Our recent article on the relative merit of polled (Holstein) dairy cattle may not have garnered the attention of many breeders. (Read more: Polled Dairy Genetics: The Cold Hard Facts) But for those that are seeing the consumer writing on the wall and foresee the need to genetically take the horns off cattle, we wish to document what’s hot in polled.  Before considering the lists, we strongly suggest that you reflect on two things: 1) how you plan to generate revenue from the genetics in your herd; and 2) how you plan to decrease costs from using sires. (Read more: What’s The Plan?) The breeding business has changed (Read more: Where did the money go?) As you confirm adding polled to your sire selection criteria it is an excellent time to decide which index will be your primary one.

Decide. Don’t Ride the Fence.

Nothing’s perfect. That applies to which total merit index to use just as it does to the fact that there are no perfect bulls. However defaulting to using the bull your neighbour uses or the one that the semen salesman is promoting (Read more: Rumors, Lies, and other stuff Salesmen will tell you) is avoiding some very important planning for your herd. The financial future of your farm depends on using the index that will meet your needs five to ten years in the future. It is never too soon to plan for YOUR future.

Select an Index and Stick to It

Every major dairy cattle breeding country publishes a total merit index (Read more: Total Merit Indexes: Are they helping or hurting?).   The bull listings below are broken out by various indexes and bull groupings. This is a two stage process. Pick your index then pick your bull(s). I remind you that the Bullvine strongly recommends that, when using genomic bulls that you do use more than one or two bulls in order to spread risk. If you are looking to win in the show ring, we leave the formula you use up to you. Likely you will use PTAT or CONF as your primary selection criteria.

If You`re Undecided

If you are not certain on which index to use, The Bullvine recommends that for breeders who’s primary income is the milk check, you use NM$ or BEI.

Polled Bulls Ranked by gTPI

 Table 1 Polled Bulls Ranked by gTPI™

From Table 1 it can be seen that genomic polled bulls far surpass the proven ones when it comes to gTPI™.  All bulls in Table 1 are heterozygous for the polled gene and will leave 50% of their progeny polled.

Polled Bulls Ranked by gLPI

Table 2 Polled Bulls Ranked by gLPI

Again note that genomic polled bulls far exceed their proven counterparts as in Table 1. All bulls in Table 2 are heterozygous for the polled gene.

Polled Bulls Ranked by NM$

Table 3 Polled Bulls Ranked by Net Merit (NM$)

For Net Merit ($) polled bulls are still far behind the 900+ values being seen today by horned bulls. That will change 3-4 years after breeders and breeding companies that use NMS as their primary index begin to place emphasis on having polled cattle. Compared to the gTPI™ list there is some re-ranking of the bulls at the top for Net Merit. In other words, there is not perfect bull.

Polled Bulls Ranked by BEI

Table 4   Polled Bulls Ranked by BEI (Bullvine Efficiency Index)

For information on BEI follow this link (Read more: 30 Sires that will produce Feed Efficient Cows).  Between the top three bulls in Table 4 there is little difference when it comes to siring feed efficient cows. A s with Net merit (Table 3) bulls come to the top for BEI when they are rated for their daughters being moderate in stature and body depth, fertile, have moderate depth of udder, are able to resist mastitis, are able to calve in without difficulty (DCE or DCA) and have a long herd life.

PP Polled Bulls

Table 5 PP Bulls Ranked by BEI

The information in table 5 came from the CDN files (Most listings do not separate out PP bulls.) The only sure way to have all progeny born polled is to use PP bulls.  That will limited the total genetic merit of your herd but it will get you to a polled herd more quickly.

Lowering Inbreeding

For breeders using polled sires and interested in lowering the inbreeding level in their herd, we provide a list of bulls that are below average for their inbreeding level (the number in the brackets is their Inbreeding %): Man P (2.73%); Magna P (3.88%); Illegal P (4.46%); Trey PP (4.58%); Snowball P (4.67%); Colt P (5.20%); Earnhardt P (5.78%); and Terrel PP (6.01%).

The Bullvine Bottom Line

The great news is – there is more choice and increased genetic merit than ever before in polled Holstein sires. As we reported previously, polled animals have made significant gains in the last five years when it comes to their total merit indexes relative to horned animals. The Bullvine recommends that breeders include at least three polled sire in the group of sires that they are currently using. In five years you will pat yourself on the back and say ‘Good Decision’. Discerning consumers of milk products want to know that the milk products that they buy come from animals that are humanely cared for.

Not sure what all this hype about genomics is all about?

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