Meori Rosen Past, Present, and Future Dairy Cattle Breeding in Israel

Meori Rosen Overview l History of dairy cattle breeding in Israel l Description of the current Israeli breeding program l Methods of genetic evaluation, and the traits analyzed l Genetic and environmental trends for production and secondary traits

Meori Rosen Overview, cont. l Comparison of the Israeli strain to other National Holstein strains l Future developments, genetic markers and embryo technology l Conclusions

Meori Rosen Historic overview, “In the beginning...” The base for the development of the Israeli Holstein strain was the local Damascene breed; a small, red cow; that was gradually upgraded by importation of Friesian and Holstein genes from various sources.

Meori Rosen Historic overview, Date Event ~1925Importation of Friesian bulls from the Netherlands and Germany. 1947Importation of 10 Holstein bulls from Canada Importation of Holstein bulls and cows from the U. S. ~1955First local sire evaluations for milk production.

Meori Rosen Historic overview, Date Event Recording of growth traits on bull calves. ~1965First computerized sire evaluations by modified contemporary comparison (MCC) method. 1965First recording of dystocia and calf mortality.

Meori Rosen Historic overview, Date Event 1980First recording of results from individual inseminations. 1981The first genetic evaluations for male and female fertility Recording of growth traits on bull calves resumed. 1983Beginning of automated milk component analysis.

Meori Rosen Historic overview, Date Event 1985First sire evaluation by Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP). 1987First sire evaluations for milk protein production. 1991The selection index was changed from ECM to PD91, computed as follows: PD91 = (kg milk) (kg fat) (kg protein).

Meori Rosen Historic overview, Date Event 1992The first Individual Animal Model evaluations were computed This method replaced BLUP for routine genetic evaluations of all animals for milk, fat, and protein production. The genetic base was set as cows born in 1990.

Meori Rosen Historic overview, Date Event 1994The first animal model evaluations for somatic cell concentration and female fertility. 1996The national breeding index was modified to include somatic cells score (SCS) as follows: PD96 = (kg milk) (kg fat) (kg protein) - 300(SCS)

Meori Rosen Current status of the Israeli- Holstein population l There are ~120,000 dairy cows in Israel, l Nearly all dairy cows are Israeli Holsteins. l This number has been constant for the last 20 years. l ~80% of the cows are in the national milk recording program.

Meori Rosen Current status of the Israeli- Holstein population, cont l Dairy production is recorded monthly by milk inspectors l Milk samples are sent to the central laboratory at Bitan Aharon for fat, protein, and somatic cell concentration analysis. l Genetic evaluations are computed at the Department of Genetics of the Institute of Animal Sciences, ARO.

Meori Rosen Current status of the Israeli- Holstein population, cont l All breeding is by artificial insemination. l There are two AI institutes: »“On” for the North (~90,000 first inseminations) »“Hasherut” for the South (~55,000 first inseminations) l The AI institutes are nonprofit cooperatives under the auspices of the Israel Cattle Breeders Association (ICBA).

Meori Rosen Principles of the national breeding program l Bull calves, sons of elite cows are sold to the AI institutes at prices fixed to the current beef prices in Israel. l All first parity cows are inseminated with semen from young, unproven, bulls. l All later parity cows are inseminated with semen from proven bulls at a flat rate fixed to cover the operating costs of the AI institutes and the ICBA.

Meori Rosen Principles of the national breeding program, cont l Elite sires are mated to about 1000 virgin calves to test for dystocia and calf mortality. l All other virgin calves are mated to proven sires with favorable evaluations for dystocia and calf mortality.

Meori Rosen 100, elite cows 200 elite cows 3 foreign bulls 4 local bulls 60 candidate bulls 30,000 cows 6000 daughters records on daughters 5 bulls are selected 55 bulls are culled The Israeli dairy cattle breeding program

Meori Rosen Israel Contemporary Sires

Meori Rosen Results of recent international Holstein strain comparisons l FAO comparison in Poland, l Description - Polish cows were inseminated with semen from young, unproven sires from 10 countries. The F-1 cows from each cross were backcrossed to the imported strain. Traits were recorded on both the F-1 and R-1 progeny. Cow samples from each strain were raised under two different management systems.

Meori Rosen FAO comparison in Poland, results: l The F-1 to the Israeli strait was second highest for milk, fat, and protein production, under both “extensive” and “intensive” managements. l The R-1 to the Israeli strain was highest for all three traits. l Israeli cows were second highest for live weight.

