Investing in GeneticsRebekah Mast

Genetic Director

Artificial Insemination -

The AdvantagesThe three main advantages to using Artificial Insemination:1. Reduce the risk of spreading sexually transmitted

diseases.

2. Reduce the costs and dangers of maintaining a bull on the farm.

*Fewer herd bulls needed in cattle operation.

* Lower cost for feed, housing space, labor etc.

* Less risk of injury caused by bull aggression.

3. Genetic Advancement

* Use sires of superior genetic merit (the best bulls of the breed).

* Improve production traits in cattle operations.

* Mate specific sires to individual cows.

Artificial Insemination –

Cost vs InvestmentFinancial Estimate:

* A bull costs about $60 per lactating animal per year to house and use in your herd.

* 1:20 ratio bull:cows

* Feed cost for the bulls

* Displacing cows with bulls

* Studies show that 1 in 4 bulls are either sub-fertile or infertile

Assuming 3 straws of semen per pregnancy, that is at least $20 per unit of semen that you could instead invest in top level genetics.

Modern dairy producers see the use of A.I. as a critical investment for their success. Do not allow the genetics you use become a ceiling.

U.S. dairy population and milk yield

Wiggans

1930s – 1,500 kg of

milk/cow/year

1940s – 2,020 kg of

milk/cow/year

Genetic Advancement

1950s - 2,500 kg of

milk/cow/year

21st Century – 10,126 kg of

milk/cow/year

Where do the elite bulls come from?

Selection of Bull

Mothers

9.4 million dairy cows in the U.S.A.

Intense select from Top 0.01% (10,000) of females for bull mothers based on:*Genomic ranking

*Milk production

*Longevity

*Fertility

*Physical characteristics

*Health

Selection of Bulls for AI

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

10,000

11,000

12,000

13,000

14,000

15,000

Males

Genomic Tested Progeny Tested Active Proven

Genomic test 18,000

bulls per year.

Progeny test 1,500

bulls per year.

Graduate to active

proven line-up 200

bulls per year.

Traditional Pedigree

Dam of Dam

Sire of Dam

Dam of Sire

Sire of Sire

Dam

Animal

Sire

Real Life Example

Genomic Pedigree

Escalating Genetic

Progress for sires

7HO8081 PLANET

Born: March 2003

7HO10721 BOOKEM

Born: February 2009

7HO11477 MCCUTCHEN

Born: November 2010

7HO12198 KINGBOY

Born: October 2012

7HO12609 KINGMAKER

Born: July 2014

5 ¾ Years

1 ¾ Years

1 ¾ Years

1 ¾ Years

NAAB number

Daughter Average

Registration numberSire Stack

Production Traits

Type Traits

Health Traits

Linear Type Traits

Wellness TraitsFertility Traits

Indexes

PTA: Predicted Transmitting Ability

Major Traits Measured in Holsteins

PTA Trait Avg. Low High

Milk (kg) 325 -934 1285

Fat (kg) 15 -27 42

Fat % .03 -.24 .37

Protein (kg) 11 -24 33

Protein % .01 -.17 .18

Type 1.60 -2.39 4.53

UDC 1.36 -2.45 3.94

FLC 1.36 -1.46 3.84

PL 1.6 -4.7 7.1

DPR -0.1 -4.1 3.5

SCS* 2.86 2.36 3.43

Estimate of genetic superiority that cow or bull will transmit to its offspring for a given trait.

Expressed as the difference between an animal’s offspring and entire breed population.

Used to rank cows and bulls by genetic merit.

* Lower values are better

Total Performance Index – commonly used index for ranking Holsteins. Combines type, production and health and fertility traits.

Net Merit $ – commonly used index for ranking dairy cattle of all breeds. Measures the expected lifetime profit that the offspring of an animal will provide over their lifetime based upon production, udder health, longevity, and body size.

The Feed Efficiency (FE) Index takes into account the individual feed costs to produce an extra pound of milk, fat and protein while accounting for differences in maintenance costs, housing costs and calving weights that may be attributed to the size of the cow. Cows that produce high volumes of milk without requiring high volumes of feed are rewarded in this index.

FE = (dollar value of milk produced) – (feed cost of extra milk) – (extra maintenance cost)

WT$ Places economic weights on wellness traits, directly estimating potential profit contribution of these traits for an individual animal. This multitraitselection index focuses solely on wellness traits:Mastitis 41%Lameness 27% Metritis 19%Retained Placenta 6%Displaced Abomasum 6%Ketosis 1%Economic value for Polled

DWP$ A multi-trait selection index that includes production, fertility, type, longevity, and the wellness traits, including Polled test results.Production 34%Wellness 30%Health and Calving 19%Type 10%Fertility 7%

Total Performance Index

(TPI) Formula

Traits in JPI2017

Relative Emphasis Production 53% : Health 27% : Conformation 20%

Protein30%

Fat15%CFP Milk

8%

Productive Life6%

Livability4%

DPR7%

CCR2%

HCR2% SCS

6%

Jersey Udder Index12.8%

Body Weight7%

Mobility0.2%

Net Merit (NM$)Net Merit (NM$) is the economic value which is a consideration of production, Somatic Cell Score (SCS) and Productive Life (PL) scores. NM$ is the expected lifetime profitability of a bull's average daughter.

