By Gary W. Rogers
Some exciting new NR sires are now available and some former top genomic selected bulls, including Alm (252NR11876), received their daughter-based proofs and are still alive and available.
Following the evaluation result, Geno is pleased to highlight five homozygous polled bulls (PP), including one very interesting and unique new sire, Aland-PP (252NR12139). Aland-PP has the rare combination of homozygous polled, A2A2, and BB for kappa casein. The other four homozygous polled bulls mentioned below are Brumunddal-PP (252NR12062), Maurstad-PP (252NR12009), Oaland-PP (252NR12093), and Refstie-PP (252NR12056).
This April 2021 proof run also marks the first official publication of the new NR Feed$aved trait and the new mature body weight trait. Feed$aved is designed to help producers select NR sires for lower feed intake requirements. Feed$aved is based on the new NR breeding values for mature body weight and predicted maintenance feed requirements. The average mature weight in NR is 610 kg (1342 lbs.), so pure NR and NR x Holstein crosses are smaller than pure Holsteins, so they require less feed.
Unlike other traits in NR, the new Feed$aved trait will be published in the form of predicted transmitting abilities (PTA). The Feed$aved PTA will reflect the expected feed savings per day from daughters of the NR sires when mated to a 700 kg cow.
The average PTA for Feed$aved will be about 0.65 kg (1.43 lbs.), indicating that mating NR sires will reduce feed costs when mated to Holstein cows. Higher values for Feed$aved will indicate lower dry matter intake requirements; hence, less feed or feed saved
Recent Norwegian Red sires available in many markets
The following list includes some top NR sires that are available or will be available soon in most markets. Most markets will have additional bulls available, and some of the sires listed below may not be available in all markets. Please check with your local supplier or contact Geno directly here.
Aalmo-P (252NR12095) – very good all-around sire, excellent daughter production, suitable for heifer matings, good for Feed$aved, Pp, A1A2
Aland-PP (252NR12139) – very good all-around sire, well-balanced trait profile, excellent fat and protein percentages, excellent for heifer matings, PP, A2A2, and BB for kappa casein
Alme (252NR12073) – excellent all-around sire, outstanding daughter production, outstanding udder health, excellent udders, very good daughter fertility, suitable for heifer matings, A1A2
Brumunddal-PP (252NR12062) – very good all-around sire, outstanding daughter fertility, suitable for heifer matings, PP, A2A2
Halbostad-P (252NR12006) – outstanding for solids production and daughter fertility, very good for heifer matings, very small daughter size, good for Feed$aved, Pp, A2A2
Hillagurra (252NR12099) – excellent milk, fat, and protein production, excellent udders, very good for heifer matings, A1A2
Honerud (252NR12039) – extremely high solids production, very good for heifer matings, excellent for Feed$aved, A2A2. Honerud is already popular in many intensively managed herds
Ihlingen (252NR12046) – high solids production and high component percentages, excellent udder health and daughter fertility, suitable for heifer matings, good for Feed$aved, A2A2
Jo-Onstad-P (252NR12064) – very high solids production, excellent udders, Pp, A2A2. Very popular in many markets
Klopstad (252NR12068) – outstanding combination of high solids production, small daughter size and good udders, excellent for heifer matings, excellent for Feed$aved, A2A2. Klopstad is a must-use sire for intensively managed herds.
Kverneggen-P (252NR12104)– very good production with very high solids content, excellent udders, Pp, A1A2
Maurstad-PP (252NR12009) – very good all-around sire, very high component percentages, excellent overall daughter health, very good for heifer matings, PP, A2A2
Oaland-PP (252NR12093) – very good all-around sire, well-balanced trait profile, excellent daughter fertility, very good udders, suitable for heifer matings, good for Feed$aved, PP, A2A2
Refstie-PP (252NR12056) – good solids production, excellent daughter fertility, PP, A2A2
Storflor (252NR12027) – outstanding all-around sire, high component percentages, excellent mastitis resistance, excellent udders, very good for heifer matings, A2A2. Very popular sire in many markets.
Tjelmeland (252NR12044) – very good all-around sire, very high component percentages, excellent daughter health and fertility, high udders, excellent for heifer matings, excellent for Feed$aved, A2A2
Alm, Hammeren, Hustad, Onstad-P, and Roen – top available daughter proven sires
Alm (252NR11876) became fully daughter proven with this proof run (958 daughters in milk in Norway), and he may become popular again as a daughter proven sire. Alm has a very good trait profile and is especially good for all the key production traits. Alm transmits very high udders along with moderate stature, and he can be safely used on heifers.
Hammeren (252NR11863)now has 1344 daughters in milk in Norway, so he is fully daughter-proven. Hammeren also has a very good trait profile with excellent production traits (especially fat production), excellent health traits, and excellent udders. Note that Hammeren is BB for kappa casein as well.
Hustad (252NR11817) added many daughters to his daughter-based proof and now has 2165 daughters with production info in Norway. Hustad daughters are excellent for health and fertility and have very good udders. He is good for fat and protein percentages and can be safely used on heifers.
Onstad-P (252NR11819) continues to grow in popularity. He is one of the top daughter-proven sires on key sire lists in almost all countries with red populations. Onstad-P transmits tremendous production along with high fat and protein content. His daughters have outstanding udders and excellent fertility, so he is already a favorite in many herds and markets.
Roen (252NR11690) is an outstanding daughter-proven sire that is popular in several markets. Roen is an excellent all-around sire with excellent daughter production, udder conformation, mastitis resistance, and daughter fertility. Roen is tremendous for calving ease; therefore, he is perfect for use on maiden heifers. Roen ranks exceptionally high for the new Feed$aved trait with a PTA of 0.91, which means that his daughters from average Holstein cows would be expected to eat 0.91 kg (2 pounds) less dry matter per day for maintenance compared to an average Holstein cow. This would translate to feed savings of over 88 US dollars or 66 UK pounds per year compared to pure Holsteins with reasonable feed prices.
The next official genetic evaluation will be available on August 10, 2021.
