1. 2006 H. Duane Norman Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Beltsville, MD dnorman@aipl.arsusda.gov@aipl.arsusda.gov Prospects for Increasing Profitability Using Genetic Reproductive Indexes

2. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (2) H.D.Norman 2006 Phenotypic trend in days open 1 2 3 4 5 Lactation

3. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (3) H.D.Norman 2006 Two tall tales: Two tall tales:  1. Reproduction is only a management issue  2. Genetics can not help solve fertility problems

4. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (4) H.D.Norman 2006 Reproductive evaluations Reproductive evaluations  Two types:  1. Fertility of bulls as service sires  2. Fertility of bulls’ daughters when they reach breeding age

5. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (5) H.D.Norman 2006 1. Fertility of bull as service sire (ERCR)  Called Estimated Relative Conception Rate (ERCR). Measures the fertility as a service sire.  Defined as 70 day non-return rate.  Bulls have a fairly small range because infertile and lower fertility bulls are culled by the AI organizations.  See results from decisions quickly

6. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (6) H.D.Norman 2006 Evaluation accuracy Evaluation accuracy  Bulls need many breedings before confidence can be placed in a 70 day non- return rate  This makes it difficult to rely upon the information from a single herd  ≥ 40 services in a single herd in a short time by a reliable technician should give you some confidence in a non-return rate

7. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (7) H.D.Norman 2006 Data  Breedings included in ERCR: All from AgSource (Wisconsin) All from DRMS (North Carolina) All from Minnesota DHIA through Agri-Tech  AIPL assumed responsibility for computing in May 2006 (DRMS had computed 2x yearly since 1986)

8. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (8) H.D.Norman 2006 Breedings included in ERCR  First services only  Cow services included (but no virgin heifer breedings)  Services from most recent 3 years  Only services to AI bulls  No crossbred matings (service sire breed must equal cow breed)

9. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (9) H.D.Norman 2006 Evaluations published Evaluations published  Bulls with a minimum of 300 or more breedings  Bulls under 13 years (unless Active AI)  August 2006 evaluation included: 597 Holstein bulls (Avg no. breedings=2502) 46 Jersey bulls (Avg no. breedings=1204)

10. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (10) H.D.Norman 2006 Distribution of ERCR for Holstein bulls (August 2006) ERCR Number of bulls

11. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (11) H.D.Norman 2006 Distribution of ERCR for Jersey bulls (August 2006) ERCR Number of bulls

12. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (12) H.D.Norman 2006 Future plans for service sire fertility evaluations  Use all reported breedings (instead of just first services)  Improvements to statistical model  Hopefully additional data from other centers and states We are expecting to add California DHIA breedings soon

13. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (13) H.D.Norman 2006 2. Fertility of bulls’ daughters when they reach breeding age (DPR)  Called Daughter Pregnancy Rate (DPR). Measures fertility of the daughters.  DPR is defined as percentage of open (non-pregnant) cows that are between 50 and 250 days in milk that become pregnant within 21 days  Bulls have somewhat bigger differences than in ERCR  Obtain results from decisions in 3 years

14. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (14) H.D.Norman 2006 Days open and DPR by breed  Breed Avg. days open Avg DPR (%) Ayrshire 143 22.4 Brown Swiss 143 22.4 Guernsey 151 20.5 Holstein 148 21.2 Jersey 127 26.5 Milk. Shorthorn 135 24.5 DPR = 0.25 (2.33 – days open)

15. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (15) H.D.Norman 2006 High DPR vs. Active-AI Holsteins  Traits High DPR bulls All Active-AI Milk (lbs)349 824 Fat (lbs)14 32 Protein (lbs)19 26 SCS2.84 2.95 Productive Life (mo)4.1 0.8 DPR (%)2.3 -0.3 Net Merit Dollars359 236 # of bulls (DPR ≥ 2.0)24 692

16. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (16) H.D.Norman 2006 Higher DPR vs. High Active-AI HO  Traits Higher DPR bulls High All Active-AI Milk (lbs)748 1142 Fat (lbs)28 44 Protein (lbs)29 35 SCS2.82 2.90 Productive Life (mo)4.8 1.8 DPR (%)2.3 0.0 Net Merit Dollars462 358 # of bulls (DPR ≥ 2.0)12 346

17. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (17) H.D.Norman 2006 Interpretation for fertility: Interpretation for fertility:  1. These better bulls’ daughters are not only over $100 more profitable as shown in Net Merit but will give better fertility as well. Their DPR of +2.3 means their daughters will have 9.2 fewer days open than other cows in the typical herd.  2. Genetics can help solve fertility problems. The 16 day decline in days open from genetics can be recovered with genetic selection.  This is a “permanent” gain.

18. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (18) H.D.Norman 2006 Recommendations to breeders  Don’t select bulls solely on one trait because many traits have economic value  Consider economic value of all performance traits in your own market when making genetic choices  For herds wanting better reproduction, use an index that puts more weight on daughter fertility than those recommended for the general industry

19. DHI-Provo Herd Management Conference 2006 (19) H.D.Norman 2006 Thank you! 2006 Mid-Atlantic Dairy Grazing Conference, 2006 (19)