The formula of the future cow
Claus Langdahl
Senior breeding manager
VikingGenetics
www.vikinggenetics.com
The Nordic Total Merit (NTM)
ALL traits in
NTM are
of economic
importance
>90sub traits
combined into
14 main traits
Production
36%
Health & Reproduction
51%
Conformation
13%
Traits in NTM
Milkability
Growth
Daughter
fertility
Calving direct
& maternal
Longevity
Udder Health
Clinical mastitis – first 3 lactations
Hoof Health
10 hoof disorder data from hoof
trimmers for first 3 lactations
General Health
>80 diagnoses
Vet registrations – first 3 lactations
Youngstock survival
Survival of calves in
rearing period
Production index
Conformation
22 sub-traits
Temperament
www.vikinggenetics.com
New focus in the world
More focus on animal health and welfare
More focus on sustainability and environmental impact
More focus on antibiotics use in livestock management
www.vikinggenetics.com
Threats towards dairy producers
Activists break into farms
Activists put farms on fire and damage properties
www.vikinggenetics.com
The global challenge and dilemma
In 2020, EU has committed to decrease green house gasses
by 20% compared to 1990 level
In 2050, world food productionneeds to be doubled compared
to 2010 level
www.vikinggenetics.com
Sustainability
7
SUSTAINABILITY
Breeding for sustainability
www.vikinggenetics.com
815 805 803781
748701 686 678 662 652 634 620
526
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
Sweden Denmark USA Finland Canada Holland Spain Germany Italy France UK (England& Wales)
NMR
Poland Australia
fat + protein kg - Holstein 305 days, all registered cows
Kg fat + protein, 305 days - Holstein
Updated: 2019-06-21
Source: ICAR (2017), NAV (DK, SE, FIN) & Australian National Herd Recording Statistics (2017) USCDCB
(2018)
Antibiotics use
7,1
38,4
237
0
50
100
150
200
250
SE, DK, FIN EU-29 USA
Use of antibiotics – cattle,mg/PCU (Population correction unit)
Source: European Medicines Agency, European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption; ‘Sales of veterinary antimicrobial agents in 29 European countries (28 EU member states & Norway) in 2015’, Sales in
mg/PCU is weighted according to the proportion of cattle to all food-producing animals in each country, shown as weighted average for VG countries and for EU-29 according to the proportion of cattle in each country from
the total cattle population. USA - FDA U.S. Food & Drug Administration 2016 SUMMARY REPORT On Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food-Producing Animals & and USDA cattle population data for both beef
and dairy cattle. Production figures – ICAR (USA), Eurostat
www.vikinggenetics.com
Focus on naturaldefence
Sustainable breeding
goal
Reliable data registration
system
Balance between
production & health for
better profit
Low-risk breeding
www.vikinggenetics.com
Sustainability and low-risk breeding
Sustainable breeding
Optimal breeding
strategy at herd level
Handling of inbreeding
Breeding goalwith traits
with economic
value
High reliability of
genomicbreedingvalues
Controllingrecessive
lethals
www.vikinggenetics.com
Important traits in the breeding goal
Easy calvings
Healthy animals
VikingDefence
Young stock survival
Hoof health
Longevity
Efficiency
Easy calvings
www.vikinggenetics.com
Stillborn calves from heifers
www.vikinggenetics.com
If you want to improve mastitis
resistance, you need to register
Clinical mastitis.
If you want to improve hoof health,
you need to register hoof diseases.
If you want to improve health in
general, you need to register the
actual diseases.
In breeding you get what you go for!
RELY ON OUR
RELIABLE
REGISTRATIONS OF
THE DIRECT TRAITS
Udder healthPowered by VikingGenetics
Improve udder health
Daughters of the bull
EBV 100
Daughters of the bull
EBV 110
Daughters of the bull
EBV 120
21%less
mastitis*
42%less
mastitis*
Bull with EBV 100 equals
population average for the breed
Note: Calculated based on phenotypic values (NAV 2016)
*Compared to population average
www.vikinggenetics.com
Udder health – genetic trend
85
90
95
100
105
110
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
USA Viking CAN NLD FRA DEU
Hoof healthPowered by VikingGenetics
www.vikinggenetics.com
Weights of sub-traits in Hoof Health index
23%
22%
20%
16%
9%
5%4%
Sole hemorrhage
Heel horn erosion
Digital dermatitis + Interdigital
Sole ulcer
Interdigital hyperplasia + Verrucosedermatitis
Double sole + White line disease
Cork screw claw
Improve hoof health
Sole ulcer
Verrucose dermatitis
Interdigital Hyperplasia
Cork screw claw
Daughters of the bull
EBV 100
Daughters of the bull
EBV 110
Daughters of the bull
EBV 120
30%less
60%less
Note: Bull with EBV 100 equals population average for the breed
Calculated based on phenotypic values for VikingHolstein (NAV 2016)
Efficiency
Saved feed
Breeding values describing kg saved feed in a lactation
Consists of 2 sub-indices• Maintenance efficiency
• Metabolic efficiency
www.vikinggenetics.com
Data sources
Cows with direct observations• >800 000 cows measured by tape - Finland
• >90 000 cows measured by scale - Denmark
• All breeds represented
Correlated information (Stature, Body depth, Chest Width)• >2 900 000 classified cows - DFS
• High genetic correlation to BW
3D system for feed intake in dairycattle
Identification• Contours of the back are used to identify cows
Feed intake• Changes in volume during visits are used to quantify feed intake
www.vikinggenetics.com
Results
Identification rate +95%
High repeatability (0,7)
Data from 4 herds before new year • (+1000 cows – Hol, Jer and RDC)
Huge benefit for management• Efficiency, alarm on low feed intake, grouping, behaviour
Will help build a genetic index for metabolic efficiency
www.vikinggenetics.com
www.vikinggenetics.com
Results
Heritability 20%
Positive (unfavourable) correlation to yield
No significant relationship to reproduction and health
Data on Holstein (4000) and Jersey (1200)
Still collecting data
Tools on farm level
30
www.vikinggenetics.com
Reliabilities on GEBV’s
65-80% 50-70%55-75%
Updated: February 2019
www.vikinggenetics.com
X-VIK and beef
Breed benefits
VikingHolsteinFor high production
VikingRedFor good health
VikingJerseyFor high solids
• Animal health and welfare will
play a bigger role in the future
• Its important we can be proud of
what we do and that we
continuously breed for healthier
cows.
• A responsibility for all in dairy
industry
• The good thing is that a healthy
cow is also a profitable cow.