Holstein World: What kind of plan can we use today?

Marj & Dick: If you are looking to build cows that have good longevity, greater ability to avoid culling, improved ability to breed back, greater ability to avoid mastitis, more ability to calve easily with a live calf, and more durability then you may be asking how to consider all of these various traits including at least moderate amounts of production in your genetic program. Because of the number of traits, and their different genetic spreads and economic values, it is not recommended to select on traits individually; instead a more balanced approach is recommended. This balanced approach involves:

Starting with a balanced index which includes a majority of the key traits:
 More longevity
 Positive fertility
 Favorable calving ability and fewer stillbirths
 Mastitis resistance/Udder health
 Improved udders
 More sound feet & legs
 More modern frames (avoiding overly large cows and very angular cows)
 Avoids putting limits on Type

Holstein World: What are your predictions for the future of health traits and how they will affect breeder’s buying decisions?

Marj & Dick: We believe we can predict with confidence that over the next decade that on a global basis we will see genetic evaluations for additional health and reproductive traits become available, and the existing evaluations will be improved. Once the evaluations are available, we should expect genetic progress.

Holstein World: What do bulls that sire durable, long-lived genetics look like?

Marj & Dick: Many breeders relate easily to the conformation of daughters from high Type bulls, but few feel they can accurately describe linear traits for high longevity/durability bulls. In order to provide breeders with a “visual picture” of long-lived genetics, let’s compare a group of bulls with high Type (PTAT), our benchmark, and a subset of bulls that excel for Productive Life. Both groups of sires for this comparison were sorted from the U.S. Active A.I. list to ensure that there were sufficient numbers of bulls in the different subsets to reach robust conclusions.

The high Type subset was defined as bulls with PTAT of more than 1.4 and 189 active bulls met this criterion (August 2006 Active A.I. list). The high Productive Life subset was defined as bulls having a PL of 2.0 and higher, meaning that daughters of these bulls are expected to be productive and in the milking string for at least 2 months longer than bulls with PL values of 0 (174 active bulls). Details and graphics for this comparison are available in the ABS Dairy Breeders Journal, Fall/Winter 2006 issue which has been posted to the ABS Global web site for your convenience:
Under 2007, click on the link: “Breed Long Lasting Cows” http://www.absglobal.com/tech_serv/resources/dairy/geneticmanagement.phtml
Take-home points are provided in today’s blog:

High Type (PTAT > 1.4) subset of bulls (189 bulls) Excel for Udder Traits and Feet and Leg traits – as expected. Favorable associations with longevity (PL).
 Large cows which are extreme for Stature, Strength, Body Depth, Thurl Width, and Dairy Form/Angularity. Unfavorable associations with longevity, fertility, and durability.
 Elite for Type.
 Essentially average for Management Traits – Productive Life, Daughter Pregnancy Rate, Somatic Cell Score, Sire and Daughter Calving Ease and Stillbirths, and Lifetime Net Merit Dollars (NM$).

High Productive Life (PL ≥ 2.0) subset of bulls (174 bulls)
 Excel for Udders and Feet and Leg structure traits. Favorable associations with longevity (PL).
 More moderately sized cows which are less extreme for Stature, Strength, Body Depth, Thurl Width, and also less extreme for Dairy Form – a more modern frame. Cows which fit in today’s parlors and freestalls and further show that they have sufficient body reserves available for the immune system, reproduction, and maintaining a pregnancy.
 Good Type (average PTAT = 0.92). Functional type and a more modern frame.
 Elite for Productive Life, greater ability to avoid culling, improved ability to breed back, greater ability to avoid mastitis, more ability to calve easily with a live calf – overall average of $343 for Lifetime NM$.

Holstein World: What is important when breeding for more durable, more long-lived, and more profitable cows today?

Marj & Dick: What our customers and industry want really hasn’t changed – dairies want cows to have it all – high production, good reproduction, durability, few health problems, easy calving, good udders, sound feel and legs, and longevity. However, as we have seen, we are in a new era and a key for the future is to understand and adapt to the changes.

Clearly, production traits will continue to be important in breeding for more profitable cows. In addition, we need more emphasis on traits that are associated with efficiencies and reducing dairy farm costs - traits like longevity, female fertility, calving related traits include reducing stillbirths, and mastitis resistance. The trend for increasing emphasis on health, management, fitness, and longevity traits and correspondingly lesser emphasis on production traits is evident when studying changes in TPI, for example, and comparable national indexes from many other countries around the world. Today, production traits account for only 50% of the relative emphasis in TPI while traits like longevity, health, fitness, and management traits account for the remaining 50%.

