Selection responses for clinical mastitis and protein yield in two Norwegian dairy cattle selection experiments

Inferences from two dairy cattle selection experiments, in which sires were selected from external sources, were drawn by using an animal model to analyze data from the entire population. The first selection experiment was carried out in the period from 1978 to 1989 and included groups selected for high milk production (HMP) and low milk production (LMP). Each year, the highest ranking proven sires for milk production, from the most recent group of Norwegian Dairy Cattle (NRF) test bulls, were selected and mated to the cows in the HMP group. A group of sires with low milk production indices from progeny testing in 1978 and 1979 were used as sires in the LMP group during the entire experiment. The second selection experiment, which started in 1989, included one high protein yield (HPY) group and one low clinical mastitis (LCM) group. The highest ranking proven NRF sires for protein yield and mastitis resistance were selected each year from the most recent group of progeny tested bulls and used as sires in the HPY and LCM groups, respectively. Genetic trends for protein yield were positive (as expected) for HMP and HPY cows, and negative for LMP and LCM cows. Estimates of annual genetic trends for clinical mastitis were +0.23, -0.02, +0.04, and -0.91% per year for HMP, LMP, HPY, and LCM cows, respectively. The difference in genetic trend of clinical mastitis between HMP and HPY groups, both selected for increased milk production, reflects the gradual change in the NRF breeding objective towards more weight on health relative to milk over the last 20 yr. After four cow generations, the genetic difference in mastitis between HMP and LMP group cows was 3.1% clinical mastitis, a correlated response to selection for increased milk production. The genetic difference between LCM and HPY cows of 8.6% clinical mastitis after three cow generations is mainly a result of direct selection against clinical mastitis in the LCM group. In the NRF population, an approximately flat genetic trend for clinical mastitis was found for cows born from 1976 to 1990, whereas cows born after 1990 showed a genetic improvement equivalent to a reduction of 0.19% clinical mastitis per year. The results show that it is possible to obtain considerable selection response for clinical mastitis, and that selection for increased milk production will result in an unfavorable correlated increase in mastitis incidence, if mastitis is ignored in the breeding program.