North American Sire Usage: Time changes everything

Many dairy breeding information articles are published on which genetic index is the best or which traits are considered to be the most important … however … the proof of the best, from a breeder’s perspective, is the genetic merit of the heifers on the farm. To see which sires breeders in fact use, The Bullvine decided to study and compare the years 2008 to 2012 to 2016 Holstein registrations in the United States and Canada. Some interesting facts were uncovered including that North American Holstein breeders do use genetic indexes and do follow the latest in what research shows are the sires to use.

Which Sires Were Used

The twenty sires with the most registered daughters in the United States and Canada, as supplied by the breed associations, are listed in Tables 1 & 2.

Table 1 – Sires with the Most Registered Daughters* – United States

2008
Sire	Sire Stack	Interval**
Toystory	BW Marshall x Patron	7.25 yrs
Baxter	Blitz x Mtoto	6.25 yrs
Pontiac	Durham x Emory	6.75 yrs
Oman	Manfred x Elton	10.25 yrs
Boliver	Amel x Mathie	9.75 yrs
Advent	Kite x Durham	6.5 yrs
Pronto	Outside x Rudolph	6.25 yrs
Lou	BW Marshall x Patron	7.25 yrs
Airraid	BW Marshall x Manfred	7 yrs
Bolton	Hershel x Convincer	6.75 yrs
Talent	Storm x Leader	10.25 yrs
Moscow	BW Marshall x Integrity	7 yrs
Mac	BW Marshall x Rudolph	7.25 yrs
Coldspring	BW Marshall x Patron	6.75 yrs
Fortune	Durham x Blackstar	8 yrs
Colby	Outside x Rudolph	6.25 yrs
Laurin	BW Marshall x Lee	6.5 yrs
Mr Sam	Durham x Emory	8.5 yrs
Damion	Durham x Encore	8 yrs
Tres	Mtoto x Elton	8 yrs
Average		7.8 yrs

2012
Sire	Sire Stack	Interval**
Million	Outside x BW Marshall	9.25 yrs
Shot	Shottle x Ito	6.75 yrs
S Braxton	Shottle x Durham	6.75 yrs
Planet	Taboo x Amel	9.25 yrs
Durable	September x Outside	7 yrs
Shamrock	Planet x Shottle	3 yrs***
GoldChip	Goldwyn x Shottle	3 yrs***
Atwood	Goldwyn x Durham	5.25 yrs
Guthrie	Goldwyn x Blitz	6.25 yrs
Alexander	Stormatic x Patron	9 yrs
Crown	Goldwyn x Oman	6.5 yrs
Sanchez	Stormatic x BW Marshall	9.25 yrs
Gabor	Finley x Convincer	8.5 yrs
Super	Boliver x Oman	7.5 yrs
Dempsey	Goldwyn x Derry	6.5 yrs
Hero	Toystory x Durham	5.75 yrs
Shottle	Mtoto x Aerostar	13 yrs
Big Time	Mac x Shottle	4.5 yrs***
Windbrook	FBI x Blitz	6.5 yrs
Epic	Super x Baxter	2.5 yrs***
Average		6.7 yrs

2016
Sire	Sire Stack	Interval**
Mogul	Dorcy x Marsh	6 yrs
SuperSire	Robust x Planet	5.5 yrs
King Boy	McCutchen x Super	3.75 yrs***
Yoder	Mogul x Planet	3.5 yrs***
McCutchen	Bookem x Shottle	5.75 yrs
Montross	Mogul x Bolton	3.75 yrs***
Damaris	Sterling x Bookem	3.5 yrs***
Spark	Supersire x Gabor	2.75 yrs***
Jedi	Montross x SuperSire	2.25 yrs***
Monterey	McCutchen x Robust	3.5 yrs***
Mayfield	Domain x Shottle	5 yrs
Bayonet	Donatello x Shamrock	3.25 yrs***
Beemer	McCutchen x Goldwyn	3.25 yrs***
GoldChip	Goldwyn x Shottle	7 yrs
Pety	Mogul x Explode	3.75 yrs***
Headliner	Robust x Planet	5.5 yrs
Modesty	Pety x SuperSire	2.25 yrs***
Atwood	Goldwyn x Durham	9.25 yrs
Troy	Mogul x Freddie	3.75 yrs***
Silver	Mogul x Snowman	3.25 yrs***
Average		4.3 yrs

