1. 20012002 Interbull meeting 5-27-02 (1) Paul M. VanRaden and Rex L. Powell Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Beltsville, MD paul@aipl.arsusda.gov Properties of International Longevity Evaluations and Correlations with Other Traits

2. Interbull meeting 5-27-02 (2) 2001 P. M. VanRaden and R.L. Powell 2002 Longevity Challenges Improve the exchanged statistical parameters  Match EDC and heritability to better reflect reliability from different models Are trait definitions consistent?  Correlations of longevity with other traits on each nation’s scale  Adjustment for yield traits  Genetic trends (correlation with birth year)

3. Interbull meeting 5-27-02 (3) 2001 P. M. VanRaden and R.L. Powell 2002 Effective Daughter Contributions 1 EDC = 1 daughter if no censoring EDC should be reduced for recent birth years due to censoring  Use number of culled daughters, or  Use squared correlation of partial with final longevity (DEU, ISR, USA), or  Use multi-trait EDC formulas for partial longevity traits (CAN and NZL)

4. Interbull meeting 5-27-02 (4) 2001 P. M. VanRaden and R.L. Powell 2002 Problems in Defining EDC With binomial traits, observed daughters should contribute EDC, not just culled daughters If daughters had opportunity to be culled but none were culled yet, EDC should be > 0 Accurate EDC are more important for traits with low REL

5. Interbull meeting 5-27-02 (5) 2001 P. M. VanRaden and R.L. Powell 2002 Heritabilities Wide range (.02 to.20) Genetic correlations and SD may be sensitive to incorrect estimates Single-trait vs multi-trait EDC formulas across lactations (CAN, NZL) Log scale (DEU) vs observed scale. Is transformation to observed scale accurate?

6. Interbull meeting 5-27-02 (6) 2001 P. M. VanRaden and R.L. Powell 2002 Data Bulls born 1985-1994 in MACE longevity file (van der Linde and de Jong, 2002) Only data on “home country” scale (country with the most daughters) Yield, SCS, and conformation evaluations from Interbull (Feb 2002) Some scales reversed to make positive always desirable for longevity and undesirable for SCS

7. Interbull meeting 5-27-02 (7) 2001 P. M. VanRaden and R.L. Powell 2002 Correlations of Direct Longevity with SCS and Conformation Country (INTERBULL code) TraitCANDNKFRADEUISRITANZLSWECHENLDUSA SCS -.27-.28-.35-.31-.22-.17--.26-.46-.27-.30 Overall Udder.28.41.40.22-.14-.26.23.36.34.26 Udder depth.25.43.39.26-.27-.34.37.35.28 Foot Angle.18.09.07.09-.07-.04.06.13 Stature.02.16.08-.02--.08-.47.06.14-.01-.07

8. Interbull meeting 5-27-02 (8) 2001 P. M. VanRaden and R.L. Powell 2002 Correlations of Direct Longevity with Yield Traits Country (INTERBULL code) TraitCANDNKFRADEUISRITANZLSWECHENLDUSA Milk.09.06.26.10.51-.22-.18.19-.04.11.25 Fat -.01.10.11.07.30-.15.28.13-.08-.17.19 Protein.03.09.17.11.51-.27.02.15-.04.04.27 Birth Year.10.36.26.07.24-.11-.01.08.09.14.19 Combined Longevity.861.00.95.931.00.981.00.991.00.98.97

9. Interbull meeting 5-27-02 (9) 2001 P. M. VanRaden and R.L. Powell 2002 Percentage of 2 nd Crop Bulls % of second-crop bulls in: Country BullsAll BullsTop 50Bottom 50 Canada (CAN)350183412 Denmark (DNK)35934422 France (FRA)67748502 Germany (DEU)6847138876 Israel (ISR)44010122 Italy (ITA)2751131630 New Zealand (NZL)257915032 Sweden (SWE)907136222 Switzerland (CHE)36018408 The Netherlands (NLD)462210366 United States (USA)13,57173220

10. Interbull meeting 5-27-02 (10) 2001 P. M. VanRaden and R.L. Powell 2002 Conclusions Correlations of longevity with SCS and conformation traits were fairly uniform across countries Yield correlations with functional and with true longevity both varied across countries Improved definitions of EDC and heritability are suggested