So, what is most important for longevity? According to USDA-Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory (2006) research, factors most important for longevity are cows’ abilities to:

1) Breed back – positive for Daughter Pregnancy Rate (DPR)
2) Calve easily with a live calf – favorable Sire and Daughter Calving Ease, and lower values for Sire and Daughter Stillbirths
3) Avoid mastitis – lower Somatic Cell Score (SCS) and positive for Udder Composite

Now there are more and better genetic ‘tools’ (PL, DPR, SCS, Stillbirths, and Daughter Calving Ease) to aid our selection decision-making and by using these new tools to select sires for greater female fertility (DPR), Udder Composite/more shallow Udder Depth, longevity (PL), and mastitis resistance (SCS), and less Dairy Form (carries more Body Condition), calving difficulty (lower % Difficult Births), and fewer stillbirths we will be working to breed for more durable, more long-lived, and more profitable cows.

Holstein World: What changes have we seen in dairy cow genetics over the years?

Marj & Dick: Data show that today’s cows produce more milk from better udders and stand on a more sound set of feet and legs than cows of even 10 years ago. Also, today’s cows are larger, more angular, and have lower pregnancy rates than cows born in the early 1990s. These same cows now are more likely to be managed in groups, milked in a parlor, and often are housed in freestalls. Some of these changes over the years have been beneficial, some neutral, while others have been less desirable.

In a nutshell, we have changed the cow, changed her environment, changed how she is managed, and further, have changed what we expect from her. These changes have implications for breeding more durable, more long-lived, and more profitable cows for tomorrow.

So, what is the research telling us about today’s Holstein cow? Perceptive breeders will not be surprised to learn (because commercial dairies have been telling us for years) that the genetic makeup associated with longevity is different today than that for Holsteins of 10-15 years ago. Several key changes include:

 High yielding cows have only a slight genetic advantage to avoid culling. Ten or so years ago, high yielding cows had a decided genetic advantage for longevity. Given today’s high producing cows and dairies’ needs to control replacement costs, this change probably is not a surprising outcome. The implication is that it is important to focus on traits other than production in order to improve cow longevity.
 Cows that are more Dairy (cows which carry less Body Condition) tend to be culled earlier than those which are less angular. This relationship is a striking departure from cows of 15 years ago which showed strong positive associations between longevity and Dairy Form. This finding is supported by US and international research which indicates that more angular cows tend to have poorer fertility and more health problems. To regain some resilience for tomorrow’s commercial cow, we need to breed for cows that are less sharp – in other words, cows that show that they have sufficient body reserves for important functions like the immune system, reproduction, and maintaining a pregnancy.
 Large cows (combination of taller cows, with more Strength, more Body Depth, and wider Rumps) are culled earlier than more moderately sized cows as evidenced by negative correlations today between Productive Life (PL) and the body size traits – Stature, Body Depth, Strength, and Thurl Width which tend to track together (these trait are correlated) and as such, ultimately define the size of cows. This result of earlier culling for large cows agrees with comments we hear from commercial dairies who say that they need more moderately sized cows and further, should not be surprising given that today’s cows are more than 0.5 standard deviation larger than cows born in 1985.

Holstein World: How has the shift in breeding for health traits also affected your contracting and sire selection?

Marj & Dick: Significantly. The equations that measure and illustrate the economic advantages of healthy, fertile, longer-lasting cows in today’s dairy economy are sound and realistic.

The three most significant costs in producing replacement cattle are facilities, feed and labor. We know that the cost of each of these three components edge up each year and therefore the cost of replacing cows in the herd goes up each year. Economic stability for dairy farm families is dependent upon the difference between a cow’s lifetime marginal return and the cost to replace her.

We also know that that pregnancy status and cell count are the two primary factors that determine voluntary culling in dairy herds. Therefore as genetic evaluations for additional health and fertility traits have become available and the accuracy of exiting trait evaluations have been improved, these traits have become increasingly more important in our sire selection processes.

Dairy farm families that milk Holstein cows have every reason to expect that these genetic deficiencies in the breed be addressed. They should expect genetic improvement and genetic progress for health, reproductive and longevity traits. We have taken the steps necessary to assure genetic progress in these traits.