* Listed in order of the twenty sires with the most registered daughters
** Years from the sire’s birth to the birth on July 1st, in the study year, of a daughter (in genetic studies known as Generation Interval)
***Sire used based on genomic indexes

Table 2 – Sires with the Most Registered Daughters* – Canada

2008
Sire	Sire Stack	Interval**
Dolman	BW Marshall x Emory	7 yrs
Goldwyn	James x Storm	8.5 yrs
Buckeye	BW Marshall x Rudolph	7.5 yrs
Frosty	BW Marshall x Sand	7.25 yrs
September	Storm x Astre	10.75 yrs
Spirte	Lee x Mason	9.75 yrs
Talent	Storm x Leader	10.25 yrs
Final Cut	Inquirer x Storm	7 yrs
Salto	Convincer x Formation	8 yrs
Mr Burns	Thunder Storm	8 yrs
Baxter	Blitz x Mtoto	5.75 yrs
Toystory	BW Marshall x Patron	7.25 yrs
Fortune	Durham x Blackstar	8 yrs
Dundee	Encore x Chief Mark	9 yrs
Bolton	Hershel x Convincer	6.75 yrs
Jasper	Lee x Bellwood	9 yrs
Tom	BW Marshall x Merrill	6.75 yrs
Tribute	Storm x Astre	11 yrs
Wildman	BW Marshall x Winchester	7.5 yrs
More	Mtoto x Luke	8 yrs
Average		8.0 yrs

2012
Sire	Sire Stack	Interval**
Windbrook	FBE x Blitz	6.5 yrs
Fever	Goldwyn x Blitz	6.5 yrs
Steady	Mr Sam x Convincer	7 yrs
Lauthority	Goldwyn x Igniter	6.75 yrs
Jordan	Goldwyn x Durham	6.75 yrs
Dempsey	Goldwynx Derry	6.5 yrs
Sid	Mr Sam x Finley	6.75 yrs
Manifold	Oman x BW Marshall	7.75 yrs
StanleyCup	Bolton x Blitz	5.25 yrs
Lavanguard	Goldwyn x Titanic	6.25 yrs
Reginald	Goldwyn x Durham	6.5 yrs
S Braxton	Shottle x Durham	6.75 yrs
Altaiota	Oman x Ito	7 yrs
Ladner	Goldwyn x Champion	6.5 yrs
Shottle	Mtoto x Aerostar	13 yrs
Seaver	Goldwyn x Durham	6.5 yrs
Lavaman	MOM x Goldwyn	2.5 yrs***
Sanchez	Stormatic x BW Marshall	9.25 yrs
Spectrum	FBI x Talent	6.25 yrs
Baxter	Blitz x Mtoto	10.25 yrs
Average		7.0 yrs

2016
Sire	Sire Stack	Interval**
Impression	Socrates x Potter	7.75 yrs
SuperPower	Bonair x Shottle	7 yrs
Jett Air	Baxter x BW Marshall	8.5 yrs
Dempsey	Goldwyn x Derry	10.5 yrs
Uno	MOM x Shottle	6 yrs
Doorman	Bookem x Shottle	4.75 yrs ***
Fever	Goldwyn x Blitz	10.5 yrs
Elude	Mccutchen x Snowman	3 yrs***
Brewmaster	Garret x Shottle	5.75 yrs
Meridian	Domain x Planet	5.5 yrs
Pinkman	Super x Baxter	5.5 yrs
Supersonic	Super x Shottle	6 yrs
Wickham	Mogul x Snowman	3.5 yrs***
High Octane	McCutchen x Observer	3.5 yrs***
Epic	Super x baxter	6 yrs
GoldChip	Goldwyn x Shottle	7 yrs
Brawler	Baxter x Shottle	8.5 yrs
Capital Gain	McCutchen x Observer	3.5 yrs***
Pulsar	McCutchen x Super	3.5 yrs***
Facebook	MOM x Airraid	6.25 yrs
Average		6.1 yrs

Points of interest from these tables include:

