Leading Edge Genetics Summer 2022/23 Newsletter

‘A hidden gem found at

NEWSLETTER

Labertouche’

2022 was certainly a year of extremes. In most regions across Victoria, Autumn was extremely dry. This was, however soon offset by significant record rainfalls in Winter and Spring. This weather pattern has severely impacted many farming operations. Lesser forage quality, sore feet and lower submission rates at joining, are just some of the many effects of the record rainfalls.

Our 13th On-Farm Competition was run again this spring. We were extremely blessed with improved weather conditions for judging over the 4 days across Gippsland. Great weather accompanied our judge Mr Cameron Bawden from Labertouche, as he announced his winners at the Drouin Golf Club luncheon on Friday 2nd December.

A crowd of over 110 were in attendance when the winners of the five classes were announced. Taking out the Overall Champion was the mature cow class winner, in the Jersey cow 112 owned by Hine and Phillips of Labertouche. Sired by Bontino, was this outstanding 4th lactation cow, whose tremendous udder and width were some of the standout features for our judge Cameron Bawden. Entry numbers were again excellent, with 387 head entries across 51 different breeders.

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Other highlights were the Deenan/Mackie partnership at Leongatha South, taking out the Two-Year-Old Class with a super balanced Holstein heifer, sired by Sidekick. MPH #2 at Labertouche won their first class in the competition with a Delta Lambda Three Year Old. The 2021 LEG On-Farm Winner 5986 (Mogul) took out the 4-5 Year Old Class and was also part of the winning group class for Bill, Faye, Brett and Jodi Loughridge at Poowong North. The presentation and quality of the animals for the competition continues to be of the highest level. It was great to welcome five new exhibitors to the competition, with a number of these exhibitors featuring in the placegetters.

On behalf of the Leading Edge Genetics team, we hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and we wish you a safe, happy and healthy New Year. Regards,

Regards,

Brad Aitken, Manager/Owner Leading Edge Genetics

Steve Phillips with his Champion Cow Trophy

The 2022 LEG Overall Champion 112 (Bontino) owned by Hine & Phillips, Labertouche

(L-R) Brad Aitken (LEG), Jason Deenan,

TWO YEAR OLD IN MILK CLASS

Born in 2020 - 85 ENTRIES Trish Lancey Memorial Class

The quality was extremely impressive in this phenomenal 2-year-old class in the competition for 2022. Leading the way was the well-balanced Holstein heifer of Deenan and Mackie. Sired by Sidekick she placed over the deep bodied Fon Doo daughter 551 owned by Williams/Lowndes at Yannathan. Placing 3rd was the Jersey heifer 669 sired by Matt and owned by Hine and Phillips at Labertouche.

1st 2440 by Sidekick, Deenan and Mackie, Leongatha South

2nd 551 by Fon Doo, Williams and Lowndes, Yannathan

3rd 669 by Matt, Hine and Phillips, Labertouche

4th 6404 by Fon Doo, W,F,B and J Loughridge, Poowong North

6th 6362 by Fon Doo, W, F, B and J Loughridge, Poowong North

7th 2009 by Medallion, M, R and BJ Wildes, Lang Lang East

8th 2523 by Fon Doo, Antrim Park, Ripplebrook

9th 5250 by Delta Lambda, C and D Armstrong, Darnum 10th Babe by Pharo, G and R Bawden, Willow Grove

THREE YEAR OLD IN MILK CLASS

Born in 2019 - 82 ENTRIES

The winning 3 Year old for 2022 was the well balanced dairy cow 3632 (sired by Delta Lambda) and owned by MPH #2 (Mark and Trish Hammond) at Labertouche. In 2nd place was the Jersey cow 2369 sired by Grant and owned by Lace and Ralston at Devon North. Third place went to another MPH #2 entry 3558 and sired by Viewpoint.

