NEWS & VIEWS JUST IN…

NORTHERN LIGHTS SALE - Congratulations to all involved with the Northern Lights Jersey Sale. An outstanding sale average for the 34 females and 1 embryo package of $2937. It was also a great sale for 21st Century Genetics with 6 lots averaging $3,533. A BELLES CONNECTION sold on behalf of the Nicholson family Jugiong stud made an impressive $5,550. Also the first TRUEBLUE daughter up for auction sold for $3,000.
WESTERN STARS SALE - This sale at Camperdown saw an outstanding LANCELOT daughter Wellstrand Lancelot Pauline 3 sold for $8,500.
ALTA ADVANTAGE TOUR - for the latest information on 21st Century Genetics' Tony Simpson, tour to the US states of New York and Michigan, click here. Many daughters impressed and a detailed description is availble from the link.
now has 5 daughters classified in Canada, 2 VG, 2 GP and 1 G78 averageing 82 points – watch this space!
SOVEREIGN daughter VERNLA SOVEREIGN FRECKLES was recently scored Ex92 in Canada, she was rated an impressive Ex95 for her Mammary system - Last SOVEREIGN stocks available
BRUNCHILLI GOLDEN LEGACY SALE- Congratulations to the Boyd family on the tremendous sale. A great catalogue of successful and potential show winners. Good luck to all buyers these great Jerseys won't let you down. A Belmont daughter BRUNCHILLI B PASSION sold for $8,500. An ALTASABER daughter sold for $7,000. An ALTAGILLER daughter made $5,100. In total 11 SHYSTER embryos sold for a combined $11,550.
CONTENDER has his first 3 daughters classified in Canada with 67% GP and a VG-85 daughter already scored. The first 3 daughters averaged over 82 points, a fantastic start for the talk of North America.
GLOBAL GLAMOUR SALE - A Shottle out of ALTACROCKETT's full sister sold for $610,000 at the Global Glamour Sale in the US. ALTACROCKETT's family is quickly being recognised as one of the great families of the breed with CROCKETT being the #3 TPI sire in the US and a full brother is the #6 LPI bull in Canada.
BREEDERS GUIDES AVAILABLE ON LINE - The 2009 Breeders Guides are available on line, together with the 2009 Progeny Test catalogue. Click the links to the left of the page to download or contact your local 21st Century Genetics representative to obtain a copy.
LATEST PROOFS - It's been a great proof run for 21st Century Genetics around the world. For extensive information on Australian and international sires click here
AUTUMN 2009 BEEF UPDATE - The Autumn 2009 Beef Update is now available HERE with information on Time On B7, Sizzler, Peace of Mind and Mile Marker. Red Angus sires, Maximum and Talisker are also available.
ALTAUPDATE- APRIL RELEASE
In January, the US industry released genomic predicted transmitting abilities (GPTAs) for the first time. Even then, it was Alta’s contention that several of the new releases had room for improvement, as real Advantage data predicted gains for several sires by April. Most notably, those gains were expected for AltaOTTO and AltaOUTBOUND. In each case, those gains have materialized with the April update. In fact, for AltaOTTO (Oman x Mtoto) the gains were significant enough to propel him to a top 5 finish for TPI. ForAltaOUTBOUND (Outside x Durham) the gains were more modest, but came from the Production side helping to balance their exceptional Type scores.
BELOW ARE THE CHANGES IN TPI FOR ALTA BULLS MARKETED IN AUSTRALIA

Wildman * (second crop data added)




COGENT UPDATE- LOADER
Avoiding lameness starts before birth…
Reducing lameness should be a top priority for Australian dairy farms but the process should start before the cow is even born.
This message from Hugh Pocock of Cogent comes as the UK industry faces a lameness rate of around 30 per cent and confronts the dual pressures to raise standards of animal welfare and improve farm profitability.
“Lameness is a complex issue with many contributory causes,” says Mr Pocock, “but the first step is to take its avoidance by breeding the right kind of cow. If the foot and leg structure is not right, you will be fighting an uphill battle from the start.
“Every breeder should look closely at a bull’s linear profile before making any breeding decision and where feet and legs are a priority, discard any that don’t have positive figures for locomotion or for feet and legs.“Locomotion in particular has become an increasingly important trait in the UK and animal welfare organisations are pushing to see it more widely used. Recent evidence shows it is highly correlated with cow lifespan [correlation 65 per cent], clearly indicating it has a large part to play in reducing replacement rates and increasing herd profitability.
“Everyone wants trouble-free cows that are capable of lasting the course, and choosing sires with good locomotion scores will play an important part in achieving this.
“At Cogent, this has always been an important consideration when we are choosing the bloodlines that will breed the next generation of AI sires and we are now reaping the rewards of these decisions.
“Three Cogent sires feature in the top 15 of all bulls - UK and international - for locomotion and it is little surprise to us that these are amongst our most popular sires.”
Cogent Loader EX95, the number one living locomotion bull available in the UK with a score of +3.52 heading the cogent list, Cogent Prestwick, who scores +2.81 for locomotion and Joylan Specialist EX91 at +2.85 are also proven locomotion transmitters, he adds: “These bulls also have positive Lifespan Indexes and we are delighted that they have performed so well, improving across the board, in last week’s April proof run.
“Dairy farmers have always wanted easy-care cows that don’t tend to go lame, and I would urge them to use the Locomotion Index on a bull’s linear profile as an important tool in achieving this goal,” concludes Mr Pocock
GENE FIX UPDATE
Deejay In the Italian genetic evaluation of April, Huyben Deejay Red again is part of the best 15 Italian bulls. Regarding the January proofs this Red Holstein myth improved for all traits, its PFT raised with almost 200 points. Observing the performances of his daughters in the field we expect a further improvement. Deejay Red confirms to be a bull that can compete at the highest levels. The first calves born from its second crop look great and brought his calving ease index to 104.
AltaIce Breeders, Lynette & Lance Greenwood of Alnor Parners, Learmonth, Victoria recently commented.....
"We have 14 AltaIce Heifers in the dairy.  They are great to work with, and are producing well.  13 of the 14 classified GP, with an average score of 81.5.  We like their rump structure, deep rib and they have exceptional ligaments.  We are using the bull heavy in 2009."
AltaIce has withstood the challengers to maintain his ranking as the number one type bull here is Australia. This high production sire with outstanding cell count, survivability and workability scores will make him again one of the highest selling bulls in Australia for 2009.