Everyone is looking for sires that will give them the fastest rate of genetic advancement.  The problem is those sires don’t always appear at the top of the TPI or other Index lists.  That is why, here at the Bullvine, we have listed  the fastest genetic advancement sires.  We also want to keep it relatively simple, so similar to aAa, we will give you the sires that are best in each of the five corrective mating areas that producers are most concerned about – balance, production, longevity/durability and health and fertility.  The following are our resulting recommendations from the April 2014 Genetic Evaluations:

Overall Performance Improvement

When it comes to an overall performance sire, we are looking for those sires that excel in three key areas – production, durability and health & fertility.

Capital Gain

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Stantons Capital Gain
Mccutchen x Observer x Shottle

From the REGANCREST-PR BARBIE EX-92-7YR-USA    DOM GMD   6* mostly known for their high type numbers comes a very balanced sire – CAPITAL GAIN.   Adding to the female side of the pedigree is a sire stack that reads like a who’s who (McCutchen x Observer x Shottle x Champion x Durham x Juror x Aerostar).    CAPITAL GAIN ranks in the top 1% of the breed for the major categories.   He is over 2000lbs of milk, 4 points for PTAT and productive life and health and fertility.  Some areas that he will need to be watched for are his short teats, high rump angle and loin strength, as well as the set and curve of his read legs.  CAPITAL GAIN’s chromosomal test would indicate that he should also be a strong sire of sons, as he possesses a very dominant maternal contribution to his genetic evaluations.

Picardus

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Pine-Tree Picardus
Planet x O Man x Rudolph

A grandson of WESSWOOD-HC RUDY MISSY EX-92 3E GMD DOM that may not be on everyone’s radar but should be is PICARDUS. He is the 2^nd highest new release sire this round (Read more:  April 2014 US Holstein Sire Proof Highlights).   Picardus’ dam is an Oman daughter of Missy. As his sire stack would indicate, Picardus has a strong production proof with good components. While his +1.92 PTAT may have some wondering how he could make the balanced sire list, his daughters are very functional and possess open ribs and high wide rear udders.    While his overall feet & legs score is an area for improvement at +0.61, his feet & legs are strong enough in the key areas.  Picardus’ official daughter proof is only 31 points below that of his initial genomic proof of April 2011 at +2239 gTPI.

Denver 1426

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Mr Mogul Denver 1426
Mogul x Robust x Planet

An interesting balanced outcross sire that catches our eye comes from the WINDSOR-MANOR RUD ZIP EX-95-4E-USA  DOM GMD  1* is DENVER 1426.  He is a Mogul from the popular genomic bull mother MISS OCD ROBST DELICIOUS VG-86 GTPI+2546 who was the No.1 cow on the Locator List.   At over 2000lbs of milk, almost 3 points on type and 4.7 for productive life, DENVER 1426 possesses a very balanced genomic proof that is above his already high parent averages.   His strong maternal line indicates that he should be a strong sire of daughters but may not be an extreme sire of sons.

Eraser P

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Kerndtway Eraser P
Earnhardt P x Observer x Shottle

There is no question that polled sires are gaining rapidly on those sires at the top of the list.  One of those sires that is leading the charge is ERASER P.  With 145 lbs combined fat and protein, almost 3 points on type, +4.0 PL and strong health and fertility numbers, ERASER P offers an outstanding balanced polled option.  One area that you will want to protect ERASER P on is his body depth.  While his daughters will not be dominating the tanbark trail, they will have strong udders with great texture.

Production

Instead of just giving you the top overall production sires, we understand that you still need to have some emphasis on durability and health traits.  Therefore, we put a heavy weighting on production (66%) but did not forget those   two key areas.  The following are the sires that stood out the most for us:

Josuper

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Uecker Supersire Josuper
Supersire x Beacon x Jango

While his prefix may not be known to many breeders, this Supersire son is certainly going to get a lot of attention.  At +2499 gTPI JOSUPER is the highest TPI sire over 2800 lbs of milk.  Combine that with positive deviations for fat and protein and there is no question that JOSUPER will give you a strong 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 a strong sire of sons.  This is something we have found to be very typical of high production sires.