1st 3632 by Delta Lambda, MPH #2, Labertouche

2nd 2569 by Grant, Lace and Ralston, Devon North

3rd 3558 by Viewpoint, MPH #2, Labertouche

4th 1044 by Doc, A and B Robertson, Poowong North

5th Klassic by Trident, Karl Munden, Nilma

5th 539 by Fon Doo, Williams and Lowndes, Yannathan Many

6th 3097 by Valin, Reid and Egan, Trafalgar

7th 6199 by AltaRoble, W, F, B and J Loughridge, Poowong North

8th 2854 by Casino, Benelli Jerseys, Jindivick

9th 3504 by AltaRoble, MPH #2, Labertouche

10th 378 by Samite, B and M Williams, Poowong

(L-R) Brad Aitken (LEG), Mark Hammond MHP#2, Cameron Bawden (Judge)

Deenan & Mackie 2440, sired by Sidekick

MPH#2 3632, sired by Delta Lambda

Maree Zanders, Cameron Bawden (Judge)

4 to 5 YEAR OLD IN MILK CLASS

Born 2017 and 2018- 98 ENTRIES

The 4- to 5-year-old class featured some outstanding cows from across Gippsland. Taking out 1st place was entry 5986, sired by Mogul and owned by the Bill, Faye, Brett and Jodi Loughridge of Poowong North. This extremely well balanced and correct animal placed over the outstanding uddered Samite daughter 3323 that was owned by MPH #2 (Mark and Trish Hammond) at Labertouche. In 3rd place was the impressive Samite daughter 190 of Peter, Helen, and Michael Thomson at Fish Creek.

1st 5986 by Mogul, W, F, B and J Loughridge, Poowong North

2nd 3323 by Samite, MPH #2, Labertouche

3rd 190 by Samite, P, H and M Thomson, Fish Creek

4th 3107 by Bourbon, MPH #2, Labertouche

5th 206 by Samite, P, H and M Thomson, Labertouche

MATURE COW IN MILK CLASS

Born on or before 1st January 2016 - 53 ENTRIES

6th 2706 by Casino, Benelli Jerseys, Jindivick

7th 4757 by Rambo, C and D Armstrong, Darnum

8 th 4786 by Samite, Foote Dairies, Fish Creek

9th 7217 by All-Time, Wilara Holsteins, Newry

10th 1884 by Monterey, M, R, and BJ Wildes, Lang Lang East

There was tremendous depth in the mature cow class across Gippsland. Taking out 1st place was the fourth lactation Bontino daughter, owned by Hine and Phillips at Labertouche. In 2nd place was the entry of Brendan Bermingham from Nambrok, with their Farm Dealer daughter 3050. Third place was awarded to the Ayrshire cow 1345 owned by James Dillon from Ruby and sired by Burdette.

1st 112 by Bontino, Hine and Phillips, Labertouche

2nd 3050 by Farm Dealer, B,S and L Bermingham, Nambrok

3rd 1345 by Burdette, J Dillon, Ruby

4th 4298 by Windbrook, C and D Armstrong, Darnum

5th 167 by Salt, Williams and Lowndes, Yannathan

6th 226 by Powerball, Williams and Lowndes, Yannathan

7th Kelly by Aftershock, Karl Munden, Nilma

8th 4228 by Region, Reid and Egan, Trafalger

9th 4439 by Aftershock, C and D Armstrong, Darnum

10th 5201 by R Platts, Riverslea.

GROUP CLASS 3 Cows by the 1 sire

3 cows by the 1 sire - 21 ENTRIES

The Group Class is always one of the more interesting classes of the competition. In first place was the Mogul daughter group owned by the Loughridge family at Poowong North. Peter, Helen, and Michael Thomson of Fish Creek took out second place with their three Fon Doo daughters. Third place was taken out by Benelli Jerseys at Jindivick with their Casino daughter group.

1st W, F, B and J Loughridge, Poowong North - sired by Mogul

2nd P, H and M Thomson, Fish Creek - sired by Fon Doo

3rd Benelli Jerseys, Jindivick - sired by Casino

4th Williams and Lowndes, Yannathan - sired by Fon Doo

5th Antrim Park, Ripplebrook - sired by Fon Doo

6th J and C Bermingham, Nambrok - sired by TLGLeno

7th D and L Parker, Shady Creek - sired by Samite

8th B Ziero, Jindivick - sired by Matt

9th Woolsencroft and Friar, Neerim East - sired by Pursuit

10th N and K Bermingham, Nambrook - sired by Fon Doo

Thanks to everyone that attended the presentation luncheon...

(L-R) Brad Aitken (LEG), Jodi, Tamara &

Brett Loughridge, Cameron Bawden (Judge)

W, F, B & J Loughridge, Mogul Daughter Group

Mal Sayers retires.

A career spanning over 50 years in the dairy industry has come to an end for Mal Sayers. Mal has been the East Gippsland Manager for Leading Edge Genetics for the past 13 years.

