

When it comes to all around producers, you have to start with Mogul. Mogul has even the strongest advocates of genomics going back to using some proven sires, based on his outstanding numbers. At +2532 gTPI, Mogul is within 6% of the top genomic sires available. When you consider that he is 99% reliable, that is quite simply an outstanding achievement. As we mentioned last summer, Mogul is a sire that you can expect to be around for a long time to come. He could even become the youngest Millionaire sire in history (Read more: The 12 Genomic Sires Most Likely to Top the Proven TPI List in April 2016). Look for MOGUL to offer a strong balanced offering but he needs to be protected on his rump. Furthermore, he will leave much greater dairyness and strength than this sire stack would indicate.

Supersire

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Seagull-Bay Supersire-ET TY
Robust x Planet x Shottle

Similar to Mogul, Supersire is one of those sires that reaffirms his early high genomic numbers and has those breeders who missed him as a young sire, now using him heavily. This Robust son from 2012 Golden Dam Finalist AMMON-PEACHEY SHAUNA VG-87-2YR-USA, really is a genetic wonder. Not only does he have the highest genomic values in the breed for production, but he also has excellent functional type and health traits to go with it. Expect Supersire to leave daughters that are all around solid cows. While not show stoppers, he has a no holes type linear and strong production that make him an effective commercial sire. He has had a tremendous impact on genetics around the world. Supersire is living up to our prediction that he is a generational sire that will have an enormous influence for years to come.

Silver

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Seagull-Bay Silver-ET TY
Mogul x Snowman x Planet

What do you get when you take a Mogul from Supersire’s family? Well, you get Silver. He is another sire that all breeders should be taking a closer look at. Silver is a Mogul from the Snowman sister to Supersire. Like Supersire, Silver has the ability to leave extreme production. Moreover, just like Supersire, he will have a significant impact as a sire of sons as well. His ranking in the top 1% of the breed for Milk, Fat, Protein, Type, and Udders tells you that Silver is going to make much noise before everything is said and done. (Read more: The 10 Outlier Sires that will Accelerate Your Genetic Gain the Fastest)

Powerball-P

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View-Home Powerball-P-ET PC TY
Earnhardt P x Robust x Zenith

When running an effective seed stock or breeding program, there is no question that you need to look at where the market will be in 3 years’ time, when these breeding decisions will be hitting the milk tank. For many, that means breeding for such traits as polled. When it comes to polled, there is no question that the extreme outlier has to be Powerball-P. With progeny starting to get genomic tests, we are seeing more and more polled animals hitting the top of the overall genomic lists. From the WESSWOOD-HC RUDY MISSY EX-92 3E GMD DOM cow family, Powerball-P is certainly in high demand (Read more: The 7 Most Influential Holstein Brood Cows of the Modern Era). His outstanding production proof (+1113 PTAM, +51 Fat, +55 Protein), combined with his solid type numbers (+1.62 PTAT, +1.48 UDC) and high productive life (+4.4) and good calving ease (SCE 6.6%, DCE 4.5%) make Powerball-P the polled sire that will launch polled to the top of the genomic lists. Powerball-P will need to be protected on his body depth and height at front end.

Production

It might be easy just to take the top milk lists or combine the fat plus protein and say that those sires are the best for overall production. We here at the Bullvine would not want to forgo totally type as well as health and fertility, so we are looking for the sires that give you the maximum production gain, without sacrificing everything to get it

Denver 1426

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Mr Mogul Denver 1426-ET TY
Mogul x Robust x Planet

Denver 1426 and his two brothers Delta and Director topped the Genomic sires over one year of age list past round (Read more: April 2015 US Genetic Evaluation Highlights). Denver 1426 is +2,074 for milk with positive components (+.08%F and +.01%P). At over 2 points on all type composites and over 2,000 lbs. of milk and positive components, Denver 1426 is in elite company. For those looking to sire high scoring two-year-olds, they will need to protect him on the height of front end and body depth.

Littleton

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Snowbiz Littleton TY
Supersire x Snowman x Shottle

Littleton was bred to produce milk and milk, and this is what his daughters will do. There is no question that a Supersire from a Snowman will milk, so it’s not surprising that Littleton is +2,639 for Milk, with solid components. Tracing back to COMESTAR LAURIE SHEIK VG-88-5YR-CAN 23*, Littleton’s dam, FREUREHAVEN FGS LUCY VG-86-2YR-CAN, produced over 50,000 lbs of milk in her first lactation with a 4.0%F and a 3.2% protein test. Her first two daughters by Uno have already scored VG in their 1^st lactation. Expect Littleton daughters to produce extreme amounts of milk, fat, and protein from well-attached udders, and walk on a great set of feet and legs. One area that they will need to be protected on is their height at front end and for attachments.

Josuper

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Uecker Supersire Josuper-ET TY
Supersire x Beacon x Jango

This Supersire son has been getting much attention since his initial genomic proof (Read more: The 16 Sires from the April 2014 Genetic Evaluations That Stand Out). At +2585 gTPI, JOSUPER is the highest TPI sire over 2400 lbs of milk. Combine that with positive deviations for fat and protein and there is no question that JOSUPER will give you a high production kick when needed. While his type evaluation is very functional, a couple of areas to protect him on include his rump angle and the set of his rear legs. With a strong maternal chromosomal contribution, JOSUPER should also be an influential sire of sons. This is something we have found to be very typical of high production sires.

