The latest Hoard's Dairyman Bull List, complete with rankings of the nation's top bulls for all seven dairy breeds, can now be downloaded by clicking the link found at the bottom of this Hoard's Dairyman Intel report.
Genetic progress continues to pick up momentum based on a review of the latest bull list which also will be published in our August 25 issue. As many longtime followers of our list already know, to be ranked on the Holstein list, all bulls must be in the top 40th percentile Net Merit. In just one year's time, the bar has been raised from 414 Net Merit dollars (NM$) to 453. That is a net gain of $39. No other dairy breed has come close to that improvement in a one-year window.
The top-end has been stretched, as well. The top proven Holstein bull is now 852 versus 787 NM$ a year ago. On the genomic side, the top bull is 1045 versus 980 NM$ last August.
Speaking of genomic bulls, 69 percent of the bulls declared for sale by A.I. centers this August were genomic bulls. That is up from 45 percent just two years ago when compared to older bulls with daughter-based evaluations. In the Jersey breed, the number of genomic bulls swells to 70 percent on marketing lists.
This evaluation also marks the first time that more genomic bulls are available in the Ayrshire and Brown Swiss breed compared to those that were progeny tested, as well.
To download a copy of our August 2014 bull list, click here.