Mal is a person of the highest integrity and has forged great relationships with his clients. A passion for genomics, a great eye for a cow and level of service that is second to none, Mal has been an extremely valued member of the LEG team. We wish Mal all the best in his retirement as he fine tunes’ his lawns bowls and follows his beloved ‘Magpies’

Jeronimo - Proven Performer

Farmer favourite, proven performer, and carrier of the polled gene, ABS JERONIMO P continues his run at the top of the Australian Breeding Values (ABV) Holstein proven list.

For the past decade, West Gippsland Holstein breeder Megan Coster has been on a quest to develop a polled herd. She said the prospect of 12 new polled bulls from ABS was “exciting”. Megan and husband Barry milk 700 Holsteins and have strategically used ABS polled sires JERONIMO P and ELLIS PP.

“JERONIMO P was probably the first big (polled) one we used and were really happy with,” Megan said. “We were happy with his calving ease, plus they are beautiful and black heifers that are just calm, and they did really well as calves.”

Popular with Holstein breeders - and not just because of his colour – Hoogerhorst DG OH RUBELS RED has shot-up the ABV genomic list, poised for a full daughter proof in April next year. ABS’ Business Operations Manager Bruce Ronalds said RUBELS RED is the number 1 Type sire in Australia at 115, is scored 109 for Udders and has a BPI$ of 440. “Once he’s a proven sire in April, he could be the first Red Holstein in the top 10 ABV proven Holstein sires,” Bruce said. “Red Holsteins used to be a niche market, but this bull is different, breeders using him aren’t necessarily chasing Red, they want him because of how elite he is on type. It’s a bonus that he’s also elite with Sexcel® fertility.”

Introducing Sire Stack & Linear Choice

International Dairy Week 2023 will be your first chance to see our new collectable cards, featuring some of our iconic ABS sires such as Jeronimo P, Barber and Dazzle.

Holstein Proofs from Australia - Highlights

The talk had been strong in the field by many industry pundits that Kirk Andrew Fon Doo was the real deal from STG Australia. This massive production sire with breed leading udders shone to the fore in the 13th LEG On-Farm Competition. A remarkable 5 daughters placed in the Top 10 in the Two-Year-Old Class. It was no surprise that in his debut Australian proof in the December 2022 evaluation run saw him place equal #1 in Australia. Many clients have commented that they have never had heifers produce to the level that Fon Doo daughters have.

There is an exciting group of bulls that will graduate in the April 2023 evaluation run. Many are just short the desired level of daughters and/or herds across either their production, workability or type categories. One sire to keep an eye out for is Pemberton (Perseus/Jacey) from Genetics Australia. His extra level of strength combined with moderate stature could see him be a popular choice in 2023. Currently sitting at 494 BPI and 107 Type and Mammary values this outcross option is one to watch

PEMBERTON DAUGHTER GROUP - Owned by Carenda Holsteins Source:

Name

White

White Star Doorman 328 102 David x Elton GAC

Loxleigh Hatman Vince 5963 289 109 Hatman x Valentino GAC

Dutch Hollow Oliver P 284 107 Valentino x Mik-P WWS/GAC

Brookbora Valentino Askn 277 107 Valentino x Tbone GAC

River Valley Victorious 275 104 Barnabas x Iatola WWS Kaarmona Balenti 256 104 Valentino x Maximum CSC/ABS

Wilsonview IF Matt 256 105 Irwin x Tbone WWS

River Valley Circus Craze 248 107 Lemonhead x Pharoah SEMEX

Elliotts Regency Casino 244 104 Regency x Premier WWS

Top

Murray

NEW EDITIONS TO AGRI GENE LINE-UP

December proof highlights from Agri-Gene’s USA Holstein line-up were provided by some exciting bulls first introduced to the Australian market this year.

Kings Ransom DYNASTY was an early release bull into Australia this year and one of the few bulls to be available in Australia before his release in the USA. He is a Parfect son backed by 12 generations of EX and VG cows from the King’s Ransom ‘D’ family who is an elite TPI sire, over +400 for BPI and combines a great blend of fertility, type and production with a combined fat and protein of +138.

Calori-D CRS Tropic MAESTRO was a new release SCR specialist for 2022 who also offers calving ease and production with a great type linear that has no holes. With his SCR ranking of +2.8 he is sure to be popular as a Sexed semen sire again in 2023.

ENDEAVOR was a new bull for Spring 2022 who should also prove popular for 2023. He is Agri-Gene’s leading TPI sire who is hard to fault with a wonderfully balanced proof, watch out for ENDEAVOUR in Agri-Gene’s IDW Specials in January.

