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

2. 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)

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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)

8. 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.

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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)