Rising star takes the Winter Fair’s Highest BPI Award
A heifer bred by 20-year-old Angus Fraser has taken out the BPI Heifer Award at this year’s Victorian Winter Fair. With a BPI of 417, Montrose Dropbox Tiffany descends from the Gordon Brothers’ Tiffany cow family.
The BPI Awards were presented by DataGene in collaboration with Holstein Australia and the Winter Fair Committee.
The Balanced Performance Index (BPI) is a measure of an Australian dairy animal’s genetic merit for the combination traits that contribute to a profitable business including production, health and fertility, overall type and feed efficiency.
At just 9½ months old, Dropbox Tiffany’s BPI is from genomic testing which provides detailed insight into her future performance. Of all the heifers entered in the Winter Fair, Dropbox Tiffany had the top BPI calculated by DataGene in the April 2025 genetic evaluations. At BPI 418, she ranks among Australia’s top Holstein females.
The Highest BPI Cow Award went to Vala Bouyancy Horiza 222 (BPI 301), owned by the Dickson family, Western Victoria. Their Emu Banks Holstein herd currently ranks number one in Australia for all three indices – BPI, Health Weighted Index (HWI) and Sustainability Index (SI).
Angus Fraser with Montrose Dropbox Tiffany, the top BPI heifer at this year’s Victorian Winter Fair.
Bouyance Horiza not only excels for genetic merit, she also has exceptional conformation, having classified EX-90-1E a few weeks ago.
DataGene extension officer Peter Williams congratulated both breeders for their outstanding breeding achievements.
“Most dairy farmers want to breed cows that will have long, productive lives in their herd. To do this they need a combination of traits for profitable production and strong conformation and the genes to produce the next generation of great cows,” Peter said.
“Looking at the break down of Dropbox Tiffany’s BPI, she is a good all-rounder, with high Australian Breeding Values for all the traits that contribute to the BPI. She is strong on type traits with an with Overall Type ABV 108 and Mammary System ABV of 108 and well above average for Survival at 112.
Not only does Dropbox Tiffany have a high BPI, she also performed well in the showring, placing a creditable 4th in her class of more than 20 at the Winter Fair.
“We congratulate Angus, who works with the Dickson family at Terang, on his success in breeding this outstanding heifer and presenting her at the Winter Fair. It’s a great achievement for a young breeder and we look forward to following his progress in the future,” he said.
For more results visit: https://www.facebook.com/victorianwinterfair/
For more information contact: DataGene 1800 841 848 or enquiries@datagene.com.au or www.datagene.com.au.
DataGene is an initiative of Dairy Australia and the herd improvement industry.