The Americans might finally be taking a leaf out of Australia’s dairy breeding book after the latest Australian Breeding Value (ABV) release.
ABS Australia has seven of the top 14 Australian proven Holstein bulls, including sires first selected and marketed in Australian herds.
The results come as the US Holstein industry shifts its breeding focus towards moderate stature, strength and functional cows that last - the same direction as ABS Australia.
ABS business operations manager Bruce Ronalds said we’ve been looking at productive life, fertility and longevity, and that’s all linked to a moderate cow rather than a tall cow.
“It’s about creating the ABS cow - that’s the cow that gets in calf, avoids mastitis, has a functional udder and feet and legs, produces well and comes back into the dairy year after year.
“In other words, she’s the cow you hardly notice.”
And there are plenty of these types of genetics sitting near the top of the ABV rankings.
Long-time ABS favourite Ellis PP sits at number six with 612 BPI and continues to lead the homozygous polled proven bulls.
A game-changer when released as a genomic sire, Ellis-PP is also set to become ABS Australia’s biggest-selling bull of all time.
Melinda and Peter Smith milk 570 cows with their daughter Mikahl and son-in-law Daniel at Koyuga, near Echuca.
As an organic operation, the family breeds cows to get the job done with as little intervention as possible.
“We look for a shorter stature with strength - cows capable of walking a long distance,” Melinda said.
“We focus on polled, A2, heat tolerance, health traits, short gestation and temperament - almost an invisible cow, that doesn’t have problems.”
Polled genetics have been a priority for the Smiths for the past seven-to-eight years and with the herd now entirely polled, it remains non-negotiable when selecting bulls.
It was one of the reasons they chose Ellis-PP.
“He’s polled, A2 and short gestation,” Melinda said.
They are now milking some Ellis-PP daughters, but Melinda admits she doesn’t particularly notice them.
And that’s exactly how the family like their cows.
New to the Australian proven list is Z-Happy Winterfell I at number two with 753 BPI and an Australian Selection Index of 488.
He combines production with 108 daughter fertility, 105 type and 104 mastitis resistance.
His son, Woodrow, sits at number three on the Australian proven list at 669 BPI.
Ranking highly on the new US HCC index, new release Rhizome entered the Australian genomic market at 721 BPI with 334 ASI. With negative stature and strong health and longevity traits, he records 4.6 for productive life in the US - a figure with a direct link to profitability.
Bruce said Rhizome’s score equated to about another four months of productive life compared with the average Holstein cow, based on approximately one month for each productive life point.
“You think at 40 litres per day, across an extra four months - that adds up,” Bruce said.
Genomic bull Gianni sits at 876 BPI and is among the breed leaders for many health and longevity traits, while new-release Redwood enters the Australian genomic rankings at 845 BPI.
Redwood combines 81kg of fat and protein with 108 survival, strong cell count improver and daughter fertility, while maintaining the moderate stature, strength and body ABS believes commercial dairy farmers want. He is also great for the new HCC at +1.43
Tripp is sitting at number five on the Jersey list while Daytona and Dino featuring prominently among the genomic bulls.
Australian-bred Kirky (CSCKIRKY) continues to impress at 526 BPI, combining 110 type and 111 mammary system with the strength, teat length and daughter fertility ABS is chasing in its Jersey program.
Juiced a son of globally popular Cal-Mart Jammer, is another young sire to watch, combining 104 daughter fertility and 106 mastitis resistance with added strength, stature and valuable outcross genetics for Australian herds.
In Australian Reds, Alme remains ABS Australia’s highest-ranked sire at 499 BPI, combining solid production and survival with 105 mammary system and breed-leading mastitis resistance at 111.
Looking to the futur Skoien is also closing in on a fully Australian proven proof, with 51 milking daughters across four herds. Early reports have impressed, backed by 104 temperament and 103 likeability - particularly strong results within the breed.
Many farmers are saying they are such a pleasure to milk.