Gippsland dairy farmer Marty Jarvis with his favourite CALUMET heifer classified VG-86. CALUMET was top of the proven Holstein December ABV proof run.
ABS has dominated the December Australian Breeding Value (ABV) Holstein daughter proven release claiming seven of the top 10 sires.
Released today, the list ranked according to on-farm profit, has ABS sire 29HO18101 Larcrest CALUMET in the top position with a BPI$ of 367.
Sired by popular ABS bull View-Home MONTEREY, CALUMET is also the number one sire on the Health Weighted Index (HWI), a reflection of his positive Daughter Fertility at 109.
He is also the number one sire on the Type Weighted Index (TWI).
CALUMET has performed well for mastitis resistance and feed-saved, all this on top of positive fat and protein percentages.
He has an added advantage of siring offspring with outstanding udders, scoring 111.
CALUMET was one of five ABS graduates at the top of the Holstein ABV daughter proven list.
This strong result proves the success of ABS Australia’s strategy of identifying the best genetics in the world and making sure they are profitable for Australian dairy farmers.
ABS Australia’s Operations Manager Bruce Ronalds said the December ABV proof results would allow farmers to plan early with sires that have strong figures supporting their production, health traits and type.
“ABS Australia has never had a proof run as successful as this for our proven product,” Bruce said.
“It is a testament to the strategy we adopted six years ago when we focused on genomically testing everything coming in from overseas. Our commitment was to make proven sires in Australia, and we are seeing that now.”
ABS Australia South Gippsland Key Account Manager Brian Enbom has assessed more than 60 CALUMET daughters on eight different farms.
“I have been impressed with the temperament of all the CALUMET daughters,” he said.
“They are very even groups of heifers that have fantastic udders and great dairy frames. They all have the makings of cows which will last for a long time and be profitable for their owners.”
In recent years, ABS has led the market with its ABV genomic Holstein proofs.
The top sires in this proven ABV list were all high BPI$ genomic bulls.
“This shows the technology works and it is delivering value to Australian dairy farmers,” Bruce Ronalds said.
“It also shows ABS Australia is selecting sires that provide long-term profit in Australian herds, they stand the test of time.”
The best example of longevity are sires such as 29HO16888 Seagull-Bay MVP, ranked eighth (294 BPI$) and 29HO16667 De-Su 11228 TOPSY at number 10 (283 BPI$).
“MVP is a once-in-a-generation sire, with more than 1600 daughters in his production proof throughout 199 Australian herds” Bruce said.
“He still maintains a breed-leading ranking of 107 for Farmer Likeability and this is testament to his unique combination of production, type and health traits.”
Genomic stars
ABS’ depth in its genomic Holstein offering was demonstrated in today’s ABV(g) proof release.
Young sire 29HO17458 Boghill Blamour PERSUADE came in at number three (405 BPI$), 29HO18698 ABS JERONIMO P in fourth position (399 BPI$) and 29HO19002 Pine-Tree HURON at number five (398 BPI$).