DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JANUARY 2022
32 // NEWS
Jerseys strengthen their place JERSEYS HAVE strengthened their place in the Australian dairy market with solid results in the December ABV release. “It's very positive to see bulls moving from genomic to proven list and maintaining proofs,” Jersey Australia general manager Glen Barrett said. On the critical Balanced Performance Index (BPI), Jerseys maintained a strong average 385 BPI for the top 10 bulls. Key bull movements included Douggan
increasing 30 BPI with improved overall type, mastitis resistance and fertility, and Dobson up31 BPI with improved fertility, overall type (OT) up six points and Mammary up four points. The BPI for the top 50 bulls increased from 340 BPI on average in August to 352BPI, while OT remained steady at 105. Herd lists also improved on their BPI, with Robert and Sandra Bacon's Brookbora Jerseys at Tennyson in northern Victoria maintaining
its top ranking with 204 BPI, up from 190 in August, followed by Con and Michelle Glennen's White Star Jerseys at Noorat in western Victoria with 202 BPI, up from 175 in August. Warrain, Kings Ville and Kaarmona Jerseys rounded out the top five. Heifers and cows were stable and in line with December reports. There are now only 24 cows in the top 100 in milk cows which are not genomic tested, with Jersey Australia's test project starting to have an impact.
The top young cow with a BPI of 389 is owned by Matthew Hoffman at Timboon, Victoria, the top genomic-tested cow with a BPI of 471 is Cairnbrae Valentino Daisy 11EX 94 recently purchased at the record breaking Cairnbrae dispersal sale by DHGRS Singh from Collins Creek NSW and the top not genomic-tested cow with a BPI of 495 is owned by Cameron Green of Casino
NSW.
POLARIS SHINES EVER SO BRIGHTLY There are now 23 young genomic bulls with a Balanced Performance Index (BPI) of 500 or greater spread across seven different semen suppliers. Progenesis Polaris from Semex heads the list with a BPI of 564. Offering a new sire stack to many of the popular BPI pedigrees, sired by Stantons Epoxy from a Progenesis Prosperous dam, Polaris will gain attention from breeders for his leading combination of production, type and health traits. A complementary mating option for the many Westcoast Perseus and Westcoast
River daughters in Australia, Polaris is an exciting new addition to Semex's sire line up. Ranking at number two with +471 BPI on the Australian BPI proven list is Westcoast Perseus. Now with close to 200 daughters milking in more than 20 Australian herds, an A2A2 sire and calving ease specialist, Perseus is a popular sexed semen sire and an ideal heifer mating option. A very popular Genomax® sire in the spring was Westcoast Rocknroll. Remaining a high-ranking BPI genomic
sire in December at +483 BPI genomics Rocknroll's stature to strength ratio has been the attraction for many breeders. Full brothers Westcoast River and Westcoast Reverso continue to be popular sexed semen sires in Semex's BPI line up. With breed leading health and fertility traits both sires rank amongst the highest Health Weighted Index (HWI) sires in the breed with Reverso at +573 HWI and River +569 HWI. For more information visit: www.semex. com.au
Progenesis Polaris.
