Dairy breeding and genetics

Find out how building genetics into your breeding programme can maintain herd strengths and address areas of weakness.

Dairy genetics help predict how characteristics such as milk production, increased solids or health and management traits are passed onto the next generation of cows.

The effect of breeding decisions is cumulative, meaning they build over the generations and have a key role to play in farm profitability.

We invest over £800,000 each year in genetics and are the independent source for genetic evaluations, breeding indices and analysis for all major UK dairy breeds.

Browse our information below to learn more about genetics and how we support you to make better breeding decisions.

See the latest updates in dairy breeding and genetics.

Breeding indexes and traits

Understand how breeding indexes and traits are calculated, how they can be used for breeding decisions and contribute to long-term profitability.

Learn about breeding indexes and traits

Profitable Lifetime Index £PLI

£PLI is a within breed genetic index for UK dairy farmers with all year-round calving herds.

Find out more about our Profitable Lifetime Index and search for bulls and cows using £PLI

Spring Calving Index £SCI

£SCI is an across-breed genetic ranking index designed for UK spring block calving herds.

Understand more about our Spring Calving Index and search for bulls and cows using £SCI

Autumn Calving Index £ACI

£ACI is an across-breed genetic ranking index designed for UK autumn block calving herds.

Search for cows and bulls using Autumn Calving Index as well as more information on £ACI

Herd genetic reports

Available to dairy farmers who fully milk record, Herd Genetic Reports enable you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your herd and make informed breeding decisions.

More about Herd Genetic Reports

Login to your Herd Genetic Report

Dairy herd genomics

Genomics uses a young animal’s DNA to estimate their genetic potential and genomic inbreeding, giving dairy farmers confidence to make informed breeding decisions with their youngstock.

Learn about genomic evaluations, inbreeding, and reliability

Dairy semen code of advertising

The Dairy Semen Code of Advertising aims to ensure that UK farmers are provided with clear, relevant, up-to-date, and easily comparible data when making their breeding decisions.

More about the code and qualifying breeding companies

Bull search

Search for a £PLI bull by name or herdbook number

Search for an £SCI or £ACI bull by name or herdbook number

Genetics Workbook

Genetics Workbook

Unlocking your dairy herd’s hidden breeding potential

Breeding briefs

Breeding briefs

Guide to making better decisions using genetics

Genetic evaluation publication dates

UK and International bull PTAs will be updated in line with internationally agreed Interbull release dates. The next ones are:

  • Tuesday 3rd December 2024
  • Tuesday 1st April 2025
  • Tuesday 12th August 2025

Cow results and herd summaries will be available by the Friday after the bull release dates.


Breed-specific reports (£PLI)

Holstein

Friesian

Ayrshire and red

Jersey

Guernsey

Shorthorn

Montbeliarde

Fleckvieh

Brown Swiss

Across-breed reports

Spring Calving Index (£SCI)

Autumn Calving Index (£ACI)



Breeding and genetic resources

Introduction to genetics videos

Genetics webinar

Breeding podcasts

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