Glossary of terms

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Rank The tables are automatically ranked on the relevant economic index, £PLI or £SCI. It is possible to re-rank on the other traits by using the red arrows at the top of each column. The trait which you have re-ranked on will be highlighted.
£PLI Profitable Lifetime Index. £PLI is calculated using a number of traits weighted by their relative economic value. The £PLI value represents the additional profit a high £PLI bull is expected to return from each of its milking daughters over her lifetime compared to an average bull of £0 PLI. The £PLI index has about 32% weighting on production traits and a 68% weighting on fitness traits.
£SCI Spring Calving Index. £SCI is an economic breeding index, first published in August 2014. The £SCI is an across-breed index and represents the addtional profit a high £SCI bull is expected to return from each of its milking daughters over her lifetime compared to an average bull of £0 SCI. The £SCI is specifically designed for spring-calving herds, making extensive use of grazed grass, and has a 71% weighting on fitness traits which include: fertility, SCC, lifespan, calving ease and maintenance.
£PLI Rel Reliability (%). The reliability of any genetic index is expressed as a percentage and gives an indiciation of how likely the index is to change over time. Bulls with reliabilities between 50% and 99% are included in the top bull lists.
Brd AYR = Ayrshire; BSW = Brown Swiss; FRI = Friesian; GUE = Guernsey; HOL = Holstein; JER = Jersey; MON = Montebelliarde; SHO = Shorthorn
BC Breed Code
Gen. ”G” indicates that Genomic information has been included in the bull proof.
Prod rel Production reliability (%) is a measure of the accuracy of the animal’s production proofs (milk, fat and protein). Bulls with reliabilities between 50% and 99% are included in the top bull lists.
Milk (kg) Known as PTAs and calculated for Milk, Fat and Protein Yield, Fat and Protein Percentage. These are a prediction of the animals transmitting ability i.e. the predicted merit to be passed to progeny.
Main Maintenance (kg). A maintenance value has been calculated from traits closely related to a cow”s weight (stature, chest width, body depth and angularity). A higher value indicates a heavier animal and as a result there will be a greater cost associated with the maintenance (feeding) of that animal.
SCC Somatic Cell Counts are expressed as transmitting abilities and as deviations from a fixed genetic base. SCC PTAs are expressed as a percentage i.e. %PTA. For every 1% in SCC PTA a change of 1% in cow SCC is predicted. It is important to note that a negative %PTA SCC indicates a reduction and is therefore good.
LS Lifespan. In common with Milk, Fat, Protein and SCCs, Lifespan evaluations are also expressed as a PTA. The PTA is published in lactations with a general range of +/- 0.5 lactations. Some extreme bulls will have PTAs outside of this range. The PTA indicates the increase or reduction in lactations which daughters of a bull are predicted to survive in the herd relative to the daughters of a bull with a PTA of zero.
FI Fertility Index (£). Daughter fertility predicted transmitting ability (PTA) based on insemination data, calving interval, and condition score of the bull’s daughters.
dCE Direct Calving Ease. The ease with which the calf is born by a sire. Value range from -4.0 to +4.0. Values above 0 indicate easier calving sires.
mCE Maternal Calving Ease. The ease with which an animal can calve itself as a mature animal. Values range from -2.0 to +2.0. Values above 0 indicate easier calving animals.
TM Type Merit. Index ranges from -3.0 to +3.0.
Bull HBN Breed Society Registration Number or DEFRA Eartag number. In order to prevent problems of duplicate identities and to improve the accuracy of the evaluation the Primary Identity i.e. the original name and number issued by the society of first registration, is used throughout the system

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