Robust

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Roylane Socra Robust
Socrates x O Man x Manat

In addition to JOSUPER, those breeders looking for a proven sire with a strong production kick should be considering ROBUST.  Already a heavily used genomic sire, ROBUST’s proof indicates that he is the real deal.  (Read more: )  Robust has proven to be a great performance improver. He is a high NM$ (+834) Velvet-View-KJ SOCRATES-ET (EX-94-GM) son from Seagull-Bay Oman Mirror (VG-86-DOM). He transmits exceptional components (+.15% Fat, +102 Fat, +.05% Protein, +64 Protein) and outstanding longevity (+5.2 Productive Life). A Calving Ease and relative outcross sire, ROBUST moderates stature and adds height and width to the rear udder. Robust will work best on tall deep cattle that need feet and leg improvement.

Montross

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Bacon-Hill Montross
Mogul x Bolton x AltaRolex

Inbreeding is certainly becoming a greater and greater issue among the top sires.  An outcross production sire that caught our eye is MONTROSS.  As is typically the case with many true outcross pedigrees, his maternal side is not that well known.  But his dam UNIQUE-STYLE BOLTON MONEY EX-91 DOM has certainly become a popular bull mother, with 15 sons at 5 different AI units.  At +845 NM$ there is no question that MONTROSS will offer a great production kick and have enough durability, health and fertility to last.  At over 2 points for UDC and FLC MONTROSS has strong functional type but should be protected for straightness of rear legs and overall frame and capacity traits.  However, as we have seen from research in the past, you don’t need extreme frame traits in order to achieve extreme lifetime production.  (Read more: She Ain’t Pretty – She Just Milks That Way!).

Socrates P

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Bryhill Socrates P
Supersire x Shottbolt x Goldwyn

A Supersire from the very popular polled bull mother VENTURE SHOTTBOLT SIZZLE P VG-86, SOCRATES P will give you a production punch with a polled kicker added in.   Following in his father’s footsteps, SOCRATES P offers strong production improvement with good health and fertility traits and solid conformation traits.  With +164 lbs of combined fat and protein, SOCRATES P is the highest component polled sire available in the world.  A couple of areas to watch for when using SOCRATES P is his rump angle (high) as well as overall frame and dairy strength.

Longevity Improvement

There is more to longevity than just conformation numbers, as our very popular article  “She ain’t pretty she just milks that way” has demonstrated.  So with that in mind, instead of just giving you the top conformation sires we have also put weighting on production, productive life, and health and fertility.

High Octane

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Stantons High Octane
McCutchen x Observer x Shottle

Joining his full brother Capital Gain as a sire to use in order to improve longevity is HIGH OCTANE.  At +4.10 Type with a DGV for conformation at +23, HIGH OCTANE is certainly a breed leader for conformation improvement.  HIGH OCTANE combines that with +2096 lbs of Milk and over +4.2 PL, making him a conformation sire with a shot of production and a longevity chaser.  You will need to protect him on his % components and short teats.  HIGH OCTANE does offer a great alternative to those not wanting to use Capital Gain because of his high rump angle, as HIGH OCTANE’s genomic test would indicate that he actually sires low pins.

G W Atwood

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Maple-Downs-I G W Atwood
Goldwyn x Durham x Storm B/R

It’s really hard to discuss type improvement without including G W ATWOOD.  (Read more: The 10 Extreme Type Sires Most Likely To Sire the Next World Champion).  However unlike many of the top type sires who are negative for production and low fertility scores, Atwood actually has solid components and acceptable health and fertility numbers. Atwood offers the great mammary systems his pedigree would indicate however he needs to be protected for flat loins and high pins, much like his sire.  While you most certainly would want to protect him on production and daughter fertility, Atwood will add a punch of type to your high producing 2yr olds that, for whatever reason, may not be around for many more lactations.

McGucci

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MR Apples McGucci
McCutchen x Regiment-RED x Durham

For those looking for something a little different and yet a pedigree that the market will be heavily interested in, there is MCGUCCI.  This McCutchen son is from none other than the world famous KHW REGIMENT APPLE-RED-ET CV EX-96 3E DOM (Read more: KHW Regiment Apple-Red – Beauty, performance, and even more record accomplishments).  While Apple has been long known in the R&W market for strong type, the family has been coming on strong in the overall index rankings over recent years.  Interestingly MCGUCCI is not from a grand-daughter, like the high indexing EASTSIDE LEWISDALE GOLD MISSY daughters that have come on so strong for that show winning cow, but rather he is direct from Apple herself.  While you certainly will need to protect MCGUCCI on his production, he does offer component improvement and strong health and fertility traits.  As is typical with the Apple family, you will need to protect him on rumps.

