The son of one of Australia’s most successful Holstein bulls is the nation’s top genomic polled sire, according to the latest Australian Breeding Values release.
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And this comes as half of the country’s Good Bulls Guide Holstein polled offering is available from ABS Australia — more than 500 per cent more than the semen company with the second highest polled offering.
VALA JERONIMO CHAD-ET-PP is a bull bred from ABS JERONIMO-P-ET — an outstanding health-trait sire that has sat within the top five ABV proven Holsteins for the past three years.
A mainstay of many herds throughout the country, ABS JERONIMO-P-ET continues to improve his Balanced Performance Index (BPI) and has 1778 milking daughters.
The Northern Victoria-bred VALA JERONIMO CHAD-ET-PP is 554 BPI, homozygous polled — which delivers a 100 per cent guarantee that his offspring won’t have horns — and has impressive milk, components and daughter fertility.
ABS Australia business operations manager Bruce Ronalds said there had been a lot of interest in CHAD PP.
“He’s adding early daughters to his bull proof and they are really impressing farmers — he excels in all the areas that are important for profit on a dairy farm,” Bruce said.
“Not to mention he’s 115 on Daughter Fertility, it’s crucial to get cows back in calf — and to know their calves won’t have horns — that’s a cost saving, a win for animal welfare and one less job on-farm that no one likes.”
Homozygous, or PP, bulls have dominated ABS Australia’s Holstein offering in recent years.
Long-standing performers like DENOVO 4798 ESTATE-PP-ET continue to sit at the pointy-end of the ABV tables, but there are new, genomic bulls nipping at their heels such as US-bred BOMAZ KNOXVILLE-PP-ET and some exciting genetics in the pipeline.
“ABS Global has had a strong focus on breeding for high-ranking, PP bulls and I’m pleased to say they are coming our way in April,” Bruce said.
“These are bulls that are well over 500 BPI, created with the global product development team, and locally we are privileged to work with Australian breeders who will be delivering similar sires for the market.”
Stability and consistency are at the core of the recent ABV release, with four of the top 10 proven Holsteins marketed by ABS Australia.
Holstein phenomenon HOOGERHORST DG OH RUBELS-RED is at number four, with the equal number two proven type bull in the country meeting all the requirements for red and black and white breeders.
“Those breeding black and whites don’t care that he’s red, especially now export orders are closed, they just want the best Holstein bull,” Bruce said.
“RUBELS added 56 daughters, and now has 297 milking daughters, and his BPI rose — it’s proof he’s delivering profit and type.”
ABS JERONIMO-P-ET remains at five on the ABV proven list, while KINGS RANSOM S DREAMBIG — ranked equal number one in Australia for udders — is at eight on the ABV tables and number two proven for type.
“DREAMBIG is becoming increasingly popular with breeders focusing on high type as well as commercial dairy farmers,” Bruce said.
“He’s priced at a commercial rate, which was what initially encouraged farmers to delve in and try him, but now he’s popular because of his performance in the vat.”
Bruce said Holstein breeders now also had peace-of-mind in knowing that every bull on the market with the ABS label is free of the recognised genetic condition called muscle weakness syndrome. It’s a similar story with Jerseys, with ABS removing all bulls with the fertility-damaging JH1 haplotype.
“Knowledge is power, once ABS understood what JH1 and muscle weakness syndrome meant for the health of calves and the fertility of adult females — we had to remove all bulls from our offering with traces of either,” he said.
“It’s the responsibility of ABS to ensure our products give farmers the best chance at breeding healthy and productive animals.”
Local standout for Jersey offering
Demand for Northern Victorian-bred Jersey bull KAARMONA JERONIMO BRADY (CSCBRADY) hasn’t waned and with the bull sitting at 437 BPI, equal number one for Type in Australia as well as good production and high components — his popularity isn’t going to change anytime soon.
He is also the highest genomic bull (without daughters) above 110 for Type and udders.
CSCBRADY has been on the Australian market for a year now, and Bruce said he was delivering what Jersey breeders want.
“Firstly, he enables them to breed for strength, capacity and stature and secondly, he’s stayed constant — on the ABV rankings — other bulls have moved up and down.
“Thirdly, he’s out of a fantastic cow family. His dam was recently scored 93 — a maximum for her age — and this is not the first time she’s received the maximum score. She is one of a kind.”
An ABS-bred bull, from the US, ABS MARINE-ET is 390 BPI with 63 daughters milking across 10 herds. A high component, high milk and teat lengthening sire, MARINE is available sexed as part of the Sexcel range.
MURRAY BROOK JAMIEO (CSCJAMIEO) remains at number four on the Jersey ABV proven list with 104 Temperament, 106 Likeability and 113 daughters milking in Australia.
Single P-heterozygous polled-bull BALNAGEITH JANGO P (CSCJANGO), 359 BPI, is the number one polled Jersey in Australia. CSCJANGO also has high survival (113) and is a high milk bull, delivering 768 litres a lactation more than the population average.
Another US bull, ABS AVJ JUICED-ET still stands strong, adds teat length to daughters, is positive for Daughter Fertility and scores well for both type and udders.
Can’t go wrong with a quality red
Six of the top 10 genomic ABV red bulls sit within the ABS Australia stable — including one of the highest in Daughter Fertility, homozygous-PP-sire SAUSVATN PP.
SAUSVATN PP has 33 daughters in five herds and is 303 BPI. With high-ranking milk production and protein, ABS Australia is confident this genomic sire could move across and become a top proven sire by April 2025.
This bull has consistently been at the top of the breed for homozygous polled, again helping farmers to remove the job of dehorning.
The highest ranking genomic sire is Haaland P (252NR12344) at 348BPI, delivering 700 litres of milk more than the breed average per lactation, 42kg of protein, 33kg of butterfat and 102 Daughter Fertility.
“Genomic red bulls are popular in Australia,” Bruce said.
“It’s a chance for breeders and commercial farmers to get a hold of the best genetics coming down the pipeline — get ahead of the game.”