First UK-proven Durham Son, Zenith, offers balance for the modern breeder

Daughters of the first UK-proven Durham son Ocean-View Zenith provided the focal point for Semen World at the Dairy Event, illustrating the importance that the south Wales-based company places in proof reliability alongside breeding well-balanced cattle for the modern domestic herd.

Bred at the famous Ocean-View herd in California and sampled in the UK through Semen World as a young sire, Zenith has now come through with an outstanding UK proof, based on 127 daughters in 71 herds. He is the No.1 UK-proven Durham son for type at +2.22 and one of the best sires available for foot and leg improvement with a UK score of +2.49. >From a production perspective, Zenith offers positive protein deviations and -0.05% fat, whilst his somatic cell count score makes him an exceptional improver at -21.

As Semen World's sales and production manager John Cochrane explained, Zenith is an ideal example of the company's broad philosophy of sourcing the best genetics for the UK herd from all over the world.

"Zenith is a truly global performer, now being used as a proven sire in over 60 countries worldwide, and he is meeting the needs of the UK herd very well indeed," he said. "He is bred from four generations of Excellent cows with an average lifetime production of over 67,000kg, so his pedigree is impeccable, but more importantly he is tried and tested in this country. The feedback we are getting is that he is breeding very clean boned dairy heifers with a good temperament and with outstanding udders that will stand the test of time. He is a calving ease sire and is one of the better Durham sons for milk quality. Somatic cell count is an increasingly important characteristic in our experience, so the fact that Zenith is well within the top 5% for the breed is very significant."

Ocean-View Zenith is available in the UK exclusively through Semen World and globally through the company's marketing partner World Wide Sires.