MORE of ABS Australia’s next generation Holstein bulls are at the top of the industry than ever before, proving production and health traits are the key to on-farm profit.

Up to 28 percent of ABS Australia’s top 50 Holstein bulls on the Australian Breeding Values (ABV) Balanced Performance Index (BPI) are more than 500 BPI. And this phenomenal result is not only breed-leading, it’s also giving Australian dairy farmers more options to easily improve the genetic merit of their dairy herd.

The highest Daughter Fertility bull in the breed – sitting way out in front of the pack at 123 – is Boggy Creek TEDDY D RC, a Western Victorian bull bred by the Delaney family, with the bonus of being a red-carrier sire. At 573 BPI – and ranked second on the genomic Australian Breeding Values – TEDDY D ticks all the health boxes without compromising traits such as Calving Ease and Production.

ABS Australia Business Operations Manager Bruce Ronalds said TEDDY D embodies everything commercial dairy farmers want to breed for.

“TEDDY D has extreme health traits, high production, and ranks at the top of the industry for survival,” he said. “It’s not surprising we’ve had a lot of early reseller interest in him, genetic decisions on dairy farms are driven by profit drivers and TEDDY D fulfills all these requirements.”

The highest Rock N Roll son in the industry for health – TEDDY D sits a huge 74 BPI above his sire and delivers production, survival, daughter fertility and mastitis resistance. But TEDDY D isn’t just at the top of the BPI rankings. He – and another new ABS bull Waratah OBERON-P – are also more than 600 on the Health Weighted Index (HWI).

OBERON-P BPI, at fourth on the genomic ABV BPI rankings, and 565 BPI is another bull from a long line of big production and health-focused bulls and consistent cow families. Bred by Gippsland farmers Stuart and Jacqui Tracy, their son Angus, and daughter-in-law Ruby, OBERON-P’s high fertility reflects the genetic depth of their 600-cow herd. A son of the widely popular homozygous polled TTM ELLIS PP, OBERON-P has elite Daughter Fertility at 117 and leading Mastitis Resistance at 113.

Rounding out the exciting new ABS Australia genomic sires is Bellbrook KINGTIDE. At more than 1000 on the Sustainability Index (SI) and 534 Health Weighted Index (HWI), the Gippsland bull KINGTIDE has been bred for productivity and longevity, according to Mr Ronalds.

“At 526 BPI he’s still at the pointy end of Australia’s Holstein genetics, while providing consistency across a range of traits that matter to Australian dairy farmers,” he said. “KINGTIDE has what we call functional type; the strong dairy strength and good slope of rump that ensures he can work hard in any Australian commercial system with the hassles such as mastitis or fertility challenges.”

Polled Perfection

ABS Australia’s dominance in the homozygous – or double P – market has again been confirmed by this latest ABV release. With four of the top five PP Holstein bulls – including three at more than 500 BPI – dairy farmers not only have options for quality polled genetics, they don’t have to compromise anything to avoid the horrid task of disbudding. Vala Jeronimo CHAD PP is the highest-ranked PP Holstein in Australia at 565 BPI.

“CHAD PP has been popular, with most farmers choosing him because he’s double- P, but they benefitted from his 116 Daughter Fertility,” Mr. Ronalds explained. “With 58 daughters milking in Australia, he’s still on the genomic list, but we are starting to see how his genetics are performing on-farm and from all reports, he’s been impressive.”

Farmer favourites TTM ELLIS PP 451 BPI and Bomaz POMPEII PP 452 BPI have continued to deliver for dairy farmers, while Denovo 4798 ESTATE PP has sired one of the most exciting new double-P bulls Hayward-PP. Bred specifically for the Australia market, Denovo 21598 HAYWARD PP was the result of a strategic mating from an overseas high-ranking female that was part of a large number of overseas females ran through the Australian system a few years ago. “We found a gem in Denovo Maserati 80330 who we mated to ESTATE PP who ended up with three calves, one of which is HAYWARD PP and an exciting new bull coming in August 2025 – a full brother of HAYWARD PP- who is also above 500 BPI,” Mr Ronalds said.

