A Western Australian dairy breeder has dominated the latest Australian Breeding Values release with the top Australian-proven Holstein bull, top genomic Holstein bull and top Holstein cow.
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The Carenda herd of the Kitchen family from Boyanup, WA, has been at the pointy end of Australian Holstein breeding for years.
This result in the April 8 ABV release backs up its performance in the December release when it had the top cow and the top genomic bull.
The Kitchen family have bred Holsteins for more than 60 years and are known for their productive, all-round cows.
The result in the bull values is even more remarkable as the WA-bred animals are competing against thousands of overseas Holstein sires imported and used in Australia.
Carenda's number one Balanced Performance Index (BPI) cow is Carenda Jeronimo Vida, which has a BPI 649, and was also number one in December.
Vida is classified VG87 as a three-year old and is a polled daughter of the high-ranking bull ABS Jeronimo (29HO18698).
Vida is the dam of the number one genomic BPI Holstein bull Australind.
Australind has a BPI of 581 and is sired by Westcoast Rocknroll.
Rounding off the triple achievement is the number one Australian-proven Holstein Carenda Pilbara, with a BPI of 539 BPI.
Another Carenda bull, Sondalo, is third on the daughter-proven list.
The three bulls are marketed by Genetics Australia.
Other top Holstein breeders
Other Holstein breeders to perform well in the April ABV release include Trevor Henry, Tinamba, Vic, Jelbart Dairies, Leongatha South, Vic, and Emu Banks, Terang, Vic.
Two cows fom Mr Henry's herd are second on the cow list at 626 BPI each: Wilara Jeronima Jorda VG89 and her daughter Wilara Nippon Jordonnaare.
Jelbart Dairies has the top genomic heifer, 16916, which has a BPI of 583, and has high ratings for daughter fertility (121) and mastitis resistance (113).
She is sired by Genetics Australia bull Karat.
Jelbart Dairies also holds second place on the genomic bull list.
Jelbart Polmax is a polled bull with a BPI of 565 and is their first bull to go into artificial insemination.
The Emu Banks herd of Bryan and Jo Dickson has retained top spot on the list of Holstein herds with an average BPI of 358.
It is also the highest herd for the Sustainability Index (SI) at 629 average and the Health Weighted Index (HWI) at 343 average.
Top Jersey performers
Con and Michelle Glennen's White Star Jersey herd from Noorat, Victoria, claimed top herd and top bull results in the Jersey breed.
The herd is the number one BPI (average 258), HWI (average 193) and SI (average 546) herd in Australia,
White Star were also breeders of the number one Australian-proven Jersey bull Douggan, which continues his reign at the top of the list with a BPI of 386.
Douggan has 827 milking daughters in Australia and rates well for health and fertility traits.
He is available from Genetics Australia.
Two cows tied for the number one Jersey cow position.
Craigielea Vicky 6151 VG87 and Araluen Park Jiggy Sandra 86 (at 2 years) have a BPI of 502.
Vicky is owned and bred by Bill Cochrane and family, Bamawm, Vic, and Sandra was bred by Trevor Saunders and Anthea Day, Shady Creek, Victoria.
Daryl and Lani Hoey, Wonthaggi, Vic, also produced impressive results in the Jerseys with the second top cow Beulah Gislev H Bouy 83 (at 2 years), with a BPI of 492, and the top genomic heifer with Beulah Doug T2 Fairy with a BPI of 415.
Top performers in other breeds
The top Aussie Red cow is Blackwood Park 1416 with a BPI of 406.
It is owned by R & V Clarke, Mt Gambier, SA, and bred by Jan Raleigh, Timboon, Vic, and was sired by VR Faber.
Ron and Sam Graham of Numbaa, NSW, again have the number one Aussie Red herd for BPI, SI and HWI.
The top Aussie Red bulls Norwegian Red sires 52NR12068 - Klopstad, 252NR12073 - Alme and 252NR11921 - Krovoll are all available through ABS.
The Williams family's Treeton, Meningie, SA, is the top Illawarra herd for BPI and HWI while the top SI herd is Michael Tuhan, Riversleigh, Murchison, Vic.
D & V Penfold, Willow Grove, Victoria, holds down top spot for BPI in the Ayrshire breed.
P & S Balfour of Kanoona, NSW, have the top Brown Swiss herd for BPI, HWI and SI, while the Cleggett family of Glencoe, SA, are the leading Guernsey herd for BPI and SI.
Carlene Dowie
Carlene Dowie is the editor of the Australian Dairyfarmer magazine and has more than 30 years' experience as a rural journalist.
Carlene Dowie is the editor of the Australian Dairyfarmer magazine and has more than 30 years' experience as a rural journalist.