Predicted Transmitting Ability for Protein and Fatpercent. This is an estimate of the percent of protein or fat in the milk that a daughter of the bull will produce throughout her lifetime.

Predicted Transmitting Ability for Milk, Protein and Fatpounds. This is an estimate of the pounds of milk, protein or fat that a daughter of the bull will produce, above or below the average population, throughout her lifetime. The level of confidence that

can be placed in a sire’s production data based on pedigree, genomic and daughter information.

Number of daughters in number of herds contributing daughter production information to milk, protein and fat PTA’s.

Number of daughters in number of herds contributing daughter information to Type PTA’s.

Percent reliability for type information based on pedigree and genomic information as well as the number of daughters in a bull’s proof.

Predicted Transmitting Ability for Type. The ability of an animal to transmit genetics for type or confirmation improvement traits to its offspring.

A composite score of udder traits as weighted by the contribution of each trait to increased longevity.

A composite score of foot angle, rear legs rear view, rear legs side view, and foot and leg score.

A composite score of linear frame traits including stature, strength, body depth and rump width.

A composite score of dairy form and strength.

Daughter

Pregnancy Rate

measures the

ability of a bulls’

daughters to

become pregnant.

Every 1% indicates

4 fewer days open.

Sire Conception Rate is an

indicator of the fertility of a bull

based upon conception rate

across all services.

Fertility Index combines values

from three measures of

reproductive performance to

provide one overall fertility

score. Fertility Index = 18%

HCR + 18% CCR + 64% DPR

HCR (Heifer Conception Rate)

measures the ability of virgin

heifers to conceive. An HCR of

1.0 equates to a 1% increase

in heifer conception rate.

CCR (Cow Conception Rate)

measures the ability of

lactating cows to conceive. A

CCR of 1.0 equates to a 1%

increase in cow conception

rate.

Sire Calving Ease – Percentage of assisted births expected when this bull is used on virgin heifers. The tendency of calves from a particular service sire to be born more or less easily than an average calf.

Daughter Calving Ease - Percentage of daughters of a particular sire that have more (or fewer) problems at calving time and produce calves that are born more or less easily than calves produced by an average cow.

Sire Still Births/Daughter Still Births – Measures the tendency of calves/daughters from a particular service sire to be stillborn or to give birth to stillborn calves.

Somatic Cell Score measures the ability of a bull’s daughters to resist mastitis.

The number of months that a cow is in production as compared to the average number of months in production for the breed.

PTA Livability (LIV) is the percent of a bull's daughters above or below the average of the breed that remain alive in the herd until they can be culled and provide a source of income for the herd.

Gestation Length is expressed as the number of days greater than or less than the average gestation length for the breed

STA:

Standard Transmitting Ability

Used for linear type traits: Udder Depth, Stature, etc.

Average score for all linear traits is 0

STA values generally range from –3 to +3

The greatest number of bulls are STA = 0 for each trait

68% of bulls are within 1 STA in each direction of the average

Linear Type Traits

Developing an Effective

Breeding Program

GENETICS ARE AN INVESTMENT

Major returns from one of the smallest

but best investments on the dairy.

Two Ways to Increase Genetic

Average

1. Improve the top genetics

*Sire selection

*Mating Program

2. Eliminate bottom genetics

*Cull or do not breed poor

cows

* Will she survive?

* Will she make money?

* Do I want to milk her heifers?

What Prevents

Achieving Our Goals?

Genetics

Inferior quality

Improper combination of traits

Management

Poor cow comfort

Inappropriate nutrition

Illness and injury

Moving Forward

Set Genetic Goals

Determine which cows are most profitable.

Consider milk market of 5-10 years in the future.

Select sires that are in line with genetic goals

Focus on traits that impact profitability.

Keep accurate records

Essential for tracking progress and properly

identifying the source of problems.

Beyond the Bull

Create a genetic plan.

Maximize genetic progress.

Escalate genetic advancement.

Goal = Improve the herd (or next generation) to

genetic levels at or above international

standards.

Implement strategies and advanced genetic

tools used by the world’s most elite dairies.

There Is No Shortage Of Semen

Building a Genetic Plan

Go beyond simply picking bulls for maximum milk production.

Use custom indexes tailored to your long term goals.

Create cows that will last a long time on your dairy.

Creating a Genetic

Plan

Evaluate your foundational herd.

Consider market dynamics.

Focus on your operation’s goals.

Develop a customized Index.

Select the best bulls for your genetic strategy.

Implement the plan and make genetic progress.

SCR measures the fertility of all bulls, foreign

and domestic, who have been used on the U.S.

dairy cattle population.

Not a genetic trait – so what makes the

difference?

*Semen Quality

*Lab Expertise

*Knowing what to discard and discarding it

*Concentration

SCR: Sire Conception

Rate

Fertility AdvantageWWS offers leading genetics and fertility.

*SCR is the industry standard for evaluating sire fertility, based on

hundreds of thousands of breedings. WWS is home to more high SCR

bulls than any other AI company.

0.01

-0.47

0.96

1.26

-0.43

1.44

-0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5

Stud E

Stud D

Stud C

Stud B

Stud A

*WWS

Industry Average

+0.42

The Result