The high production Captain improves his PLI to £1,014, thanks to small improvements across the board, most notably for Calf Survival (CS). With a CS of 5.8, thanks to the addition of new UK data, he becomes one of the breed leaders for this trait. His index of 4.9 for EnviroCow, also tops the breed for green credentials, aided by excellent transmission of feed conversion efficiency (Feed Advantage 257).

The Captain son (out of a Redrock dam) in second place is the new entry, DG Peace (PLI £962), whose transmitting pattern is similar to that of his sire, with high Predicted Transmitting Abilities (PTAs) for milk (1,025kg) and protein (41kg).

And moving up the ranking to third place is Cogent Koepon Rocky (PLI £959), a UK-bred Captain son from a Kenobi dam. Each of the top three sires scores well for resistance to digital dermatitis, helping them achieve above average scores for Lameness Advantage.

The next six places are taken by new entrants since the previously published genetic evaluations in April, and leading the pack is Denovo 17835 Lennon-P. This Mendel son transmits high daughter Lifespan Index (+162 days) and strong daughter Fertility Index (FI 13.6), helping to earn him one of the highest indexes for HealthyCow, at 315.

In fifth position, Peak AltaSeverus (by Peak AltaPlinko) is another high fertility bull (FI 15.3) with strong lifespan (LS 156) who is also predicted to transmit shorter than average gestation length at -3 days.

Sixth placed CherryPenCol HighCloud (by Peak AltaZazzle) is a high fat transmitter (54.2kg) with a very favourable Lameness Advantage of 3.7, while seventh and eighth position are taken by two full brothers – Pine-Tree Denovo Aleo (PLI £946) and Pine-Tree Denovo Avon (PLI £922). Both are by Aladdin out of the same Legacy dam and offer very high fat transmission for both weight (56.7kg and 59.6kg fat) and percentage (0.34% and 0.37% respectively). They also score well for Maintenance Index at -26 and -25. For Feed Advantage, Avon has the edge at 263, making him one of the best Feed Advantage sires of the breed.

In ninth place is the final new entry to the top 10 in the shape of Cookiecutter Holysmokes (PLI £915). This son of AOT Highjump is the highest type transmitter in the top 20, with a Type Merit of 1.70.

Rounding off the top 10 is the Denovo 15953 Chalet son, Denovo 3709 Charter (PLI £912), with good fat transmitting abilities.

Five other bulls which feature in the top 20 are newcomers since the April evaluations. These are Bomaz Waterloo (PLI £906), Peak AltaLinguist (PLI £902), Denovo 17885 Aster (PLI £886), Bomaz Watson (PLI £885) and Peak AltaZeolite (PLI £882).

This revised top 20 gives Holstein producers plenty of scope to add new sires to their breeding strategy, with the usual caution advised to ensure there’s a divergence of bloodlines chosen amongst so many previously unknown names.

“It’s particularly important to take steps to ensure genetic diversity as so many previously unknown sires enter the market and it’s no longer realistic for most to memorise each of their pedigrees,” says Marco Winters, head of animal genetics for AHDB. “We’d strongly recommend the use of a computer breeding program, such as our own Inbreeding Checker included in AHDB’s Herd Genetic Report. This will ensure a proposed mating does not narrow bloodlines unduly but with this proviso – and the need to spread risk by using a team of young sires rather than focussing heavily on individuals – there’s a wealth of genetic improvement to be made from these high £PLI sires.

“All of the leading group and many more have exceptional health, environmental and efficiency credentials, all of which will help breeders improve the welfare, sustainability and profitability of their herds,” he says.