Daughter-proven Holstein sires have a new front-runner in the Profitable Lifetime Index (£PLI) ranking, published by AHDB.
The Atrium son, Denovo 15969 Atlantis takes the lead, buoyed by the 158 daughters now milking in UK herds which contribute to his figures.
His PLI of £717 is thanks in part to very high transmission of fat, (51.4kg and +0.32%), a good score for maintenance (-12) and a Lameness Advantage of 4.1, all of which suits UK farms and the domestic market.
Holding firm in second place is long-term leading sire, Genosource Captain (PLI £716), continuing to excel in milk yield (1079kg) and maintenance (-29).
Climbing into third place is Plain-Knoll Renegad Trooper (PLI £713), a bull with good lifespan transmission (LS +137 days) and a Type Merit of 1.98.
Long-termer, Westcoast River now ranks fourth with 684 UK milking daughters helping to earn him a PLI of £703.
He excels for udder health (-32 SCC, -4 Mastitis) and has strong daughter fertility (10.2). He is also the highest HealthyCow bull in the top 20 at £288.
The next few places feature sires graduating from the young sire lists, first of which is Stgen Cowen Thorson (Pine-Tree Lionel Cowen).
A high fat transmitter (52.8kg) with good calf survival (+4), he has a PLI of £681.
Next comes the Peak AltaZazzle son, Progenesis Ascend (PLI £673), who offers calving ease (1.6), short gestation length (-4) and excellent low maintenance costs (-31).
Lars-Acres George Miller (Leaninghouse Taos) ranks in seventh, his excellent daughter lifespans (156) and high HealthyCow rating of £265 helping to earn him a PLI of £669.
Peak Playback jumps up the ranking to eighth place with good lifespan (153) and a PLI of £666. He shares this position with Winstar Graziano who boosts milk quality (+0.33% fat, +0.14% protein).
Closing the top 10 are jointly ranked sires, Peak Mauney with 15.9 fertility and FB Kenobi Targaryen with extreme weight of protein at 38.6kg. Both have a PLI of £663.
Marco Winters, head of animal genetics at AHDB, said: “This list features bulls which are five, six or seven years old and which are beginning to prove their genetic potential through daughters on the ground.
“Although they won’t deliver the quick genetic uplift which many producers are seeking, the reliability of their indexes – some now at over 90% – provides reassurance of their breeding potential and corroborates the robustness of the indexing system.”
