ONE of the world’s most influential dairy bulls, SHOTTLE, has died at his retirement home in the United Kingdom, leaving a genetic legacy of 100,000 daughters.
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Picston SHOTTLE produced 1,174,948 units of semen during his lifetime and obtained the almost unobtainable — the celebration of a top five Holstein USA legend ranking on his 15th birthday last year.
ABS Global chief operating officer Saskia Korink said the peaceful passing of SHOTTLE meant the industry had lost one of its most influential animals.
“He has made a major impact on dairy farming around the globe over the last 15 years and has become one of the greatest customer satisfaction bulls of all time,’’ Mr Korink said.
SHOTTLE was born at Spot Acre Grange near Stafford, England — the home of the Pickford family and Picston Holsteins.
He was the son of dam Condon Aero Sharon EX-91 and sire Carole Prelude Mtoto.
For seven straight sire summary releases (January 2008 through to January 2010), SHOTTLE sat at the peak of the Top 100 TPI list.
After those seven straight runs, the bull remained a top 15 sire for the next five sire summaries.
In December 2011, SHOTTLE became the eleventh ABS sire to achieve “millionaire’’ status — with one million units of semen sold.
When he turned 12, SHOTTLE still out-performed bulls half his age, remaining in the top 25 of the Top 100 TPI list.
“Even at the age of 15 and post-retirement, he continued to be a tremendous improver of health traits and was over 1.20 for PTAT,’’ Mr Korink said.
“He continues to impact the Holstein USA Top 100 TPI list, with two sons and 28 maternal grandsons listed.’’
SHOTTLE leaves a long list of offspring, including more than 100,000 daughters across 22 countries.
“Conservatively, those 100,000 SHOTTLE daughters have produced more than two billion litres of milk to help nourish the world,’’ Mr Korink said.
“ABS remains the premier source for SHOTTLE influenced genetics — marketing conventional and sexed semen from 17 direct sons and 27 maternal grandsons.
“With 19 maternal grandsons awaiting proof information, SHOTTLE will continue to influence the industry for years to come.’’
Not only was SHOTTLE popular in the dairy and artificial insemination industries, but he received enormous press coverage, featuring in The Times of London, Daily Mail and even Playboy magazine.
