A BRITISH dairy sire has produced more sexed semen than any other bull in the world.

Crichel Principal has notched up an incredible 116,000 straws of sexed semen in his lifetime - he is 13 this month - and currently has around 50,000 daughters world-wide.

Cogent, his owners, put his success down to him being exceptionally fertile - at his prime he produced semen seven days a week - his daughters have met world-wide demand, and the company was the first in the world to offer sexed semen commercially.

Today, around 30pc of all the semen they sell is sexed, with each successful conception providing a 90pc chance of a female calf.

Hugh Pocock, sales and genetic manager, said: "This technology is exceptionally important to the farming industry, because of the enormous demand for heifers to enter the dairy herd, stemming in turn from the growing international demand for dairy produce; and the negligible value of dairy bull calves.

"There are welfare issues associated with producing unwanted bull calves, and animal welfare organisations such as the RSPCA are firmly in favour of this technology."

Crichel Principal was one of the first bulls to produce daughters from the sexing process.

Mr Pocock said: "Farmers who have used him find his daughters to be extremely efficient milk-producing cows. They also have great legs, feet and locomotion and particularly good health and fitness."

He also has some exceptional sons, including Dalbytop Phil, currently one of Cogent's bestselling bulls.

Principal himself was bred by Dorset dairy farmer, Tim Harding. The bull is classified EX95 - one of the highest scores available - and has a Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI) of £147.

He is still in the top 100 PLI list o