Genomics gives producers the opportunity to drive genetic progress with confidence.
Middle Yorkshire veterinarian Neil Eastham has obtained a Nuffield scholarship to explore how British milk producers can gain advantages from using genomic testing.
Mr. Eastham then shows some of the practical tactics to make greater use of genomics, on the effects of his exploration journey.
See also: How much do high-yielding U.S. dairy cuts spend on genomics?
Before you think about how you use genetics and genomic testing, you want to have a transparent understanding of what you want to accomplish.
This will be based on your existing needs as well as those that will be in the future.These will vary depending on a number of factors, adding the type of formula you use, the type of dairy contract you are in, the physical fitness disorders of the herd and the existing prestige of your herd in terms of functionality and genetic basis.
Genetics is not the complete answer: to complete advanced selection, it is imperative that intelligent control of the herd’s fitness is practiced.
To find out if your herd will gain advantages from female genomic testing, it’s vital to compare the reaction you get through selection.
Do high-genetic cows outperform their declining genetic counterparts?
Otherwise, investments and efforts may be directed toward control before spending on female genomic tests.
Variety focuses on characters for whom an upgrade through Variety will help you achieve your Variety goals.
Use a variety index aligned with your formula, for example, the cost-effective lifetime index for give birthing herds year-round.AHDB has done a wonderful task to ensure that in a single step it progresses in a number of features.
Be sure to take advantage of the amazing genetic merit of genomic bulls over their experienced opposing numbers through their older daughters.
More and more farms are turning their technique and employing a seed/meat-only strategy, however, whatever their long-term technique, it is vital to work with their veterinarian to ensure that their plans do not occur at the expense of yield.
Female genomic tests have their place, but will apply to all dairy herds.
For maximum manufacturers that have interaction in genomic verification, the motivation to verify should be to locate the lower end.It will have to be imagined to deselect these animals if you want to make a setback in investment.do a genomic checkup and don’t do anything with the results, it’s an expensive waste of time.
Women tested should be classified according to their farm skills and breeding targets, then aligned with an explained breeding strategy, and must be deployed with ruthless precision, ensuring that the small animals in the herd are not selected or sold, for example.
The use of sexed dairy products and traditional meat sperm, combined with the sale of over-genetic value heifers, will likely generate short- and long-term monetary benefits.
When it comes to deciding on methods to maximize your genetic gain rate, use at least sexed semen along with the specific use of res semen.
If possible, generate a small surplus (10-15%) heifers and the promotion of the worst animals after testing can boost progress.
At the other end of the spectrum, there is also an opportunity to paint with their animals to reflect their genetics, and some farms are now choosing to use in vitro embryo production (PVI) as a strategy to increase their profits.
A herd of 2,000 cows I visited in the United States produced over one hundred PIV-derived pregnancies consistent with the month, and by expanding the intensity of the variety and cutting the year-consistent generation through this method, the genetic gain consistent with the year was much greater.
This farm believed that, in the long term, there would be a growing interest in “ready-to-use” embryos (where other manufacturers can simply buy a ready-to-use embryo that encompasses the precise characters for which they are), so this technique meant they had a surplus of embryos for sale.
Genetics plays a basic role in the fitness of the herd.As veterinarians, it is imperative that we perceive the genetic perspective of the herds with which we paint, that is when we seek to set realistic goals and recognize errors to exploit the genetic perspective.
Observations on the farm and knowledge research give veterinarians an appreciation of the demanding situations that can be resolved, at least in part, through livestock..
Neil Eastham, long-time interested in genetics, tested the benefits of genomics on his Preston farm.
The herd includes 370 Holstein breeds, and the farm has been achieving genomics since 2016, with more than 650 animals tested to date.
“Before that, we decided on replacement heifers based on the classic average transmission capabilities of the parents, as well as in breast milk registries and classification data.
“However, we seek to make our choice program more in line with the goals and objectives of our system.We handle a duet of births all year round, superior performance and seek to be able to choose in particular for production, obviously, but also health, fertility and moderate size, as well as smart feet, legs and udders.”
The Easthams use verification effects to classify heifers and align them with other facets of the reproduction strategy, he explains.”For example, among those that will be preserved, 20% of the heifers are raised for meat and 80% more sensitive are bred with sexed milk seeds.
“The goal is to have a 10% surplus that is then resold.”
Such is the rate of genetic gain on the farm, that the genetic merit of the animals sold still places them in the 40% most sensitive of the national population for the Profitable Life Index (PLI).
According to Eastham, the greatest merit of this strategy is the principle of the genetic merit of its animals: “This means that we have more confidence in the animals in which to use sexed sperm, and this has resulted in the optimization of our reproductive strategy.”.increase sales revenues of calves by producing more meat calves and fewer Holstein male calves.
“For us, female genomics testing is now a proven strategy.The first finished lactation functionality of more than two hundred proven heifers shows that those found in the most sensitive quartile classified in their genomic PTA for milk produced more than 1300 liters more in their first lactation.compared to those in the declining quartile.
“Similarly, other people classified in the most sensitive quartile (based on their fertility rate) had a figure between childbirth and conception approximately 16 days shorter than those of the lower quartile.”
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