ABS JERONIMO- P – in fifth place on the ABV proven list – now has just under 2000 milking daughters and hasn’t skipped a beat. One of ABS Australia’s most popular sires in recent years, Mr Ronalds said JERONIMO P could double the number of milking daughters in his proof in the coming year.

“Not only does JERONIMO P have the highest number of milking daughters in the top 10 proven Holsteins, but he has also continued to live-up to his genomics while adding daughters across the country,” he said. “JERONIMO P is not only evidence of the effectiveness of genomics, he’s also a powerhouse bull that pays bills on farms and is easy to manage.”

HOOGERHORST DG OH RUBELS RED at 450 BPI remains inside the top 10 proven Holsteins and holds his spot as the number one Type bull in the nation. He is a bull that offers a lot to the commercial herds along with desired type for the stud sector.

Stellar Young Jersey Line-up

If you want the proven combination of stability and performance, look no further than Kaarmona Jeronimo BRADY (CSCBRADY). At 446 BPI, and sitting at the top of the Jersey genomic BPI rankings, the Northern Victorian bred bull has well and truly cemented his place in the Australian dairy landscape.

“Other Jersey bulls have moved up and down and around him, but CSCBRADY has been stable,” ABS Australia’s Bruce Ronalds explained. “He’s been on the market for 16 months and for the last year he’s been our biggest selling Jersey bull by far. There’s been big interest in him globally, and it’s not surprising. He’s equal number one for type at 113, number four on ASI and he’s over 500 for milk with positive components. Combine this with high survival, elite type and udders as well as mastitis resistance and you’ve got the complete package.”

For farmers seeking an outcross, Gippsland-bred Ranleigh ROYAL FLUSH at 401 BPI provides positive milk and components with above average Daughter Fertility and is free of the defective JH1 Haplotype. Unlike his sire Roulette, RANLEIGH ROYAL FLUSH does not have the haplotype which has been linked to infertility.

New Western Victorian-bred Miami HEATHSTAR (CSCHEATHSTAR) has entered the market as one of the highest ranked bulls for Daughter Fertility at 108. A Starlord out of a Navarian, CSCHEATHSTAR is also a home-grown outcross offering for the local sector.

Reds Deliver for Every Farm

There’s one bull that stands above all others in this ABV release – SAUSVATN PP. A clear leader at 295 BPI, he dominates the nation’s proven red sires when it comes to production and is also one of the highest HWI bulls on the Red market. With extreme Daughter Fertility at 105 and Mastitis Resistance of 108, the homozygous – or PP bull – is the epitome of what dairy farmers want. NSW Aussie Red breeders Sam and Rachel Graham have recently calved SAUSVATN PP heifers into their herd of 330 at Numbaa and have been especially impressed with their health attributes and temperament.

“They were very easy to break into the dairy, very quiet cows, aggressive feeders and we are happy with their feet and legs – they are walking up to 1.5 kilometres to the paddock and keeping up with the herd,” Sam said. “We’ve had no mastitis, they are really easy cows to work with.”

The highest-ranking genomic Red is NR HALLAND P at 339 BPI. Delivering the health traits farmers want – especially Daughter Fertility at 102 and Mastitis Resistance of 104 – he’s just one of the many ABS Australia bulls sitting at the top of industry breeding indexes.

ABS Australia’s Bruce Ronalds said the quality of the Norwegian Red offering is underpinning growing demand in Australia. “From a Reds perspective, if it’s production you want, we have the two highest production bulls,” he said. “ABS Australia has the number one Sustainability Index bull and the top three HWI bulls. There’s a lot of choice for Australian Red breeders and those who use Reds as part of their cross-breeding strategies.”