While the calving season is still in full swing on some farms, it is already a thing of the past on others where reproduction is more of a daily concern for breeders.
The winter proof is an opportunity to refine or finalize the choice of breeding stock to be used as a priority within the farm.
With the advent of genomics, the confirmation of progeny of bulls put on the market is no longer as random as in the past. The days of breeding values surprises or disappointments that made progeny testing meaningful are almost gone.
Today, new proof publication is more about confirmation of predictions.
What should we learn from the new IBOVAL proof publication 2022?
The "O's" have their first Ease of birth (IFNAIS) breeding values
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| OUMIOU: confirmation on heifers |
The first births in summer and autumn are the ones that set the trend and allow the first breeding value of "genomic" bulls on their progeny.
With 584 calves taken into account on average, the 11 bulls in the "O" series (bull names starting by letter O) confirm their level and their segmentation rather well.
OR PP and OUMIOU with respective IFNAIS of 120 and 117 confirm their use on heifers including calving at 2 years old.
As expected, due to the long and heavy morphologies of the calves, last year's most popular sire ONEDREAM P is losing ground with a new IFNAIS of 103. His growth and frame qualities make him one of the undisputed leaders for primiparous cows.
Other bulls with a stronger "Morphology" hold their good levels such as OUTREMER (98), OSTIVAL (102) or OCELOT (100). OCTOGONE P, still used extensively this year, loses a few points (93) and is more oriented towards exclusive use on adult cows.
J's (bull names starting by letter J) gain ground in Milk
While the first 2 and 3 year old daughters of the "J's" have all weaned their first calf, their new 210 day weights confirm the expected milk potential. Most bulls are up by one point of milk breeding value on average including JAGUAR (114), JAGGER P (117), JUKEBOX (117) and JACKPOT (110) who remain the 4 leading bulls in this series.
An unrivalled breadth of range
The abundance of bulls in a segment does not always facilitate the choices that should be made, but this situation remains more pleasant than that of a lack, which leads to choices by default.
Whether they can be used on heifers or reserved for cows, the bulls selected and distributed this season show incomparable and unequalled genetic levels.
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Genetic level |
Ease of Birth |
Weanling production |
Production of |
Total merit value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 bulls for "Heifers" | 113 | 111 | 109 | 114 |
| 44 bulls for "Cows" | 99 | 113 | 113 | 115 |
All of the Genes Diffusion bulls are holding their rank during this winter proof. While confirmed sires such as GIONO, GUETTA, HIAGO, HAMEL, EPERNAY and FIRST continue to hold the places of honour in the national rankings, the following generations are not left out.
Indeed, taking the example of production at weaning, among the bulls distributed at 120 and more in ISEVR value, we count 58% of bulls from our Breeding Company, including:
At Genes Diffusion, 59% of the bulls distributed have a publishable IABjbf value of 120 and more. Finally, no less than 67% of the bulls distributed with a publishable IVMAT value of 120 and more are GD bulls.
A special zoom on MELOMAN
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MELOMAN: the next STAR of confirmed bulls |
2022 is the time of confirmation for MELOMAN. Marketed in 2018, he already counts 8511 calves born, 3774 calves weighed and already 101 daughters calved at the age of 2 year. The calvings of these daughters, which were particularly expected given his last Calving abilities value (Avel), finally proved GDScan predictions right (VELg 5.7) with a first AVel on progeny at 102 (CD 0.72).
With his birth insurance (IFNAIS 121), his balanced profile (DMsev 104, DSsev 106), his post-weaning growth performance (CRpsf 108), his male fattening potential (IABjbf 118) and his partially confirmed Maternal Traits (AVel 102, ALait 109), MELOMAN could become the next STAR of confirmed bulls.
To use him is to secure his entire production.
RENOUV (RENEW): the breeding value of tomorrow
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| GUETTA : l’un des meilleurs taureaux pour le Renouvellement |
Proposed and distributed by the Breeding company Genes Diffusion since this autumn, the RENOUV value translates the aptitude of an animal to produce the females for renewal of high quality and profitability.
Post-weaning growth and morphology associated with reproduction and production criteria are all assets sought by breeders for a female and summarized by this value.
Increasing importance must be given to this when choosing the sires to use. Indeed, for the same IVMAT, there are great differences in the quality of renewal. Let's take the example of BASTION and HONORABLE, with comparable IVMAT (126 vs 125), the RENEW value discriminates them perfectly at 119 for the sire (BASTION) and only 108 for the son.
Just by reading this index, there is no need to hesitate!
Amongst the top bulls, we will find sometimes various profiles but above all remarkable bulls for female production such as:
- NORDIC and VIGNY (123) ;
- CLUEDO, NIKY P and PADECALAI (122) ;
- CHABLIS, GUETTA and MIMOSA (121);
- FIGUIER P, MELOMAN, OSTIVAL and POKER (119); …
Expert adviceWhat level of IFNAIS should be used to select a bull for heifers?Depending on the territories, the habits of the breeders, the technician who is advising the mating, etc., the genetic progress allowed is not the same. Between the choice of a minimum threshold at 106 and a choice of bulls higher than 115, the mating possibilities can easily vary from simple to triple! Focusing solely on IFNAIS is becoming increasingly questionable given the amount of information available to mate a female, such as:
We can also remember the majority use on heifers of bulls as CIEL (IFNAIS 108), CASOAR (IFNAIS 105), GENK (IFNAIS 109), HABIT (IFNAIS 108) or IMPAIR (IFNAIS 107). This is why bulls such as NIKY P (IFNAIS 108, DGest 6.6), which is constantly increasing in IFNAIS, as CHABLIS was 3 - 4 years ago, can now be used on heifers. If we push the reasoning further, we could also use the bull GUETTA (IFNAIS 103, DGest 6.8) on heifers or continue to promote ONEDREAM P (IFNAIS 103 and DGest 4.7) within this category as he was already promoted last season. |