Newcomer takes the Winter Fair’s Highest BPI Award
A newcomer has taken this year’s Highest BPI Heifer Award at the Victorian Winter Fair. Newhope Dylan Butter, owned and bred by Bruce Fuller, topped the heifer entries with a Balanced Performance Index (BPI) of 352.
The BPI Awards were presented by DataGene in collaboration with Holstein Australia and the Winter Fair Committee.
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.
DataGene’s Peter Williams presenting Bruce Fuller with the Winter Fair Top BPI Heifer award for Newhope Dylan Butter.
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. 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,” Peter said.
“Looking at the break down 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 fertilty.
“We congratulate Bruce on his success in breeding outstanding cows and presenting Dylan Butter at the Winter Fair,” he said.
Not only does Dylan Butter have a high BPI, she also performed well in the showring, placing 6th out of 15 in her class. For more results visit: https://www.facebook.com/victorianwinterfair/
For more information contact: DataGene 1800 841 848 or enquiries@datagene.com.au or www.datagene.com.au.
DataGene is an initiative of Dairy Australia and the herd improvement industry.