Factors influencing international comparisons of dairy sires

A method of dairy sire evaluation across multiple countries is described. Factors influencing this method are overestimation of genetic trends within countries, inclusion of evaluations of imported bulls, years of birth of the bulls included in the analysis, and estimates of genetic correlations between countries. Fall 1994 evaluations for milk, fat, and protein yields from Canada (4559 bulls), Germany (5894 bulls), and France (8419 bulls) were used to study the effect of these factors. After inclusion of ancestors there were 21,555 bulls in total. Eight data files were created based on combinations of three factors: 1) bulls born from 1970 to present versus bulls born from 1979 to present, 2) all bulls included versus imported bulls omitted, and 3) official Canadian evaluations for all lactations versus Canadian evaluations for first lactation only. Separate evaluations for two of the data files assumed a uniform genetic correlation of 0.995 between countries. Rankings of top bulls from analyses were affected by all factors to various degrees, depending on the country. Evaluations of imported bulls have an effect on bull rankings and probably should not be included. An assumed uniform genetic correlation between countries of 0.995 may not be appropriate. Proper methods and data for estimation of the genetic correlation between countries should be sought.