DairyCo

Genomics launched to dairy industry at the BCBC Conference

Published 24 January 12

2012 is the year that genomics will be available to dairy cattle breeders in the UK, confirmed Marco Winters, DairyCo breeding+ director, at the British Cattle Breeders Conference this week.

The April bull proofs will include genomic evaluations for the first time, giving a more accurate prediction of a young animal's genetic merit than has previously been available, and potentially increasing the speed of genetic progress.

"A young bull marketed as a 'genomic young sire' may be no better or worse than any other bull," said Mr Winters, "but the advantages of genomic evaluations come through their speed and accuracy.

"Through collaboration with North America and Italy we've been able to establish reliabilities of around 65% on young bulls, which is nearly double that of a traditional young sire index, but breeders are reminded that this is still below that of most daughter proven bulls" he said. 

"By having a more accurate assessment of animals at a young age, breeders can use the evaluations with more confidence. And by using the animal earlier, generation interval will be reduced. The extent of the genetic gain will depend on the uptake of genomic evaluations and which bulls farmers choose to use. Even a modest 15% improvement in PLI would mean about £20 million for the British dairy industry over 10 years."  

However, Dr Mike Coffey of SAC stressed the importance of having a good basic breeding programme in place in order to benefit from the availability of dairy genomic evaluations. "The reduction in generation interval means we'll be moving faster genetically," he said "so we must be sure that we're aiming in the right direction."

Asked if there was a potential for genomic evaluations to reduce the gene pool of the UK dairy industry, Mr Winters said that genomics could mean the opposite, "Genomic testing is significantly cheaper than progeny testing which could mean that more bulls can be screened prior to use in AI. We are also constantly monitoring inbreeding levels and genomics will help us to do that better."

Ends

Date 24 January 2012

Notes to the editor

Genomic evaluations will be flagged with a 'G' to make them easily identifiable.

A genomic index can be calculated from the moment of an animal's birth by taking a sample of its DNA, which can be any cell in its body, including nasal swabs or cells at the roots of its hairs.

Without genomic indexes, the identification of superior bulls is expensive and  time consuming because of the need to wait for milking daughters and a progeny test proof.

This process generally takes around five years from the bull's birth.

Genomic evaluations will not replace progeny testing and the importance of maintaining performance recording is critical for its success.

For further information:

N:         Helen Fina        

T:         02476 478696

E:         helen.fina@dairyco.ahdb.org.uk
W:        www.dairyco.org.uk

DairyCo's aim is to promote world class knowledge to British dairy farmers so they can profit from a sustainable future.

To achieve this DairyCo aims to:

• Ensure farmers have access to world class information needed to improve competitiveness, GHG reduction and productivity
• Ensure farmers have access to direct and indirect support to help them improve their profitability through better business management
• Ensure that dairy farming is reducing its impact on the environment
• Ensure farmers understand the benefits of breeding and use the related tools

DairyCo is funded entirely by milk producers, via a statutory levy on all milk sold off-farm, at the rate of 0.06p per litre.  This provides an annual income of around £6.5m.

DairyCo is a division of the statutory levy board, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).