Champ P

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All-Riehl Ladds Champ
Ladd-Red x Super x Shottle

In addition to Eraser P, those breeders looking for a polled sire to improve longevity should consider CHAMP P.  CHAMP P’s dam TRULEA SUPER CHARITY7296-ET VG-88 was the number 23 gTPI cow on the locator list (GP-83 or higher).  Behind that are 3 EX dams so it’s no wonder CHAMP P comes to the top of the list.  But what really catches our attention is his +7.1 PL and positive components.  These are exactly what you need when looking for longevity improvement.  You will need to protect CHAMP P on his body depth and rump angle.

Health and Fertility Improvement

There is no question that management is key when improving overall herd health and fertility. Having said that, with the introduction of genomics and the increased reliability, it is now becoming more and more important for your breeding programs to look at health and fertility traits and sires that excel in those areas. Here are some that you should take a closer look at.

Yoder

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Woodcrest Mogul Yoder
Mogul x Planet x Buckeye

While Capital Gain, Josuper, High Octane, Denver 1426 are all sires to consider when looking for health and fertility improvement, an extreme outlier sire that you should consider is YODER.  His genomic test is 7% higher than his parent averages and his production predicted daughter deviations are some of the highest in the breed. These high ratings contribute to his #9 overall ranking on the top genomic TPI young sires list. (Read more: The Number That Will Change the Way You Look At Genetic Evaluations Forever…) YODER comes from a long line of high production cows and is a direct descendant of the well-known brood cow, Milkworth Manfred Yadda (VG-86-GMD-DOM).  He ranks high for Net Merit (NM$) (+924) and Cheese Merit (CM$) (+1,002).  YODER is a fitness trait specialist with low Somatic Cell Score (SCS) (2.74) and terrific Productive Life (PL) (+5.3).  While results are sure to be highly variable, Yoder will certainly be worth taking the shot on if you are looking to produce that next generation of extreme production daughters and sons from a large framed high production cow.  If you are looking for more on outlier sires check out The 10 Outlier Sires that will Accelerate Your Genetic Gain the Fastest.

AltaGreatest

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Den-K AltaGreatest
Planet x Bolton x BW Marshall

The highest new release gTPI proven sire this round was Den-K AltaGreatest and he is also an extreme health and fertility improvement sire.  He comes in at #5 gTPI on the US proven list. AltaGreatest is from the Den-K Rudolph Cub Kiddy EX-91 2E GMD DOM family. An extreme production sire with high components, AltaGreatest also has functional type. Look for AltaGreatest daughters to have shallow udders with strong suspensory ligaments. One area the AltaGreatest daughters will need to be protected on is their rump angle and pin width. AltaGreatest will work well on your straight legged cows, as long as they have good foot angle.  It is interesting to note that AltaGreatest`s official proof is within 60 points of his initial genomic proof back in April 2011 of gTPI +2315.  For more new release highlights from the past round check out April 2014 US Holstein Sire Proof Highlights.

Pure

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Ste Odile Pure
Mogul x Man-O-Man x AltaBaxter

When looking for an outcross sire to improve health and fertility, there is Denver 1426, Yoder, Montross and PURE.  PURE’s dam, STE ODILE MANOMAN MOD PLATINE VG-86-2YR, is the #5 GLPI cow in Canada and is a full sister to the #1 GLPI cow in Canada for 3 consecutive runs, STE ODILE MANOMAN MODEL SAPHIR VG 2Yr.  PURE combines outstanding production (+2239 lbs Milk, +87F and +74P) with strong type (+3.17 PTAT, +2.91 UDC, +2.71 FLC) and outstanding health and fertility traits (+5.3 PL, +2.89 SCS, +5.9 Sire Calving Ease, +5.0 Daughter Calving Ease).  Pure will work best on big opened framed cows, as these are areas that he needs to be protected on.

Science P

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Bryhill Science P 
Numero Uno x Shottbolt x Goldwyn

For those looking to get really ahead of the marketplace, there is no better way to do than to combine polled and health and fertility traits.  In addition to Eraser P and Socrates P, there is SCIENCE P.  SCIENCE P is the Numero Uno brother to Socrates P by Shottle from VENTURE SHOTTBOLT SIZZLE P VG-86.   Look for SCIENCE P for average production with strong components. He will also offer a strong type improvement but needs to be protected on his rump angle. Where he will really shine is in his health and fertility traits (+4.1 PL, +2.68 SCS, +7.3 SCE, +5.9 DCE).

The Bottom Line

There is no question that the rate of genetic gain is as fast as it has ever been in the history of dairy cattle breeding.   What we are now starting to see is that the top genomic sires are becoming the top proven sires and the top proven sires numbers are holding better than the ever have before.

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

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