In 2008 and 2012 many sires are common to both countries’ lists. However not so in 2016.
In 2008 BW Marshall was the most prevalent sire of the bulls in both counties. In 2012, it was Goldwyn. In 2016 Mogul and his sons have the most appearances on the top twenty list in the US, but in Canada it is McCutchen.
In the US in 2012 and 2016 there were a higher proportion of sires in the United States that were used based on their genomic indexes than there were in Canada. 65% on the 2016 US list are genomically evaluated, sires. That closely reflects the total volume of semen sales from genomic evaluated sires.
Generation Interval has decreased more quickly in the US than in Canada. In 2016 there was only one sire on the US list, Atwood, that has a generation interval (sire to his daughters) greater than 6.75 years. US breeders are using sires and moving on to newer, higher indexing, sires than occurred in the past.
As would be expected, each country has a dominant A.I. stud ownership of the sires on these purebred most used sire lists. In the United States, it is Select Sires, and in Canada it is Semex.

Comparisons 2008 to 2016

The short synopsis of the comparisons that follow is that the change in sire use patterns is quite similar in the United States (Table 3) and Canada (Table 4)

Table 3 – Average Genetic Indexes* for 20 US Holstein Sires with Most Registered Daughters

	2008		2012		2016
	Average	Range	Average	Range	Average	Range
Milk lbs	64	-1722 to 1189	381	-1204 to 1554	1421	-227 to 3063
Fat lbs	2	-69 to 48	20	-26 to 51	62	1 to 108
Fat %	0	-0.15 to 0.11	0.02	-0.21 to 0.19	0.04	-0.07 to 0.15
Protein lbs	1	-28 to 32	10	-22 to 30	47	-22 to 91
Protein %	0	-0.08 to 0.11	0.01	-0.10 to 0.08	0.01	-0.06 to 0.14
PL	0	-4.5 to 3.4	1.3	-3.2 to 7.8	4.8	-0.5 to 8.7
SCS	3	2.69 to 3.29	2.91	2.62 to 3.19	2.91	2.67 to 3.19
DPR	-0.8	-4.0 to 4.0	-0.4	-5.2 to 3.2	0.1	-3.2 to 3.1
MCE	7.8	4.8 to 12.1	6.7	3.5 to 9.8	4.6	3.2 to 9.8
PTAT	0.58	-1.24 to 2.08	1.59	0.38 to 3.44	2.31	0.83 to 3.65
UDC	0.56	-1.37 yo 1.71	1.26	0.26 to 2.66	1.96	0.49 to 3.07
U Depth	0.46	-0.82 to 2.02	1.08	-0.27 to 3.33	1.59	-0.04 to 3.49
FLC	0.39	-0.97 to 2.26	1.09	-1.39 to 2.63	1.72	0.02 to 2.78
RLRV	0.41	-1.64 to 2.34	1.2	-0.78 to 3.16	1.95	0.05 to 3.16
TPI	1653	1355 to 1906	1908	1449 to 2283	2477	1880 to 2867
NM$	28	-333 to 336	175	-229 to 602	618	104 to 977

* April 2017 genetic indexes were used to allow for comparisons on a common bases

In the United States from 2008 to 2012 breeders increased the emphasis on type, and to a lesser degree placed increased emphasis on functional traits. However, from 2012 to 2016 the big shift was too much more emphasis on production traits and increased emphasis on productive life and maternal calving ease.

Table 4 – Average Genetic Indexes* for 20 Canadian Sires with Most Registered Daughters

	2008		2012		2016
	Average	Range	Average	Range	Average	Range
Milk kgs	188	-1045 to 1582	415	-482 to 1948	1092	-209 to 2632
Fat kgs	7	-44 to 51	29	-22 to 86	57	8 to 133
Fat %	0.05	-0.24 to 0.36	0.13	-0.55 to 0.53	0.15	-0.15 to 0.77
Protein kgs	7	-38 to 50	19	-8 to 73	38	-18 to 68
Protein %	0.01	-0.21 to 0.44	0.04	-0.29 to 0.54	0.02	-0.19 to 0.32
HL	99	91 to 106	103	94 to 113	108	102 to 114
SCS	3.01	2.62 to 3.33	2.95	2.55 to 3.23	2.78	2.50 to 3.11
DF	98	93 to 103	99	82 to 111	102	94 to 111
DCA	98	90 to 105	101	96 to 109	105	98 to 109
CONF	1	-4 to 8	7	0 to 15	10	2 to 16
Mammary	1	-6 to 7	6	1 to 13	9	2 to 13
U Depth	0	8D to 4S	2S	5D to 8S	6S	2D to 12S
Feet & Legs	1	-5 to 8	5	-8 to 14	7	1 to 14
RLRV	-0.5	-9 to 6	3	-10 to 11	5	-5 to 13
LPI	1966	1632 to 2561	2325	1746 to 2885	2890	2327 to 3224
Pro$	245	-423 to 1247	901	-88 to 1963	1766	951 to 2377

