A newcomer has taken this year’s Highest BPI Heifer Award at the Victorian Winter Fair, held in Bendigo in July.
Newhope Dylan Butter, owned and bred by Bruce Fuller at Shepparton, topped the heifer entries with a Balanced Performance Index of 352.
The BPI Awards were presented by DataGene in collaboration with Holstein Australia and the Winter Fair Committee.
DataGene is an initiative of Dairy Australia and the herd improvement industry, and the Balanced Performance Index (BPI) is a measure of an Australian dairy animal’s genetic merit for the combination traits that contribute to a profitable business including production, health and fertility, overall type and feed efficiency.
At just 11 months old, Dylan Butter’s genomic results provide detailed insight into her future performance.
Of all the heifers entered in the Winter Fair, Dylan Butter had the top BPI calculated by DataGene in the June 2024 genetic evaluations. At BPI 352, she ranks among Australia’s top Holstein females.
The Highest BPI Cow Award went to Emu Banks Lastin Jackie, owned and bred by Bryan and Jo Dickson of western Victoria.
Lastin Jackie ranks highly on all three of DataGene’s genetic indices with a BPI of 405, Health Weighted Index of 410 and Sustainability Index of 711 and recently classified VG 86 on her first lactation.
Peter Williams from DataGene congratulated both breeders for their outstanding breeding achievements.
“Most dairy farmers want to breed cows that will have long, productive lives in their herd,” Mr Williams said.
“To do this they need a combination of traits for profitable production and strong conformation and the genes to produce the next generation of great cows.
“Looking at the breakdown of Dylan Butter’s BPI, she is a good all-rounder, with high Australian Breeding Values for all the traits that contribute to the BPI.
“She has exceptional type traits with an Overall Type ABV of 110 and Mammary System ABV of 114 as well as above average ABVs for production and health traits, especially protein, fat, mastitis resistance and daughter fertility.
“We congratulate Bruce on his success in breeding outstanding cows and presenting Dylan Butter at the Winter Fair.”
Not only does Dylan Butter have a high BPI, she also performed well in the show ring, placing sixth out of 15 in her class.
For more results, visit: https://www.facebook.com/victorianwinterfair/