Wisconsin Holstein Association hosts Genomics Forum The Wisconsin Holstein Association held a town hall meeting on genomics on Thursday, July 21, at the Rib River Ballroom near Marathon, Wis. Dairy breeders and industry members heard presentations from four industry specialists. Later in the meeting, attendees were able to ask questions about the tool that has changed how some dairy cattle breeders are choosing sires and matings. Leading off the presentations was Dr. Curt Van Tassell, a lead researcher on genomics who heads up the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Bovine Functional Genomics project. Dr. Van Tassell reviewed the historical timeline of animal evaluations and the addition of genomic evaluations in 2009. The most recent addition has been the 3K chip. He commented that the 3K chip will most likely be replaced by BovineID (6K) with 6,000 markers sometime early this fall. Dr. Van Tassell also stated that the geneticists at USDA have to “train” the genomics system using existing genotype and phenotype data. There are about 25,000 animals in the system that have been genomic tested and have traditional progeny test info, as well; there are an additional 60,000 genomic-only tested animals without the traditional data. Dr. Van Tassell offered several uses of the 3K or 6K test for dairy breeders. First, it can sort heifers for breeding those that will be flushed, those that will get sexed semen, and those that may be sold for beef. Breeders also can use the 3K test to confirm parentage to avoid inbreeding and help predict an animal’s inbreeding depression more accurately because the test can tell exactly how many genes came from the dam and sire. In addition, breeders can use it for precision matings when looking for top genomic animals for the future. Charlie Will, long-time manager of Select Sires’ Holstein sire selection group, stressed the importance of seeing genomics as an additional breeding tool to use when making mating decisions. He spoke of the value of genomics for young animals because the least amount of information is known about them, and you can make the biggest difference in your breeding program at that age. Will believes genomics is a better predictor of a bull’s transmitting ability than parent average alone. He used the example of their April 2009 young sire group and the genomic predictions for their top five type young sires, which included Braxton ranked number one. When that group was released in April 2011, three of those bulls were still in the top five in their 2009 class for type. As with any tool, there are pros and cons. According to Will, some of the pros of using genomics includes helping determine genetic potential at a young age, significant value is added to some animals, the system finds new families that the old system did not, there is added confidence in using genomic young sires, and it assures that North American genetics will be competitive in the global market. Some of the cons are a lower value of some high-quality animals that have a low GTPI, animal numbers can change substantially as more information is added, it has driven up the price on some animals and embryos, and there is some over and underestimating of animals. Will summarized his presentation with several key take-home messages and stressed that the real value in any genetic evaluation system is when an animal’s phenotype and genotype say the same thing. Also, dairymen should not undervalue the use of proven bulls in their breeding program. Jay Jauquet offered two perspectives to those in attendance. As regional sire analyst for Alta Genetics, Jauquet stated that genomics has changed the way Alta Genetics manages its young sire program by sampling fewer young sires but paying more to the breeder for each bull they take. They have seen their sales grow from 28% to 40% on young sires and have found that they are sampling from new cow
families sourced worldwide. He also showed how much full sibling’s genomic information can differ with an example of eight bulls from a flush of a Sandy-Valley cow. Of those eight bulls, the GTPI numbers varied from +2349 to +1800 - a 464 point difference. Meanwhile, NM$ differed by 324 points, and udders 1.58. So, genomics has really helped narrow the field of which bulls are going to be sampled and offered as potential sires for the future. Jay has been a partner in Synergy Dairy of Pulaski, Wis., for seven years and offered another perspective and how they use genomics on their dairy. They use the 3K test on their young animals and then retest with the 50K test on the top animals in order to determine what individuals will be flushed. They have experienced genomics finding some great new cow families and it has helped to make better matings. He also stated that genomics can be a great mating tool by selecting a trait that you want to improve in your herd and then using genomics to find the cows in your herd that are strong for that trait. Tom Schmitt of Morningview Holsteins in Iowa stated he was very skeptical of the new technology at first. After seeing the results, they now genomic test all heifers and are able to concentrate on those with the highest test resultss. He made the point that any breeder has a heifer or cow that could potentially give you one of the “high ones” with the right matings to top genomic sires. He stressed that genomics is a phenomenal tool for breeders to use and appreciates that the genetic advancement is so much quicker when you are identifying the traits in heifers. Following the presentations, several members of the audience were able to ask questions, and representatives of Holstein USA and Pfizer were on hand to talk about the tests they have available for dairymen to use. If you were unable to attend the forum, videos of each presentation are available on Dairy Agenda Today’s website at www. dairyagendatoday.com/videos.aspx. The Wisconsin Holstein Association would like to thank the four panelists for their time and informative presentations and Holstein USA and Pfizer for helping to sponsor the event.
wisconsin HOLSTEIN news/September, 2011-11