* April 2017 genetic indexes were used to allow for comparisons on a common bases

From 2008 to 2012 Canadian breeders placed some increased emphasis on all traits, except for daughter fertility. From 2012 to 2016 Canadian breeders were much more selective when it came to requiring high genetic indexes for all traits. Sire genetic indexes for SCS and fat and protein yield stand out as being much higher in 2016 than in 2012. Note that Canadian breeders have always demanded a positive fat percent deviation.

In both countries, Holstein breeders used the genetic information available to them to greatly improve the genetic merit of their herds. From 2008 to 2016 average annual genetic increases were +100 TPI, +100 LPI, +75 NM$ and +190 Pro$. Definitely, the function traits associated with fertility, daughter calving ease and longevity have come on to Breeders’ radar screens when they select sires.

In actual sire terms, breeders in 2017 would no longer choose to use Toystory or Dolman, the sires that topped the sires with the most registered daughter lists in 2008.

There Are Country Differences

Another way of comparing what has happened in sire usage is to make the comparisons on a percentile ranking (%RK) basis. To make this comparison, The Bullvine went to CDN files to bring the values to a common basis. And to look at this on a different basis, we decided to compare using CDN’s three categories, on combining indexes, of Production, Durability and Health & Fertility.

Table 5 – The United States vs Canada Comparison of Sires with Most Registered Daughters

	United States			Canada
	2008	2012	2016	2008	2012	2016
Production	17%RK	34%RK	97%RK	17%RK	33%RK	85%RK
Durability	27%RK	73%RK	89%RK	23%RK	77%RK	89%RK
Health & Fertility	49%RK	47%RK	99%RK	35%RK	38%RK	96%RK

Note: Comparisons made using Canadain genetic indexes and Canadain percentile ranking tables as published by CDN

In both United States and Canada, the most significant change in the genetic merit of sires used has occurred in Production. Both countries were low in 2008 at 17%RK and in 2016 US Breeders were at 97%RK, twelve higher that Canada. Increased emphasis in each country on Durability almost mirror each other, and both reached 89 %RK in 2016. Health & Fertility in both countries started low in 2008 but have reached very high levels by 2016. Breeders are using the best sires to take their herds to new heights.

What Can the Future Hold?

Breeding is about what the future will be. A quick look at how 2016 sire usage compares to what sires are available in 2017 show potential for continued genetic improvement.

In the United States, the top twenty available April 2017 proven sires average 2606 TPI and 798 NM$ and for genomic sires the values are 2833 TPI and 944 NM$. So, especially for NM$, there is considerable scope for improvement from the 618 NM$ level of 2016.

In Canada, the averages for proven sires are 3126 LPI and 2310 Pro$. While for the top twenty genomic sires the averages are 3471 LPI and 2939 Pro$. A 10-20% gain in Pro$ is immediately there for the taking.

Of course, beyond the current traits used by breeders, the future holds the use of traits with considerable potential like polled, A2A2, fertility, wellness, kappa casein, feed efficiency and many more. (Read more: From the Sidelines to the Headlines, Polled is Going Mainline!, 12 Things You Need to Know About A2 Milk, A Guide to Understanding How to Breed For Feed Efficiency and Fertility)

The Bullvine Bottom Line

Time changes everything. No longer are North American Holstein breeders sticking to only old ways. Now they are incorporating new young sires and refining trait emphasis into their selection. In the process, these breeders are not abandoning the old practice of always demanding higher production and true type conformation. The increases in genetic merit of Holstein sires with the most registered daughters from 2008 to 2016 were significant. Moving forward new traits along with more accurate genetic indexes will allow breeders to further customise breeding plans to their individual needs. It is exciting to see the progress made and the potential waiting to be harnessed.