Supershot

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Cogent Supershot TV TL TY TD
Supersire x Super x Shottle

The pedigree behind Supershot is certainly not well known among breeders, with the last 5 of his eight generations coming from Dutch breeding. Behind that is the US cow family at Vir-Clar Holsteins tracing through the highly acclaimed Tirsvad Patron Claire EX92. He hails from the same line as the famous Koepon Classy’s and Anderstrup Claire family, which is known worldwide for its ability to breed high-ranking females and bulls on numerous different bases. Supershot has an extremely high genomic test and his pedigree indicates that he should be able to sire those extreme production daughters many breeders are looking for. Supershot should be protected on milking speed and dairy strength. (Read more: COGENT SUPERSHOT)

Longevity Improvement

While some would try to tell you that high type equals longevity, which is not necessarily the case. When it comes to longevity, it’s hard to argue with actual performance indices like Herd Life and Productive Life. (Read more: She Ain’t Pretty – She Just Milks That Way!) To give a more balanced approach to longevity, we looked at both and came up with the following top sires:

Monterey

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View-Home Monterey-ET TY
Mccutchen x Robust x Zenith

Monterey is the Mccutchen brother to Powerball-P. Monterey has a solid +3.00 PTAT, 3.03 UDC and +1.96 FLC combined with a strong +5.7 productive life. Look for his daughters to be extremely low maintenance cows that will last a long time in most herd environments. Though I would protect him on high pinned heifers and cows.

Main Event

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Stantons Main Event
Mogul x Super x Shottle

From the Crockett-Acres Elita-ET VG-87 GMD DOM cow family, Main event traces back to Whittier-Farms Lead Mae EX-95 3E GMD DOM. Main Event is over 2.50 points on all major composites and has an outstanding +6.2 productive life. He has high components with decent production but will need to be protected on his straightness of leg and overall frame and capacity.

Delta

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Mr Mogul Delta 1427-ET TY
Mogul x Robust x Planet

Delta is from the WINDSOR-MANOR RUD ZIP-ET 3E 95 GMD DOM family. Delta offers extreme health and fertility traits with solid type and reliable production. Breeders who are looking for tall framey two-year-olds will certainly not want to use Delta, but he does offer significant udder improvement. Delta is among the breed leaders for productive life at +8.0. (Read more: Mr Mogul Delta 1427)

Piranha-P *RC

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Buck-H-Creek Mgl Piranha-P RC PC TY T
Mogul x Secure-Red x LB P-Red

Here is a sire that may not be on many breeder’s radar but Piranha-P is polled, red and over 2 points for PTAT and UDC as well as +3.9 for productive life solid for calving ease. If you have a high production cow that is in need of some longevity improvement and you are looking to introduce more polled animals to your herd, Piranha-P will give you that shot of longevity combined with polled that you are looking for. He will need to be protected on his teat length and high pins.

Health and Fertility Improvement

With the constant improvement in the accuracy of health and fertility index calculations, more and more breeders are confidently including Health and Fertility traits in their breeding requirements.

Exemplar

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Stantons Exemplar TR TY
Jabir x Shamrock x Shottle

If you are looking to improve the health and fertility of your herd, you have to start with Exemplar. With a high productive life of +6.3, low SCS +2.80 and outstanding calving ease (+5.9 SCE and +3.7 DCE) Exemplar is a great example of what strong conception rates look like (+4.1 HCR and +6.7CCR) and +5.3 Daughter Pregnancy Rate. (Read more: Dairy Cattle Pregnancy Rates: A CSI Investigation) From the same family as Main Event, Exemplar is a bit of an outcross being a Jabir from a Shamrock. Exemplar will need to be protected on his rumps (pin setting and pin width) as well as his dairy strength (Body depth and angularity). But if you are looking for a high conception calving ease sire, Exemplar will get the job done.

Altivo

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Co-Op Jabir Altivo-ET
Jabir x Super x Zade

Altivo is another Jabir son that should catch your attention if you are looking to improve the fertility of your herd. Again with a bit of an outcross pedigree, Jabir x Super x Zade, Altivo makes an excellent cross for those high production cows that are in desperate need of an outcross sire that can get the job done. At +6.8PL, +7.2 SCE and +3.5 daughter calving ease, Altivo is the show stopper. He is an extreme health and fertility sire. He offers strong production with great components but will need to be protected on his pin width as well as his body depth and angularity.

AltaBowie

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Rosylane-Llc Altabowie TY
Bowser x Ramos x O Man

AltaBowie is an excellent outcross sire that should help improve the fertility of your herd. He is from the exceptional breeding program at Rosy-Lane Holsteins (Read more: ROSY-LANE HOLSTEINS – “Don’t Follow the Herd!”), AltaBowie offers many plusses. He is +1010 for lbs milk (though low-fat %), durable type (+6.9 PL), and high DPR (+4.8) and great calving ease (4.3% SCE and 3.7% DCE). While his conformation break down will not wow you (+0.37 PTAT, +0.74 UDC and +0.88 FLC), he is correct where he needs to be, (Udder depth, fore and rear attachments, as well as foot angle and heal depth). He will certainly need to be protected on his dairy strength and rumps.

Milford-P

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Regancrest Milford-P-ET PC TY
Ohio Style P x Snowman x Shottle

Another polled sire worth looking at is Milford-P. His dam is Leaderwin Snoman Mystery-ET VG-85 from Kevrel Shottle Mia 2E 93 then Brandt-View BW Marsh Mia-ET TV TL EX-90 DOM. At +6.8 EFI Milford-P is an excellent outcross sire that will deliver high health and fertility. Milford-P will offer reliable production with great udders and sound feet and legs though he will need to be protected on his overall capacity.

The Bullvine Bottom Line

We have stated it many times. In maximizing your genetic gain, you can’t just pick from the top of the TPI or LPI list. You need to make sure that your matings are the best corrective cross. Breeding great cattle is part art and part science. You need to have both parts. It takes careful consideration and generation after generation of corrective mating to produce great cow families. That is why, instead of just giving you a list of the top 12, we have tried to provide you with insight into which sires will provide you with the maximum gain in each particular area.