The August ABV release has highlighted the strength of Australian bulls with a new focus on sustainability.
With the 40th year of ABV release in Australia to be celebrated in 2023, Genetics Australia CEO Anthony Shelly says the quality of the bulls standing in Australia has never been stronger.
“It augers well for farmers in Australia to have ongoing access to world-class bulls suited for the unique Australian farming systems,” Mr. Shelly said.
Genetics Australia has welcomed the introduction of a new Sustainability Index which supports GA’s focus on developing a “greener cow”.
“We continue to identify pedigree diversity combining traits of increased importance such as longevity, health and fitness, feed efficiency, heat tolerance, and polled genetics,” Mr. Shelly said. “Greater emphasis will also be placed on the new Sustainability Index contributing to breeding a “greener cow”.
Improvements since the introduction of genomics and access to sexed semen have accelerated the genetic progress in Australia. “Traits such as mastitis resistance, and fertility have made significant improvements and access to A22 bulls and more polled options are now available,” Mr. Shelly said. “More farmers are selecting bulls solely based on their ABVs and through world-class research and focus on traits of significance, Australian farmers can be confident when they are selecting Australian genomic or daughter-proven bulls that they will continue to see progress in their dairy herds.”
The 2022 August ABVs have delivered great results for Genetics Australia with a combination of leading genomic and daughter-proven sires.
SUPERPOWER, now one of the best daughter-proven Holstein bulls available, is the highest BPI daughter-proven bull standing in Australia and has a well-balanced overall ABV for production, health, and type. SUPERPOWER was bred by Emu Banks Holsteins, the number 1 BPI herd following the August 2022 ABV release.
SUPERDAVE, a high production bull now with more than 200 milking daughters is the highest Australian ASI bull and second overall with an impressive 301 ASI. Farmers report many SUPERDAVE heifers topping PI lists and his mainly black medium-statured daughters are highly regarded as shown by his 105 Workability ABV.
The first 32 milking daughters of popular genomic sire PEMBERTON, bred by Ray Kitchen of Carenda Holsteins in Western Australia indicate he could have a big impact in future breeding programs with 500+ $BPI, 287 ASI, and one of only a handful of bulls over 1,000 for the new Sustainability Index.
Several young genomic bulls continue to rate at the top in the August release with bulls TOMMYDEE $543 BPIg, STARMAGIC $524BPIg and SAMARIA $519BPIg all ranking in the top 10 genetic bulls available. SONDALO, DECIPHER, KARAT, CINDERMAN and SHOALHAVEN joining then as part of the elite all being 500 or greater for BPIg. STARMAGIC is a new addition and will be available for the first time this spring.
The 2022 Genetics Australia Jersey team is led by daughter-proven bulls from the number 1 BPI Jersey herd White Star Jerseys DOUGGAN 395 $BPI and DOBSON 358 $BPI. DOBSON also leads the Sustainability Index [SI] with an SI of 882 while DOBSON ranks third on 757 SI. At 33kgs Protein and +363 milk DOUGGAN is also a production and health traits specialist making him one of the most profitable bulls ever made available in Australia. He can also be used to advantage in crossbreeding programs as his lower stature and improvements to feet and legs, rumps and body traits make him ideal for use over Holsteins.
DOUGGAN and DOBSON are joined by INVINCIBLE 338 $BPI and ASKN 294 $BPI as the four leading Australian BPI Jersey daughter-proven bulls standing in Australia. INVINCIBLE at 110 for Overall Type also tops the Good Bulls Guide [GBG] for Type list while ASKN now has more than 230 milking daughters and at 115 for Longevity ABV is the highest Jersey bull available.
In the Australia Reds, ARBMCKEON is now the highest genomic bull closely followed by ARBCAESAR in 2nd and ARBPRIMESTAD P in 3rd position while ARBCYGNET is the highest Australian Red bull. We continue to invest in our red program and growing international awareness of the advantages of 3 x cross-breeding will see demand continue to grow for this profitable breed.
Mr Shelly said “Genetics Australia was committed to continuing to invest in genetics best suited to Australian farming systems for the betterment of our all our members and dairy producers. We look forward assisting you in bull selection, our goal remains to provide improved returns and ongoing development to your business via genetic improvement”.
The Genetics Australia Holstein, Jersey and Australia Red Sire Catalogues have been mailed to all farmers and together with more August ABV information is available at www.genaust.com.au
-Genetics Australia