Dairy Co produce the list of top 1000 cows which is updated 3 times a year. The August 08 list contains a combination of cows from both Guernsey Island and England and Wales and is where the potential bull mothers are to be found.
The full list can be accessed from the link to Dairy Co on the left and can be downloaded as an Excel file.
The cows in the table are ranked in PLI order but can be re-ranked in any particular order, I have taken a look at the sires involved, and there are daughters of 148 different bulls and the range of PLI scores for the cows is from +£212 down to +£65 with an average for the 1000 cows of +£90 and are the top 10% of the breed in the UK.
PLI was changed in August 07 to give more emphasis on “fitness” traits and is approximately half for Production and half for the “fitness” traits and Dairy Co state that “the predicted genetic response to selection on the new PLI indicates that alongside increased production, Lifespan will increase, SCC will decrease, Feet and Legs and Udder traits will improve.”
If that statement sounds familiar then it mirrors the breeding goals set out at the launch of the Guernsey Global Breeding Plan(GGBP) in 2001 and the Guernsey Merit Index (GMI)
The bulls listed in the table with the exception of the 2 Trotacre bulls were all used as young bulls in GGBP or in earlier schemes. Five of the bulls (JPR Oak, Glacier, Highness, Aaron and Pedro were given a second use once proven) The table is an average of the daughters PTA’s and is ranked by £PLI.
|
Bull |
Dtrs |
Avg.Lacts |
Milk |
Fat kg |
Fat% |
Prot kg |
Prot% |
GMI |
F+P |
£PLI |
|
JPR Oak |
35 |
3.7 |
374 |
18.3 |
0.02 |
13.3 |
0 |
314 |
31.6 |
108 |
|
T J Mr Luck |
90 |
2.54 |
535 |
18.5 |
-0.09 |
16.5 |
-0.03 |
285 |
34.9 |
102 |
|
T J Mr Luxury |
17 |
5.29 |
367 |
15 |
-0.02 |
12.9 |
0 |
265 |
27.9 |
99 |
|
SP Royal Oak |
27 |
1.9 |
379 |
19 |
0.03 |
11.3 |
-0.03 |
265 |
30.3 |
98.9 |
|
M C Red Oak |
35 |
1.5 |
203 |
19.3 |
0.18 |
9.4 |
0.04 |
300 |
28.7 |
98.4 |
|
T Pedro |
61 |
1.1 |
328 |
19.4 |
0.07 |
10.5 |
-0.01 |
269 |
29.9 |
95.2 |
|
S O Aaron |
24 |
1.25 |
418 |
17.4 |
-0.02 |
12.4 |
-0.03 |
290 |
27.6 |
92.8 |
|
RP J Glacier |
64 |
3.2 |
141 |
11.9 |
0.1 |
8.2 |
0.05 |
235 |
20.1 |
91.7 |
|
EM Yogibear |
12 |
1 |
459 |
19.1 |
-0.02 |
12.6 |
-0.06 |
269 |
31.7 |
91.5 |
|
T R Highness |
22 |
2.2 |
190 |
17.4 |
0.15 |
10.2 |
0.06 |
290 |
27.6 |
89.9 |
|
T S Helium |
17 |
1 |
293 |
19.1 |
0.1 |
11.9 |
0.02 |
295 |
31 |
89.7 |
|
MC L Zulu |
23 |
2 |
365 |
19.2 |
0.04 |
14.3 |
0.02 |
308 |
33.4 |
85.5 |
|
RP G Holiday |
19 |
1 |
267 |
15.8 |
0.06 |
10.4 |
0.01 |
253 |
26.2 |
81.7 |
|
148 Bulls |
1000 |
2.7 |
317 |
15.4 |
0.02 |
11.12 |
-0.05 |
249 |
26.5 |
90 |
Jensgolden P Royal Oak leads the list and has 4 sons listed, the maternal brothers Highness and Helium reflect the quality of their dam Trethevy Halesia. There is semen available from Pedro, Aaron, Yogibear, Helium and Holiday.
The average lactations reflect the time that has elapsed since the semen was first released and Luxury who was imported as a Proven sire had only the one crop of daughters, wheras JP Royal Oak and Glacier both have second crop daughters included.