Sons of O-Bee Manfred Justice from Dairy Daughters
16/01/09

Sons of the international number one sire, O-Bee Manfred Justice, are creating a buzz in the world of Holstein dairy cattle breeding and Dairy Daughters - the company that marketed the bull himself – have been quick off the mark to make them available to UK farmers.

A Crest daughter

Ralma O-Man CF Crest is a son of Justice which has successfully combined the excellent health and management traits for which his sire is renowned, with the outstanding conformation traits that are characteristic of his maternal grandsire, Regancrest Elton Durham.

Crest is particularly noted for exceptional body traits - such as chest width and body depth - which have been lacking in many modern Holstein bloodlines and which are highly valued by breeders. His overall Type Merit is a highly creditable 2.19 (which is based on 74 daughters in 40 herds and therefore highly reliable and also represents an improvement on his father's conformation) while his Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI) of £124 earns him a place among the top 100 sires. He is also a big cell count improver with a score of -18, which understandably has a positive impact on the lifespan of his daughters, while an excellent score for calving ease adds to his farmer appeal.

"It was obvious to us from very early on that Justice [also called O-Man] was an exceptional bull which was able to bring profitability to his daughters through their high fitness and lifespan traits, so we were very keen to progeny test sons in UK farming conditions," says Dairy Daughters' managing director, Evans Drayton. "So this young bull – which only gained his first proof this week - has already been used extensively as a progeny test sire across the country.

"We selected him in particular because we felt that the Justice/Durham cross had the potential to blend high type and outstanding management traits together, and – judging by his first Interbull proof - this is what he has done."

Crest joins a group of elite sires which have performed exceptionally well for Dairy Daughters in this January '09 proof run, which sees Justice himself reinforce his long-term number one position for the UK's national breeding index, PLI.

However, another of the company's bulls - Mario Xacobeo – stands firm at number one for Type Merit, now with a type proof based on some 119 daughters in 94 herds.

Together these exceptional bulls have earned Dairy Daughters the leading position for the second proof run in succession, on what are widely considered to be the two most important breeding indexes in the UK.

"We are absolutely delighted with our performance in this January proof run as we have spent many years carefully selecting sires which we believe will best meet farmers' needs for long-living, hard-working daughters and we feel that this proof run continues to vindicate our choices," concludes Mr Drayton.

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