1. Norway (1) 2005 Status of Dairy Cattle Breeding in the United States Dr. H. Duane Norman Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory Agricultural Research Service, USDA Beltsville, MD 20705-2350, USA dnorman@aipl.arsusda.gov 301-504-8334

2. Norway (2) 2005 U.S. dairy statistics (2004) l 9.0 million cows l 67,000 herds l 135 cows/herd l 19,000 lb (8600 kg)/cow l ~93% Holsteins, ~5% Jerseys l ~75% bred AI l 46% milk recorded through Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI)

3. Norway (3) 2005 U.S. dairy population and yield

4. Norway (4) 2005 DHI statistics (2004) l 4.1 million cows – 97% fat recorded – 93% protein recorded – 93% SCC recorded l 25,000 herds l 164 cows/herd l 21,250 lb (9640 kg)/cow – 3.69% fat – 3.09% (true) protein

5. Norway (5) 2005 U.S. progeny-test bulls (2000) l Major and marketing-only AI organizations plus breeder proven l Breeds – Ayrshire 10 bulls – Brown Swiss 53 bulls – Guernsey 15 bulls – Holstein1436 bulls – Jersey 116 bulls – Milking Shorthorn 1 bull

6. Norway (6) 2005 National Dairy Genetic Evaluation Program AIPLCDCB NAAB PDCA DHI Universities AIPL Animal Improvement Programs Lab., USDA CDCBCouncil on Dairy Cattle Breeding DHIDairy Herd Improvement (milk recording organizations) NAABNational Association of Animal Breeders (AI) PDCAPurebred Dairy Cattle Association (breed registries)

7. Norway (7) 2005 AIPL mission l Conduct research to discover, test, and implement improved genetic evaluation techniques for economically important traits of dairy cattle and goats l Genetically improve efficiency of dairy animals for yield (milk, fat, protein) and fitness (longevity, mastitis resistance, reproduction, conformation)

8. Norway (8) 2005 AIPL research objectives l Maintain a national database with animal identification, production (yield, milk composition), fitness (conformation, longevity), reproduction (dystocia, fertility), and health (mastitis, disease resistance) traits to support research on dairy genetics and management; provide data to others researchers submitting proposals compatible with industry wishes

9. Norway (9) 2005 AIPL research objectives (cont.) l Increase accuracy of genetic evaluations for traits through improved methodology and through inclusion and appropriate weighting of deviant data l Develop bioinformatic tools to automate data processing in support of quantitative trait locus detection, marker testing, and mapping methods

10. Norway (10) 2005 AIPL research objectives (cont.) l Improve genetic rankings for overall economic merit by evaluating appropriate traits and by determining economic values of those traits in the index; improved profit functions are derived from reviewing incomes and expenses associated with each trait available for selection

11. Norway (11) 2005 AIPL research objectives (cont.) l Characterize dairy industry practices in milk recording, breed registry, and artificial-insemination to document status and changes in data collection and use and in observed and genetic trends in the population

12. Norway (12) 2005 Traits evaluated l Yield (milk, fat, protein volume; component percentages) l Type/conformation l Productive life/longevity l Somatic cell score/mastitis resistance l Fertility – Daughter pregnancy rate (cow) – Estimated relative conception rate (bull) l Calving ease/dystocia (service sire, daughter) 2004

13. Norway (13) 2005 Evaluation methods l Animal model (linear) – Yield (milk, fat, protein) – Type (Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Jersey) – Productive life – SCS – Daughter pregnancy rate l Sire – maternal grandsire model (threshold) – Service sire calving ease – Daughter calving ease 2004 Heritability 25 – 40% 7 – 54% 8.5% 12% 4% 8.6% 3.6%

14. Norway (14) 2005 Genetic trend – Milk 2004 Phenotypic base = 11,638 kg sires

15. Norway (15) 2005 Genetic trend – Fat 2004 Phenotypic base = 424 kg sires

16. Norway (16) 2005 Genetic trend – Protein 2004 Phenotypic base = 350 kg sires

17. Norway (17) 2005 Genetic trend – Productive life (mo) 2004 Phenotypic base = 24.6 months sires

18. Norway (18) 2005 Genetic trend – Somatic cell score 2004 Phenotypic base = 3.08 (log base 2) sires

19. Norway (19) 2005 Genetic trend – Daughter pregnancy rate (%) Phenotypic base = 21.53% sires

20. Norway (20) 2005 Genetic trend – calving ease 2004 service sire daughter Phenotypic base = 8.47% DBH Phenotypic base = 7.99% DBH

21. Norway (21) 2005 Genetic-economic indexes 2004 Trait Relative value (%) Cheese merit Net merit Fluid merit Protein (lb)36339 Fat (lb)1822 Milk (lb)–10024 Productive life (mo)911 Somatic cell score (log base 2)–7–9 Udder composite677 Feet/legs composite344 Body size composite–2–3 Daughter pregnancy rate (%)577 Service sire calving difficulty (%)–2 Daughter calving difficulty (%)–2

22. Norway (22) 2005 Index changes 2004 PTA traits included Relative emphasis on traits in index (%) PD$ (1971) MFP$ (1976) CY$ (1984) NM$ (1994) NM$ (2000) NM$ (2003) Milk 5227–2650 Fat484645252122 Protein…2753433633 Productive life………201411 Somatic cell score………–6–9 Udder composite…………77 Feet/legs composite…………44 Body size composite…………–4–3 Daughter pregnancy rate……………7 Service sire calving difficulty……………–2 Daughter calving difficulty……………–2