1. 2001 PLACE, DATE (1) Cow Fertility and Effect on Longevity PAUL VANRADEN Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Beltsville, MD paul@aipl.arsusda.gov

2. Paul VanRaden 2001 HOLSTEIN GAC, 2001 (2) Fertility / Longevity Data  Cows born 1992-1994  Cows sold for dairy purposes excluded  1,062,791 cows remained  Sired by 3080 sires  Progeny tested bulls with > 60 daughters  Older bulls to provide ties and relationships  Multiple-trait REML analysis  Heritabilities and correlations  Highest and lowest PTA’s (for bulls with > 2000 daughters)

3. Paul VanRaden 2001 HOLSTEIN GAC, 2001 (3) Cow Fertility  Days Open  Calving interval – 280 days  Lower limit of 50 days, upper limit 250  Sold for reproductive problems = 250  Genetic parameters  3.7% heritability .32 correlation with protein .30 correlation with SCS

4. Paul VanRaden 2001 HOLSTEIN GAC, 2001 (4) Bulls with Low Daughter Fertility Bull PTA Days Open PTA PL P Lance 15.9-3.0 J Rte Jed 11.1-0.6 K-M Bell Joy 11.0-0.5 E Rte Duke 10.9-1.4 R Rte Juggler 9.7 9.7-1.7 J-S Mark Anthony 9.5 9.5-1.8 H Mr Mark Cinder 9.0 9.0-0.1 A-R Ever-Ready 8.0 8.0-0.7

5. Paul VanRaden 2001 HOLSTEIN GAC, 2001 (5) Bulls with High Daughter Fertility Bull PTA Days Open PTA PL E C Valiant -7.21.2 S Mark Arthur -6.03.4 O Chrmn Monitor -5.40.4 S Valiant Winken -5.30.7 T-H Valiant Rockie -5.20.9 C-W Valour -5.11.5 C Emerald Target -5.01.6 L-M Centurian -4.80.7

6. Paul VanRaden 2001 HOLSTEIN GAC, 2001 (6) PL and Lifespan Defined  PL  Credit for maximum 10 mo per lactation  Records  305d weren’t stored in database  Long calving intervals unprofitable  Lifespan  Credit for months between lactations  Higher yield and bST allow longer lactations  Embryo donors not penalized

7. Paul VanRaden 2001 HOLSTEIN GAC, 2001 (7) Lifespan and PL Compared  Heritability  6.7% for lifespan  7.6% for PL  (8.5% official PL estimate since 1994)  Genetic correlations of lifespan .986 with PL  More correlated than PL with yield  Less correlated than PL with SCS  Less correlated with fertility (-.46 vs -.59)

8. Paul VanRaden 2001 HOLSTEIN GAC, 2001 (8) Conclusions Cow fertility has low heritability (3.7%) but high genetic correlation with PL (-.59).  Selection on PL is effective, but cow fertility evaluations could increase lifetime profit.  Embryo donors may need special edits or extra credit in longevity and fertility evaluations.