Example Herd A 800 cow Holstein Dairy Stature Analysis

***Important, run PROFILE command in Dairy Comp before you run the commands on the proceeding slides

Genetic Averages by Stud Code By CSTUD Pct Count Av AGE Av ELNM AvEMILK AvESTAT Av EPL Av EDPR ========= ==== ====== ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= Total Heifers Command: SUM AGE ELNM EMILK ESTAT EPL EDPR BY CSTUD GO4 LACT=0

Genetic Averages by Stud Code By CSTUD Pct Count Av AGE Av ELNM AvEMILK AvESTAT Av EPL Av EDPR ========= ==== ====== ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= Total Cows Command: SUM AGE ELNM EMILK ESTAT EPL EDPR BY CSTUD GO4 LACT>0

Genetic Averages by Lactation By LACT Pct Count Av AGE Av ELNM AvEMILK AvESTAT Av EPL Av EDPR ========= ==== ====== ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= Total Command: SUM AGE ELNM EMILK ESTAT EPL EDPR BY LACT GO4

Graph Estimated Stature by Age Herd has been trending down for Estimated Stature (particularly in heifers) Command: GRAPH ESTAT BY AGE GO4\RX84 BY LCTGP

GRAPH 305ME BY DIM LCTGP Since 305ME is generally underestimated in early lactation, 80 DIM was used as a cut point for more reliable 305MEs

Graph 305ME by Estimated Stature DIM>80 No Trend Observed; Greater Estimated Stature didn’t equate to higher 305MEs Command: GRAPH 305ME BY ESTAT LACT\R GO4 DIM>80

Putting Cows into Quartiles May sometimes be difficult to quartile cows based on estimated Stature due to many cows possibly having the exact same estimated Stature value Count of animals per quartile will likely never be exactly the same

Method Used to Quartile Cows Note: The following command would be used to coincide with the effect of Stature on Production 1.Generate list of cows – Command: LIST ID ESTAT FOR LACT>0 305ME>0 DIM>80 GO4 DOWNBY ESTAT\C 2.Export list to Excel 3.Determine quartile cut points in Excel

Production Averages, Estimated Stature < 0.3 By LCTGP Pct Count Av ELNM AvESTAT Av305ME Av DIM Av DOPN AvLGSCC ========= ==== ====== ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= Total Bottom 25% of Cows Sorted by Estimated Stature; DIM>80 Command: SUM ELNM ESTAT 305ME DIM DOPN LGSCC FOR ESTAT 0 DIM>80 LACT>0 BY LCTGP GO4 In the case of this example herd, I choose ESTAT<0.3 because it was determined to be the cut point for the bottom 25% of cows in this herd when I sorted them in the Excel spreadsheet

Production Averages, Estimated Stature > 1.5 By LCTGP Pct Count Av ELNM AvESTAT Av305ME Av DIM Av DOPN AvLGSCC ========= ==== ====== ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= Total Top 25% of Cows Sorted by Estimated Stature; DIM>80 Bottom 25% of cows sorted on Estimated Stature averaged 2.7 points less for Stature and 160 lbs more for 305ME Command: SUM ELNM ESTAT 305ME DIM DOPN LGSCC FOR ESTAT> ME>0 DIM>80 LACT>0 BY LCTGP GO4

Economic Impact of Stature Current cost per lb of dry matter (DM) is 8.5 cents – Source: Cows typically eat 3.5% of body weight in DM and typical DMI is between lbs per day Change in 1 point STA = 24 lbs in Mature Body Weight – 24 lbs * 3.5% = 0.84 lbs more DM/day * 365 = lbs more DM/year * $0.085 = $26.06/cow/year $26.06 * 1,000 cow dairy = $26,060/year Slide courtesy of Jenny DeMunck

Effect of Stature on Feed Costs (Example Herd A) Quartile 1Quartile 2Quartile 3Quartile 4Overall Number of Cows Average Estimated Stature per Quartile ***Note: All cows with a valid Sire ID were included in the analysis Command Used: LIST ID ESTAT FOR LACT>0 GO4 DOWNBY ESTAT\C In this instance, I generated a list of all cows in the herd (milking + dry), sorted them by Estimated Stature, and then summarized the average Stature per quartile Alternate Command: SUM DOWNBY ESTAT FOR LACT>0 GO4\ZQ4 If desired, you could have Dairy Comp quartile the cows to give you the number of cows and average ESTAT per quartile as well

Effect of Stature on Feed Costs (Example Herd A) Difference between Top and Bottom Quartiles – 2.61 points for Stature – 2.61 * 24 lbs * 3.5% = 2.19 lbs more DM/day * 365 = lbs more DM/cow/year – lbs * $0.085 = $68.02/cow/year – $68.02 * 185 Quartile 1 cows = $ /year Per Cow: A Quartile 1 cow will cost $68.02 more per year to feed than a Quartile 4 cow (sorted on Estimated Stature) Per Quartile: Quartile 1 cows will cost $ more per year to feed than Quartile 4 cows (sorted on Estimated Stature)