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Adding cows to the reference population makes a small dairy population competitive.

J R Thomasen1, A C Sørensen2, M S Lund2

  • 1VikingGenetics, DK 8860, Assentoft, Denmark; Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, DK-8830, Tjele, Denmark.

Journal of Dairy Science
|July 6, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Including cows in the reference population significantly boosts genetic gain and lowers inbreeding rates in small dairy breeds. This strategy enhances genomic prediction reliability, proving to be a profitable investment for dairy cattle breeding.

Keywords:
genomic breeding plangenomic selectiongenotyped cow

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Area of Science:

  • Animal Breeding and Genetics
  • Genomics
  • Dairy Cattle Production

Background:

  • Small dairy breeds face challenges with low reliabilities in genomic prediction.
  • Limited numbers of sires in reference populations further exacerbate prediction inaccuracies.
  • Effective genomic selection requires robust reference populations for accurate genetic evaluations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the impact of incorporating cows into the reference population for small dairy cattle populations.
  • To compare different strategies for maintaining and updating reference populations over 15 years.
  • To assess the economic viability of genotyping cows for improving genomic predictions.

Main Methods:

  • Detailed simulations were used to model two reference population maintenance scenarios: a turbo scheme (young bulls only) and a hybrid scheme (bulls and progeny-tested bulls).
  • The study investigated the effect of varying numbers of progeny-tested bulls and the inclusion of 2,000 first-lactation cows annually or in the initial two years.
  • Evaluation criteria included annual monetary genetic gain, inbreeding rate, genomic prediction reliability, and response variance, mimicking Danish Jersey cattle breeding schemes.

Main Results:

  • Inclusion of cows in the reference population increased monetary genetic gain and decreased the rate of inbreeding.
  • Genetic gain increases were more pronounced in turbo schemes with shorter generation intervals.
  • Adding cows to the reference population enhanced genomic prediction reliability and reduced the variance of response, mitigating risks associated with turbo schemes.

Conclusions:

  • Incorporating cows into the reference population is an effective method to rapidly improve genomic prediction reliability in small dairy populations.
  • Genotyping cows leads to increased genetic gain and is a profitable investment for dairy cattle breeding programs.
  • The study demonstrates that strategic inclusion of cows enhances the efficiency and economic returns of genomic selection in small dairy breeds.