Genetic parameters for milk yield, survival, workability, and type traits for Australian dairy cattle

Genetic parameters, such as heritabilities and genetic correlations were estimated for milk yield, survival, workability, and type traits for Australian Holstein-Friesian and Jersey cattle. All analyses were performed using multivariate REML with a sire model. Heritabilities for lactation yield traits were moderate, ranging from .20 to .28, and heritabilities for mean test day deviations were approximately .40 higher. Heritabilities for survival (probability of surviving to the next lactation) were low, ranging from .02 to .08. Genetic correlations between survival scores were high, ranging from .37 to .98, in particular between adjacent survival scores (on average .91 and .97 for Holstein-Friesians and Jerseys). Heritabilities for stayabilities were larger, ranging from .03 to .22. On average, genetic correlations between stayabilities were very high, ranging from .66 to .99. For milking speed, temperament, and likeability, heritability estimates ranged from .18 (for likeability in Holstein-Friesians) to .29 (for milking speed in Jerseys). Undesirable scores for milking speed and temperament had negative genetic correlations with stayabilities (correlations approximately -.20). Heritabilities for type traits were all moderate (.11 to .42), and genetic correlations among type traits and between type traits and production traits were large. Phenotypic correlations between type traits and stayabilities were low. Generally, genetic correlations between type traits and stayabilities were low although the standard errors of those estimates were large.