Agri-Gene’s Australian Jersey line-up continues to go from strength to strength, led by ROULETTE at +400 BPI with +112 for udders and the hugely popular BROADWAY-P who has been a breath of fresh air for Australian Jersey breeders; A2A2 and polled with an outcross pedigree, good production, and the breeds No.1 type sire from the Australian December proofs.

Jersey Proofs from Australia - Highlights

Domestically the December proof run saw very little change in the top proven sire listing.

There is little doubt of the high level of interest, both domestically and internationally for the Australia Jersey breed. Industry icons the likes of Valentino and Van Ahlem have had a huge part to play in creating cows and sires with outstanding dairy strength.

Whilst his female impact will be somewhat limited due to his early passing, Polled Gold (GAC) may also become an influential sire. His high demand genomic sons CSCBushfield, Broadway and Gold Band all possess that outstanding dairy strength international visitors marvel at.

Genetics Australia Leading Reliabilities

The December ABV release has identified a small group of Holstein and Jersey sires beginning to add daughter information across recent months, leading to increased reliabilities.

Carenda PEMBERTON now has more than 180 milking daughters on the official herd test, which equates to an additional 150 daughters following the August proof run, with early type assessment information also identifying a lift in December. Reports on PEMBERTON heifers inspected by GA field staff indicate he add further depth and quality to the portfolio of daughter proven sires. Carenda PILBARA is a paternal brother to Carenda PEMBERTON, with both bulls bred from the breeding program at Kitchen Farms in Western Australia. PILBARA has also begun to add milking daughters on official herd test with favourable results towards his improved BPI Breeding Value due to high production and improved health and reproduction values.

International sire JSYOLO ranks in the TOP 10 BPI bulls following this recent proof run. Positive reports have started to flow in from early daughters milking in Australia and with more than 750 milking daughters in the U.S along with many more daughters milking in other countries around the world. YOLO is a high profit sire with great udders.

Genetics Australia have returned Bercar ARDENT 9216 to the active sire list following the December ABV release. The first group of milking daughters sired by ARDENT have identified a lift of some 80 BPI and ranks as the number one production sire. More daughters will enter this proof between December and April 2023.Amongst the TOP 10 Aussie Reds ARBMCKEON maintains his strong position as the leading genomic proven sire holding down the #1 position, whilst ARBCYGNET is the lead daughter proven sire for BPI following the December ABV release, also holding down the #1 position with more than 130 milking daughters.

Producing Unbelievable Udders and Unbelievable Production...

Fondoo - an impact sire for the Australian dairy industry. In the rapidly evolving dairy genetics industry, where advanced technology UltraplusTM sexed semen is now well incorporated in Australian dairy herd genetic programs, Fondoo represents one of the early Australian based sires that demonstrated the options that sexed semen represents.

Consequently, a large number of his first-year daughters entered lactation and generated strong interest with encouraging reports on daughter consistency and outstanding udders. His first daughter proof introduced him as a daughter proven breed leader for the Australian BPI index, as well as the recently introduced Sustainability Index. He stamps his daughter with a strong pattern – top end production, excellent type, outstanding udders, and that impact capability to leave groups of highly consistent daughters that are a pleasure to milk.

•Ranked #1 Australian proven Balanced Performance Index sire

•Ranked #4 for the new environmental compliant Sustainability

USA Proof Results

Holstein TPI Highlights

It was a big day out for ST Genetics in the recent TPI proof results in America. They claimed 3 out of the top 4 positions. Captain (ST) is the new #1 sire at +3214 TPI followed by the remarkable production sire in Lionel (WWS). Charl and Rapid are other ST sires that place #3 and # 4 respectively on the list.

Interestingly the four highest type sire in the Top 100 listing were all used extensively by Leading Edge Genetics as elite genomic sires. This being Rapid (ST), Luster-P (WWS), Doc (WWS) and Delta Lambda (AG/ ST). All are now beginning to have some success siring the next generation.

One of the more moderate statured great uddered sires of the breed is BGP Yolo from Jetstream Genetics. Placed at #16 on the TPI list, Yolo has a tremendous udder score of +2.55. He is sired by Bandares and also has a healthy BPI in Australia of 532. Look for Yolo to be a popular choice in 2023.

