Mario Calus and the ReDiverse Consortium ReDiverse: Biodiversity within and between European Red Dairy Breeds – Conservation through utilization Mario Calus and the ReDiverse Consortium

Project description   European Red Dairy Breeds (ERDB) represent a unique source of genetic diversity complex histories of gene flow and connectedness local adaptation to various environments cultural heritage ERDB are well known for superior functional characteristics high fertility outstanding udder health low incidence of stillbirth good conformation of legs and claws Despite their qualities, ERDB are increasingly replaced by higher yielding breeds (e.g. Holstein Friesian)

Objectives Utilize unique genetic diversity of ERDB Develop novel breeding and management concepts for sustainable use of ERDB Develop genome based conservation strategy for ERDB

Preliminary results Farmer surveys: Economic values computed Participation in conservation program depends on Bonus payments & duration of contracts Existing situation on the farm Motivations for keeping ERDB: Better health & robustness Higher content of milk components Economic values computed For production, reproduction & health Assessing benefit Genomic Selection across ERDB Requires at least 100 animals genotyped per breed Economic values computed for Angler and Red-and-White Dual Purpose; will be computed for all breeds.

Contribution to SusAn Research Area 1 Research Area 1: Improve the productivity, resilience and competitiveness of European Animal Production ReDiverse aims to: Conserve ERDB that are more resilient than Holstein Improve Productivity & competitiveness ERDB through Genomic Selection

Contribution to SusAn Research Area 3 ReDiverse aims to: Conserve ERDB for their contribution to: Biodiversity Social and cultural heritage Improve ERDB milk quality through identifying underlying genetic variants

Impact ReDiverse on 3 pillars of sustainability WP 5: Economic values WP 7: Breeding goals & conservation strategies Economic: Assessing advantages (costs & benefits) of ERDB What motivates farmers to maintain ERDB? Which ERDB traits are valued by Holstein farmers? Society: Assessing preferences of stakeholders Cultural heritage: designing in-situ conservation programs Environment: ERDB well adapted to diverse local environments ERDB contribute to variation in the rural landscape throughout Europe Cultural heritage aspect: Society is willing to pay for maintaining the cultural heritage embodied in ERDB through programs for in-situ conservation. Research question: how should such policy programs be designed to make them attractive for farmers? (work completed) Economic use aspect: What motivates farmers to maintain ERDB against the general trend of switching to HF (data collection completed) Commercial value of ERDB traits: What traits are valued by farmers keeping HF and how much are they willing to pay for re-introducing ERDB traits into modern HF? (work ongoing) Environment (more details to explain): In some areas of Europe these breeds are uniquely adapted to graze certain envrionments that otherwise would only be used for forestry ERDB are well suited to milk production in parts of Europe (Poland, Baltic countries)

Transnational collaboration What is the added value of transnational collaboration?   ERDB are typically (too) small ReDiverse joins forces across countries and breeds: Pedigree database Genomic selection reference population Economic values for all ERDB 7 academic and 6 industrial partners International collaboration between academic and industry partners is at the core of ReDiverse and will build on existing collaborations among the Nordic countries, Germany and the Netherlands and extend these to the Baltic countries and Poland.

ERDB included in ReDiverse Breed Herdbook animals Finnish Ayrshire 190,000 Swedish Red and White Cattle 130,000 Modern Red Danish Cattle 40,000 Breed Herdbook animals Meuse–Rhine-Yssel Groningen White Headed Deep Red Dutch Red Friesian 17,771 2,488 1,563 700 Breed Herdbook animals Latvian Brown 44,280 Lithuanian Red 30,295 Estonian Red 18,000 Breed Herdbook animals Modern Angeln Cattle 10,257 Red and White Dual Purpose 2,846 Vorderwald Cattle 6,050 Hinterwald Cattle 600

All important breeding organizations involved Transnational collaboration - implementation Is the transnational collaboration beneficial for broad implementation of the results?   All important breeding organizations involved Ensures transnational implementation Multibreed reference population involving breeds from different countries Needed to compete with higher-yielding breeds Enabled by joint chip Joint evaluation & breeding program

Six farmer-led breeding organizations are involved Multi actor approach Is there a strategy to involve relevant stakeholders?   Six farmer-led breeding organizations are involved Three breeding organizations are providing substantial in-kind support

Most developed tools will be: Multi actor approach – validation outcomes Are research outcomes validated under practical conditions along the whole value added chain?   Most of the research is based on empirical data measured under practical conditions Most developed tools will be: Validated on empirical ERDB data Available for use by breeding organizations

Unifying the national with the European level Cross-scale approach   Focus on: Unifying the national with the European level ERDB bulls and the breeding organizations Impact: Farmers across Europe: improved choice of ERDB bulls Dairy industry: access to diversified choice of milk proteins due to a more diverse dairy population Small populations: improved Genomic Selection Breeding programs are the main target of the project, which also makes sense, as there ultimately breeding decisions are taken.

Integrate data from several countries Cross-scale approach Which is the Impact of the project in terms of knowledge acquisition?   Integrate data from several countries Develops novel tools that are specific for ERDB and usable across countries Requires common procedures for data recording Requires trust between breeding organizations and researchers

The main stakeholders are partners in the project Dissemination and communication strategy Is there strategy for exploiting the potential of the projects results?   The main stakeholders are partners in the project Part of the research is undertaken on their data This ensures adoption of project results in practice

All results will be published Dissemination and communication – Open Data Do you disseminate the projects results via Open Data?   All results will be published Results will not be disseminated via Open Data: Background data made available to the project by partners is IP of (industrial) partners Generated data owned by the partner(s)