Holstein World: This week we will be visiting with Marj Faust, Director of External Research, and Dick Smith, Sire Analyst & Director of Dairy Sire Selection, of ABS Global, Inc. This conversation was initiated because of the popular response we received from our readers regarding a recent article published in the Fall/Winter 2006 ABS Newsletter regarding Productive Life. We look forward to a very informative and interesting week ahead!

Holstein World: What prompted ABS to write the article? What is the link to the online ABS article?

Marj & Dick: Click on the link below and then in the 2007 section, click on the link: “Breed Long Lasting Cows”
http://www.absglobal.com/tech_serv/resources/dairy/geneticmanagement.phtml

The team at ABS feels that we have a responsibility to listen to our customers and to deliver the types of genetics that will help them to reach their individual goals. Not surprisingly, an overwhelming majority of dairies have been telling us that they want high producing cows that also are healthy, fertile, durable, and longer lasting. Some may argue that today’s task is more challenging. However, now there are more and better genetic ‘tools’ to aid our selection decision-making, including genetic values for traits such as female fertility, longevity, mastitis/somatic cells, calving ease traits, stillbirth traits, composites, yield, and linear traits. In response to our customers, we have taken the steps necessary to assure genetic progress in these traits - traits associated with efficiencies and reducing dairy farm costs – as well as in production traits.

In addition to deliver this type of complete genetic package, the ABS team has had to gain a better understanding of the whole cow, instead of just doing “more of the same” or focusing on a few highly heritable (and easier to change) traits. Through this process, we have come to realize that the industry is a new era – we have changed the cow, changed her environment, changed how she is managed, and further have changed what we expect from her. The article is a discussion about what we have learned that is important in order to breed for more durable, more long lasting, and more profitable cows in this new industry era.

Holstein World: How has the shift in breeding for health traits affected the ABS sire lineup?

Marj & Dick: Slowly. Genetic Evaluations for Somatic Cell Score and Productive Life have been available since 1994. As we monitor and analyze sales data we can see a slow, gradual yet steady trend indicating that these traits, and newer health/longevity traits such as fertility (expressed as Daughter Pregnancy Rate) are becoming more significantly correlated with semen purchase decisions by our customers.

In many ways Regancrest RBK DIE-HARD has become the poster boy for health and longevity traits at ABS. In calendar 2006 he was by far our most heavily used 2nd crop bull in the US. Now 12 years old, we can say with confidence that all of our major competitors in the US will sample DIE-HARD sons in 2007. This is extremely unusual to have a bull surface as sire of sons at 12 years of age. Clearly, his genetic attributes have not changed in recent years. Rather, the growing importance of his attributes (Longevity, Fertility and Calving Ease) has brought the bull to the forefront.

In 2007 we can expect DIE-HARD and End-Road PVF BOLIVER to be in extremely high demand and competing for the honor of our most popular 2nd crop bull. Both bulls excel in the health and longevity traits. Their demand and popularity in the market reflects growing interest in these traits by our customers.

Both of these bulls have been found to rank in the best 10% of the Active AI bulls for November 2006 in their ability to reduce the genetic component of stillbirths by their daughters. In other words, daughters of these bulls are less likely to produce calves born dead than 90% of the sib-groups sired by other Active AI bulls.

Stillbirths are yet another reproductive challenge facing the Holstein breed. We know now that when Jerseys and Holsteins are housed together and managed alike on the same dairy that the Jersey cows will breed back more quickly and require fewer services to do so. We know that the frequency of stillbirths (calves born dead) is much higher in Holsteins than in Jerseys. And, we know that certain bloodlines within the Holstein breed are responsible for an inordinate portion of these calves born dead.

It is unfortunate that Holstein USA has not yet seen fit to recognize the economic consequences of calves born dead and include the valuable stillbirth evaluations in the sire ranking designed and recognized by the Holstein Association (TPI).

Holstein World: Name your all-time favorite cow and all-time favorite bull. This could be an animal you have owned or just admired from afar. Then, name your up & coming favorite cow and bull.

Mark & Stephanie: C Glenridge Citation Roxy is our favorite cow but you can’t exclude other breed favorites like Laurie Sheik, Lincoln Bonnie, Shoremar Alicia and Markwell Raven. Roundoak Elevation is our favorite sire- many famous families go back to him (Rae, Elegance, Raven and another favorite sire, Starbuck). There are many up and coming young cows, the magazines are full of promising cows- it is an exciting time to be part of registered Holsteins.

Holstein World: Do you have any additional comments you’d like to provide?