JX

JX Cal-Mart Westport (5)

1.5 World Cup x Fastrack ABS

DNK VJ Bybmose Samson Sort 134 -0.7 Vj Samson x VIKING

ISDK VJ Adelgaard Hove Samson 133 -0.8 Vj Hove x Irwin VIKING

ISDK VJ Kjoelb Gislev Gutz 132 -0.1 Gislev x Lutz VIKING

Top 10 GJPI Genomic Jerseys Sires December 2022

Name

JPI Type Sire Pathway Source

Four J Monster (6) - P 173 0.6 Thrasher x Listowel-P WWS

JX Vierra Theboss (6) 171 1.3 Got Maid x Jx Chief SEMEX

Ahlem Dimitri Seismic-PP 171 1.4 Dimitri-P x Skyler WWS

Cal-Mart Joystick 170 0.6 Whatsup x Westport(6) ABS

MFW Tucker Uri 166 1.5 Tucker x Chief WWS

Cal-Mart Julio 166 1.3 Juggernaut x Steve ABS

Progenesis Michigan 165 1.1 Heritage x Thrasher SEMEX

JX Metcalf Ripp (5) 165 1.9 AltaZizic x Fournette CRV

River Valley Mac Margin 164 1.7 Jx Chief x Listowel-P SEMEX Cal-mart Walrus 164 0.9 Juggernaut x Mighty ABS

TLG ticks all the boxes

With the December proofs released its time to take a look at what the year ahead looks like for the Tlg team. New bulls to land at the collection facility are led by the EmuBanks bred TLGRIZBOY. TLGRIZBOY has an exceptional BPI of 555 placing him as the number 3 genomic bull in Australia, and a HWI of 594 ranking him number 2 in the Good Bulls Guide. With an Overall Type of 111, Mammary 107 and Fertility of an extreme 117 TLGRIZBOY will tick a lot of boxes as his TPI date is high ranking also. Keep an eye out for him as a premium sex sorted option in the Autumn.

TLGBEACON-PP is a new Homozygous polled MagicBall son who is on target to produced semen for the Autumn joining period. He is an ideal sire for those wanting an Australian bred polled sire with exceptional DPR of 2.6 and a more than handy TPI of 2552

TLGMDOUGLAS PP is a new edition Fomo son from the well known Stantons Bighit Melody-p cow. He has an outstanding 2820 TPI, PTAT of +1.54 and UDC of +2.64. This sire from a world class pedigree will be available in both convention and 4M sorted sexed semen and has large International demand already.

Another new local addition to the team is TLGWIM with a BPI of 486 and an excellent HWI of 558. His Daughter Fertility of 118, Calving ease of 103 and -3 days gestation length make TLGWIM an ideal heifer bull.

The popular TLGCARTEL continues to hold firm with his Type at 113 and Mammary 107. He still remains the #1 Australian Standing Type Sire available. His 115 for fertility and 101 for teat length make him one of the most versatile sires on the market. Don’t miss the opportunity to include TLGCARTEL in your joining program as bulls with his data don’t come along very often.

December proof highlights from WWS...

LUSTER-P and RENEGADE continue to impress! Both these highly proven, high end TPI bulls added hundreds of daughters, and both bulls had gains on their type scores. The influence of these bulls on the Holstein breed in years to come will be massive! Watch in 2023 for sons from Luster & Renegade daughters.

ALUM – Another favourite at Leading Edge Genetics, added his first 33 daughters to his near perfect type proof. This King DOC son had gains in TPI, NM$, Milk and Daughter fertility while maintaining his impressive SCR rating.

The VICTORIOUS daughters are calving in with some raving reviews across the country! His breeding pattern is easy to follow.

USA – 1220 daughters, + 1.8 type and +20.10 JUI Canada – 245 daughters, +14 Conformation, +13 Mammary and +12 Dairy Strength Australia – now 32 daughters in his type proof, 104 Type, 109 Mammary and the #6 Proven Jersey sire with a 275 BPI.

FIRSTCUT (Holeinone x EX 93 Fearless) is a new release outcross Jersey bull. A2A2 and BB K-Casein with 852lbs milk and +12.5JUI. FIRSTCUT should be a complementary mating for CASINO, MATT, and VALENTINO bloodlines.

WWS Australia wants to congratulate all the farmers who entered the LEG OFC 2022. MATT, CASINO, MOGUL, PHARO, PEPPER, LATROBE, DOC, GRANT, KENNEDY, GUTHRIE, ALLTIME, RAMBO, SALT and BURDETTE had daughters in the top 10 of their respective classes.

Victorious Daughter - Paullyn Victorious Maya