Carenda Holstein notches up 7 bulls in Genetic Australia team

Jul 30, 2021

Ray Kitchen”s Carenda Holstein herd has a record seven bulls in Genetics Australia”s 2021 team, and he”s not done yet.

‘This is the highest number we”ve had and we want to keep contributing,’ Ray said. ‘Only the top male genetics get into the breeding centres. They”re selecting the best from around the world so it”s pleasing to be in there.’

The latest ABV”s shows Ray”s herd at Boyanup in Western Australia ranks #3 for BPI and #3 for Health Weighted index [HWI].

Carenda”s seven bulls in the 2021 team are led by the highest BPIg ranked Holstein in SONDALO (Jeronimo x Main Event), who descends from a long line of highly classified cows with three of the last four generations scoring excellent.

At 531 BPIg, SONDALO ranks as the highest Australian-breed bull, and sixth overall. His 567 HWI, 106 Mammary, 109 Mastitis Resistance, 114 Daughter Fertility, – 5 Gestation Length and 103 Calving Ease ABVs makes him the all-round package.

‘To be highly ranked on the BPI, they”ve got to be good in all areas; whether it be production, confirmation or health traits,’ Ray said.

Carenda is no stranger to the upper echelons of the rankings. ‘I”ve been in and around the top half dozen for a while,’ Ray said. ‘We have more than 400 milking cows on the farm so it”s pleasing for a relatively large herd to be so high in the rankings.

‘We”re gradually making improvements to a whole range of traits, by using better bulls all the time and quality genetics are being introduced.’

SONDALO”s full brother TIRANO-P was the 6th ranked Australian bull in the April ABVs, making him one of the highest-ranking polled bulls in the breed. He also has pleasing conformation indexes with 106 overall and 110 mammary, the high numbers reflecting the cow family both bulls are from.

Although COVID lockdowns have stopped on-farm competitions over the past year, SONDALO and TIRANO”s mother CARENDA MAIN EVENT VANDA recently won her breed age group in an Australia- wide video-based competition.

AMALFI is a bull breed from a different MAIN EVENT cow at Carenda; he remains popular for adding dairy strength to his daughters.

Another interesting bull is PEMBERTON (BPI457). ‘He was quite popular the last few years,’ Ray said. ‘We used him ourselves and had a bull calf, VARLEY, with BPI 482, that”s about to go to Genetics Australia. We have high hopes for him.’

‘It”s quite pleasing to get a bull into the breeding centre that has been sired by one of our own bulls,’ Ray said.

At 472BPI, FRANKLAND is the stud”s other high ranked team member. He”s from a different cow family; the FAITH family were introduced from the USA about 30 years ago through embryos.

That family is second only to the “V” cows that have been breeding on the farm since the early 1960s.

While the stud”s other bulls in the GA team are genomic testing proven, SOUTHPOLE is a daughter-proven bull.

‘SOUTHPOLE goes back to CONANT-ACRES SWEET family we”ve had here for more than 25 years after we bought embryos out of the US in the early 1990s out of an 88-point BLACKSTAR and her Excellent dam was the full sister to the popular bull BROKER,’ Ray said.

He”s the first proven polled sire based in Australia. ‘There hasn”t been a lot of polled genetics in the breeding system but we”re getting more all the time. He”s the first Australian bull to return to service as a proven bull that is polled.’

‘We are breeding for good confirmation cattle but they”re also productive and making improvements to health traits. They”re doing really well in that department,’ Ray said.

The Kitchen family has been dairy farming in the area since the 1950s, although family connections to the region go back another century.

Genetics Australia focuses on a World Class future at AGM

Genetics Australia focuses on a World Class future at AGM Bacchus Marsh, Monday November 23rd 2015: Genetics Australia [GAC] today announced a group Net Profit after tax of $19,663 for the year ending 30th June 2015. The balance sheet remains strong with a working capital of $1.9m, and a total net assets position of $10.4m, […]

HerdInsights Monitoring from Alanya Animal Health

Genetics Australia Co-Operative Ltd. and the Irish company Alanya Animal Health Monitoring are pleased to announce that Genetics Australia will be the exclusive distributor for HerdInsights in Australia. HerdInsights provides real-time, cloud based health and heat monitoring for dairy cows which improves the efficiency of farm breeding programs and reduces health care costs through early […]

WRANGLER genes, a great fit for Australian farmers

The 2016 April ABV release was not only a great result for Genetics Australia but an even better result for Australian farmers, says Genetics Australia General Manager Anthony Shelly. In what could be an ABV first, full brothers WRANGLER and GEEMCEE hold the top two positions on the Balanced Performance Index [BPI] while a third […]

Jetstream Genetics deliver a powerful lineup

SUPERHERO (Supershot x Numero Uno): SUPERHERO is the No. 1 GTPI & GLPI sire available with conventional semen and no bull contract restrictions. He is at +2748 GTPI and +3368 GLPI and +2.24 PTAT. SUPERHERO is also chart-topping the German list with gRZG +159. His dam is an impressive young cow, recently scored VG85 VGMS […]

Genetics Australia Board announces additional $500,000 of Shareholder Rebates.

The Genetics Australia Board of Directors met today to discuss how the Co-operative can help Australia”s dairy farmers through the current challenging time in the industry. ‘With 6 of the 7 Board members being dairy farmers, we know first-hand what our members and fellow farmers are currently going through’, said Genetics Australia”s Chairman Trevor Henry. […]

Gold, Silver and Bronze in the August ABV release

Filling the top three BPI places on the Holstein Proven podium are GEEMCEE, his full brother WRANGLER and the health traits specialist GOLDCREST. GEEMCEE consolidated his claim as the number one Holstein sire in the breed with an impressive 40-point lift in his BPI rating placing him 30 points ahead of his nearest genetic rival. […]

New Director for Genetics Australia

Media Release New Director for Genetics Australia Bacchus Marsh, Monday November 21st 2016: Genetics Australia recently held elections for two vacant Board positions. Long serving Director and former Chairman, Ross Gordon of Cohuna did not seek re-election to the Board and Tony Doyle of Wallacedale had completed his first term as a director and did […]

Tribute to DELSANTO

Bacchus Marsh, Thursday 24th 2016: Australian Holstein legend DELSANTO passed away yesterday aged 12 years. DELSANTO was one of the oldest bulls in active service at Genetics Australia. It appears that he died of heart failure. DELSANTO was one of a number of INFORMER sons at Genetics Australia and was renowned for siring cows with […]

Reliability is King At Genetics Australia

Genomic technology is becoming more and more reliable following each ABV release and has made significant increases in reliability as the technology has evolved during the past five years. Today the most reliable bull”s available are those that combine genomic data with actual Australian daughter performance. The 2017 April ABV just released has highlighted several […]

Significant Progress Achieved by Genetics Australia’s Aussie Red Program

The April 2017 Australian proof release includes some excellent results from Genetics Australia”s Aussie Red program, that will help red breeders and cross breeders worldwide to improve their profits. There are three obvious highlights to report:- Six new sires have graduated to Genetics Australia”s elite proven team. The proofs of four of the top bulls […]