1. Impacts of inclusion of foreign data in genomic evaluation of dairy cattle K. M. Olson 1, P. M. VanRaden 2, D. J. Null 2, and M. E. Tooker 2 1 National Association of Animal Breeders Columbia, MO 2 AIPL, ARS, USDA Beltsville, MD katie.olson@ars.usda.gov

2. July 2011 ADSA (2) K. M. Olson Background l Genomic evaluations accuracy increases with additional predictor animals l Some breeds with smaller population rely on genetic information from foreign populations l Work across country borders w North America Alliance/Partners w EuroGenomics w Brown Swiss Intergenomics

3. July 2011 ADSA (3) K. M. Olson Background l Large amounts of genetic information from foreign animals could degrade domestic results w Poor genetic correlations and ties between animals from domestic country and foreign country w Traits are really different between countries

4. July 2011 ADSA (4) K. M. Olson Objectives – l To investigate the affect foreign data has on domestic genomic evaluations l To investigate methods for including foreign data in genomic evaluations

5. July 2011 ADSA (5) K. M. Olson Overview - Methods l Domestic - estimated SNP effects within US proven animals only (control group) l All Country - used a common set of SNP effects from the combined country genotypes and phenotypes l Multi-country- used a correlated SNP effects using a multi-trait method

6. July 2011 ADSA (6) K. M. Olson Materials & Methods – Animals l Animals genotyped w Holsteins and Brown Swiss w Used 42,503 SNP for both breeds l The predictor data set - animals were proven by August 2007 l The validation data set - animals were unproven as of August 2007 and proven by June 2011 (Holsteins) or Jan. 2011 (Brown Swiss) w Holsteins – 3,812 w Brown Swiss - 115

7. July 2011 ADSA (7) K. M. Olson Materials and Methods l Breeds were analyzed separately l Domestic Only w US proven animals − 9,063 Holsteins and 741 Brown Swiss l All Country w All predictor animals treated as one population − There were 12,656 predictor animals for Holstein and 1,473 for Brown Swiss w Foreign bulls phenotype information was obtained through Interbull

8. July 2011 ADSA (8) K. M. Olson Multi-Country Method l Two categories by trait – Domestic or Foreign l Bulls with US daughters considered domestic l Genetic correlations were determined as weighted average of genetic correlations from Interbull l Brown Swiss had 50% Foreign animals in predictor w Germany, Austria, and Switzerland accounted for 80% of the foreign information in Brown Swiss

9. July 2011 ADSA (9) K. M. Olson Holstein Predictor Pop. (non-US dtrs) Canada 1,321 Italy 1,677 Great Britain 247 -3,593 animals in the Holstein predictor population that had no US information (28% of the total predictor)

10. July 2011 ADSA (10) K. M. Olson Genetic Correlations – Multi-Country TraitBrown SwissHolstein Milk0.860.93 Fat0.860.93 Protein0.860.91 Productive Life0.740.82 SCS0.860.92 Dtr. Preg. Rate0.600.88 Final Score0.720.88 Stature0.930.90 Sire Calving Ease0.650.69

11. July 2011 ADSA (11) K. M. Olson Gains in reliability - Brown Swiss TraitDomestic Milk0.156 Fat0.103 Protein0.135 Productive Life0.049 SCS0.050 Dtr. Preg. Rate0.098 Final Score0.027 Stature0.128 Sire Calving Ease0.019

12. July 2011 ADSA (12) K. M. Olson Gains in reliability - Brown Swiss TraitDomesticAll Country Milk0.1560.209 Fat0.1030.114 Protein0.1350.162 Productive Life0.0490.065 SCS0.0500.042 Dtr. Preg. Rate0.0980.068 Final Score0.0270.093 Stature0.1280.215 Sire Calving Ease0.0190.087

13. July 2011 ADSA (13) K. M. Olson Gains in reliability - Brown Swiss TraitDomesticAll Country Multi- Country Milk0.1560.2090.206 Fat0.1030.1140.125 Protein0.1350.1620.166 Productive Life0.0490.0650.075 SCS0.0500.0420.066 Dtr. Preg. Rate0.0980.0680.073 Final Score0.0270.0930.157 Stature0.1280.2150.242 Sire Calving Ease0.0190.0870.066

14. July 2011 ADSA (14) K. M. Olson Gains in reliability - Holstein TraitDomestic Milk0.266 Fat0.290 Protein0.202 Productive Life0.195 SCS0.237 Dtr. Preg. Rate0.175 Final Score0.222 Stature0.294 Sire Calving Ease0.088

15. July 2011 ADSA (15) K. M. Olson Gains in reliability - Holstein TraitDomesticAll Country Milk0.2660.287 Fat0.2900.313 Protein0.2020.225 Productive Life0.1950.218 SCS0.2370.272 Dtr. Preg. Rate0.1750.213 Final Score0.2220.240 Stature0.2940.340 Sire Calving Ease0.0880.104

16. July 2011 ADSA (16) K. M. Olson Gains in reliability - Holstein TraitDomesticAll Country Multi- Country Milk0.2660.2870.286 Fat0.2900.3130.311 Protein0.2020.2250.223 Productive Life0.1950.2180.222 SCS0.2370.272 Dtr. Preg. Rate0.1750.2130.212 Final Score0.2220.2400.241 Stature0.2940.3400.339 Sire Calving Ease0.0880.1040.097

17. July 2011 ADSA (17) K. M. Olson Conclusions l Adding foreign bulls increased the accuracy of genomic predictions w About 5% for Brown Swiss w 2% for Holstein w Real gains actually larger due to animals having domestic proofs w Consistent with results from adding one country at a time (results not shown) l Multi-trait was beneficial for Brown Swiss on most traits but was not beneficial for Holstein

18. July 2011 ADSA (18) K. M. Olson Future Research l Predicting bulls on other countries scales l Investigate high levels of foreign data impacts l Possible classification for multi-country categories w High correlation w Intermediate correlation w Low correlation

19. July 2011 ADSA (19) K. M. Olson Acknowledgements l Canada – Canadian Dairy Network and University of Guelph l Italy – Associazone Nazionale Allevatori Frisona Italiana l United Kingdom – Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, Dairy Co division l Switzerland – Swiss Brown Cattle Breeders’ Federation l Germany – Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture

20. July 2011 ADSA (20) K. M. Olson Questions