Meori Rosen BARD comparison in Israel, , description l Israeli heifers were inseminated with semen from 5-6 Elite sires from each of the 5 countries with the highest production in the Polish experiment; »US, Israel, Canada, Sweden, and New Zealand.

Meori Rosen BARD comparison in Israel, , cont. l 424 to 535 milk-recorded cows were produced from each strain. l Mean production levels of the F-1 cows were nearly double the “Intensive” management level in Poland.

Meori Rosen BARD comparison in Israel, , results l The Israeli strain was highest for milk and fat production, but lowest for fat percent. l Daughters of Canadian sires were the largest and daughters of New Zealand sires were the smallest. l Conception rate was highest for Sweden and lowest for the US. l Dystocia as a sire trait was highest for Sweden, and lowest for New Zealand.

Meori Rosen Israel - Holland comparison, , description l Semen from 4 elite sires from each country was used to inseminate a sample of cows in the opposite country. ~60 milk recorded daughters were produced for each sire.

Meori Rosen Israel - Holland comparison, , results l The Israel strain was higher for milk, fat, and protein production in both countries. l The Dutch strain was higher for fat and protein percent in both countries. l The Dutch strain in Holland was superior for the Dutch selection index. l The Israeli strain in Israel was superior for the Israeli breeding index.

Meori Rosen Hungarian comparison, , description l Hungary imported semen of sires from 5 countries: »US sires, 65,707 daughters »Canada - 51 sires, 4127 daughters »Israel - 18 sires, 1706 daughters »Germany - 35 sires, 8272 daughters »New Zealand - 3 sires, 526 daughters

Meori Rosen Hungarian comparison, June, 1994, results l Daughters from these five strains were included in the national Hungarian sire evaluation. l Israeli daughters were highest for milk fat, and protein production and the Hungarian breeding index. l Israeli daughters were lowest for fat and protein percent, final score and udder.

Meori Rosen Increasing genetic gain via biotechnology: the four paths of inheritance

Meori Rosen Biotechnology and future developments l Embryo transfer from elite cows is currently in used to increase the selection intensity in the dam-to-son path. l Genetic markers are used to verify sire paternity. l In the future genetic markers will also be used to verify paternity of test daughters.

Meori Rosen Marker-assisted selection (MAS) for production and secondary traits l A program has begun to detect and estimate the effect of the individual quantitative trait loci affecting production traits in the Israeli Holstein population via the “daughter design”. l Application of MAS can increase rates of genetic gain by ~20%.

Meori Rosen Conclusions l The Israeli Holstein strain has the highest mean milk and protein production in the world. l These results are due to a combination of factors, including breeding. l The Israeli strain compares very favorably to other advanced strains for production and fertility, but not conformation traits.

Meori Rosen Conclusions, cont. l In the future there will be more emphasis on secondary traits, including health and fertility. l Biotechnology will enhance, but not replace, traditional methods of genetic improvement.

Meori Rosen Distribution of Herds 1999

Meori Rosen AVERAGE ANNUAL YIELD,KG/COW

Meori Rosen PRODUCTIVITY OF ISRAEL-HOLSTEIN COWS BY CALVING YEAR Average Milk (kg), Protein(%) and Fat(%) in 305-day adjusted Lactations (1-5) All Herds

Meori Rosen PRODUCTIVITY OF ISRAEL-HOLSTEIN COWS BY CALVING YEAR Average Milk (kg), Protein(%) and Fat(%) in 305-day adjusted Lactations (1-5) Kibbutz Herds

Meori Rosen COWS' BREEDING VALUE BY BIRTH YEAR (GENETIC TRENDS) PD96 = (kg milk) +6.41(kg fat) (kg protein) -300(scs)

Meori Rosen COWS BREEDING VALUE BY BIRTH YEAR (GENETIC TRENDS)

Meori Rosen FIRST INSEMINATIONS CONCEPTION RATE (%) - HEIFERS

Meori Rosen FIRST INSEMINATIONS CONCEPTION RATE (%) ADULT COWS

Meori Rosen HERD MILK CELL COUNTS IN ISRAEL 1999 Monthly distribution (%) of herd SCC - All herds.

Meori Rosen HERD MILK CELL COUNTS IN ISRAEL Monthly distribution (%) of herd SCC Kibbuts herds

Meori Rosen