Shropshire Star

Giving farmers right tools to plan ahead

At this time of year most autumn block calving dairy farmers will be welcoming a quieter period in the year as they finish the 2018 calving season.

Published
Marco Winters – AHDB Dairy, Head of Animal Genetics

Now is the time to reflect on how the year has gone and make plans prior to serving. What went well? Where can improvements be made? What can you start to do ahead of next year?

One key area to think about during this time is herd genetics and fertility. Getting genetics right can introduce positive traits into your herd and have a great impact on herd performance, expansion and yield.

At AHDB we have a series of bull selector tools that pull together all bulls on one platform, giving farmers all the information they need in a one place. The easy-to-use tools help farmers to make critical business decisions in the most convenient way.

In the past, autumn block calving farmers have had to use the Profitable Lifetime Index (£PLI) primarily designed for all year round calvers. However, in August we launched the Autumn Calving Index (£ACI).

£ACI is specifically designed for those who calve in autumn in a block of 12 weeks or less. As well as helping with sire selection, it takes into account the higher requirement for winter feeding and more targeted production of around 7,500 kgs/yr.

Features of £ACI include a domination by Holsteins – a breed renowned for its profit potential under many production systems.

The difference between the three genetic indexes which are now running concurrently is subtle and many of the bulls appear high on all three lists. S-S-I Shamrock Mystic is one such example, which features high in the £PLI, £ACI and £SCI rankings.

As with the Spring Calving Index (£SCI), the index has been developed to provide an initial screen tool to ensure bulls used on farm meet specific criteria.

It is then recommended specific emphasis is placed on the management traits that require attention on individual farms. Among other features, the £ACI tool helps farmers to focus on herd fertility, promotes easier calving and helps to improve the overall health of your herd.

Check out the Autumn Calving Index at dairy.ahdb.org.uk

Marco Winters, AHDB Dairy, Head of Animal Genetics