Mark & Stephanie: The dairy business and the Holstein breed are full of hardworking dedicated people. We would like to thank all of our families and fellow Holstein breeders for their hard work in promoting the best dairy breed. Oregon breeders and the Pacific Northwest are full of great breeders.

Holstein World: As we wrap up this week of blogging with Mark & Stephanie Miranda of Premium Farms, we encourage you to stop by and visit their website at www.premiumfarms.net. We enjoy blogging with breeders from across the country - do you have anyone you”d like to hear from? Let us know by contacting me at sschmidt@dairybusiness.com!

Holstein World: What is the one trait that you feel the Holstein breed needs to improve today? Do you have any advice for fellow dairymen and women just beginning their own herd?

Mark & Stephanie: We feel that feet and legs has really become an issue. The Holstein breed really is a great package but to insure endurance we feel that the breed needs to bring back more depth of heel. Cows that walk better eat more, milk more, breed back faster and stay in the herd longer. Our advice to people beginning in the Holstein business is to invest in good cow families that breed true and utilize them by flushing. Embryo transferring is the fastest way to develop a cow family. Also, don’t worry what everyone else is doing and don’t worry about winning shows.

Holstein World: What are some of the key elements of your current marketing and merchandising program that have proven the most effective?

Mark & Stephanie: The recent design of our website and the use of Holsteinworld.com has really increased our visibility. Being in the west isolates us from “Holstein traffic”. The connections we have made via our website have really been beneficial. We have met and talked with people from all over. It is really paid for itself as well as made it a lot of fun! It also really pays to be active in your local and state associations.

Holstein World: For a look at the Premium Farms website, visit www.premiumfarms.net.

Holstein World: What are the current stats at Premium Farms? Number of animals, acres farmed, location, type of facilities? Sires being used? Major cow families that are being developed?

Mark & Stephanie Miranda: Premium-Farms is an 83 acre farm on the Oregon Coast. We currently milk 200 Holsteins - 60% are registered with a few registered Brown Swiss thrown in. We are a freestall operation that feeds TMR and pastures about five months of the year. Our herd average is 23,700M 4.1F 3.4P with 123 SCC. We are currently using and flushing with bulls like Durham, Advent, Dundee, Damion, Lou and Fortune. We also use a lot of Young Sires from strong cow families. Marks Emory Ally is a strong cow family that we are working a lot with. Ally’s daughter, Marks Ally Rubens Alanis, is currently being flushed and is really transmitting. Premium-Farms Encore Jumbo and her offspring are a large part of our purebred herd as well as Premium-Farms Leader Jello.

Holstein World: Share with our readers a little bit about your backgrounds. What led to both of you being Registered Holstein breeders? What keeps you active in the business today? What does the breed need to do to maintain its success and ensure the livelihood of fellow Holstein breeders?

Mark & Stephanie: Mark was born and raised in Stanislaus County California on a commercial dairy. FFA led him to the world of purebreds where working sales and clipping gave him money to buy his first few registered cattle. Stephanie is the third generation on Premium-Farms. Her family was very involved in registered Holsteins and her sister, Melanie Nifong, dairies in Wisconsin. We have only owned Premium-Farms for six years but genetics and great cow families are the reasons for staying motivated and active in the dairy business. We believe that the breed needs to focus on strength and openness to ensure a long productive life. In a time of increasing grain costs, these strong cattle can succeed on a more diverse ration.

Holstein World: To learn more about Premium Farms during our blog conversation this week, visit them online at www.premiumfarms.net!

Holstein World: Describe your position at Holstein World. When did you first begin working, what are your primary responsibilities, favorite tasks, etc.

Leon Vaughn: My position at Holstein World is as an Internet & IT Assistant. I began working early in January 2007. I””m responsible for some of the website updating and design. My favorite task is website design.

Holstein World: Share with our readers a little bit about your personal background. What you did before Holstein World, schooling, family members, pets, hobbies, etc.

Leon Vaughn: I currently live in Northern NY in a cold and snowy little village called Copenhagen. The sun seldom shines there. I have a wife, a son, 3 step-children, a Jack Russell Terrorist, a cat, and 3 ducks. I enjoy motorcycling and on-line gaming. I have an Associates degree from Jefferson Community College in Watertown, NY. I””ve worked at a variety of places over the last 30 years in a variety of occupations.

Holstein World: What is one of your favorite memories working here? Most exciting accomplishment?

Leon Vaughn: I haven””t worked here very long so I haven””t had a chance to get many favorite memories. I do enjoy working here as the people here are an eclectic bunch.