Genetic methods of improving dairy cattle for the south: a review and prospects from Regional Project S-49

Objectives of Southern Regional Research Project S-49, comprising eight contributing experiment stations, are to determine direct response to selection in milk and the resultant correlated responses in nonyield traits, to define and evaluate selection criteria for total economic merit or profit, to quantify genetic and environmental components of underlying physiological characters responsible for genetic gains in economically important traits, to determine interactions of genotype by environment, and to estimate genetic values for males and females. More than 150 scientific articles from S-49 have been published in journals from 1975 to 1985. These results have contributed in a major way in identifying issues and understanding the genetic control of cow performance and economics of genetic improvement programs.