1. H.D. Norman*, J.L. Hutchison, and J.R. Wright Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Beltsville, MD *duane.norman@ars.usda.gov ADSA – 2009 (1) Comparison of service-sire fertility evaluations formerly or currently available to the US dairy industry Abstr. 31

2. Norman ADSA – 2009 (2) Former and current methods l Estimated relative conception rate – ERCR w 1986 (Dairy Records Management Systems) l Western Bull Fertility Analysis – WBFA w 2003 (AgriTech Analytics) l Sire conception rate – SCR w 2008 (USDA)

3. Norman ADSA – 2009 (3) Methodology differences l ERCR w 70-d nonreturn rate w Minimum of 300 matings/bull for release w Included only first services for Holsteins and Jerseys l WBFA w Bull conception rate based on confirmed pregnancies w Minimum of 10 matings/bull in 10 herds w Includes services 1 through 5 for Holsteins and Jerseys l SCR w 10 effects to predict bull conception rate w Minimum matings/bull during last 4 yr − 300 for Holsteins; 100 or 200 for other breeds w Includes services 1 through 7 for all US breeds

4. Norman ADSA – 2009 (4) SCR bull variables l Inbreeding w Service sire w Embryo l Bull age l AI organization combined with mating year l Bull

5. Norman ADSA – 2009 (5) Data l Holstein and Jersey bulls l January and April 2009 evaluations from same herds l Processing centers w Agritech Analytics (ERCR, WBFA, SCR) w AgSource (ERCR, SCR) w DRMS (ERCR, SCR)

6. Norman ADSA – 2009 (6) Number of bulls Breed Evaluation method January 2009 April 2009 HolsteinSCR2,3582,264 ERCR956992 WBFA1,0411,036 JerseySCR210222 ERCR8284 WBFA9087

7. Norman ADSA – 2009 (7) Mean number of matings/bull Breed Evaluation method April 2009 HolsteinSCR16,597 ERCR5,566 WBFA4,827 JerseySCR5,089 ERCR2,143 WBFA4,027

8. Norman ADSA – 2009 (8) Means ± SD Breed Evaluation method January 2009 April 2009 HolsteinSCR0.00 ± 2.420.00 ± 2.45 ERCR0.12 ± 1.930.15 ± 1.89 WBFA0.21 ± 1.990.18 ± 1.87 JerseySCR0.00 ± 2.510.00 ± 2.32 ERCR0.02 ± 2.290.01 ± 2.26 WBFA0.54 ± 2.680.47 ± 2.41

9. Norman ADSA – 2009 (9) Number of bulls by age – April 2009 Breed Bull age, yrSCRERCRWBFA Holstein<31,32024138 3–4262106258 4–58564140 5–61026977 >6496729423 Jersey<39801 3–42525 4–5507 5–622119 >672717165

10. Norman ADSA – 2009 (10) Means by bull age – April 2009 Breed Bull age, yrSCRERCRWBFA Holstein<3−0.7 8 0.92−0.1 7 3–4−0.1 0 0.32−0.0 8 4–52.170.48−0.1 7 5–61.520.510.19 >61.450.040.57 Jersey<3−1.0 3 —−1.5 0 3–4−0.3 5 0.500.16 4–52.48—2.00 5–61.550.090.64 >60.88−0.0 1 0.34

11. Norman ADSA – 2009 (11) SD by bull age – April 2009 Breed Bull age, yrSCRERCRWBFA Holstein<32.251.671.74 3–42.381.751.85 4–52.951.552.10 5–62.222.061.92 >61.901.911.76 Jersey<32.13—— 3–41.660.712.11 4–51.03—2.89 5–61.762.550.82 >62.272.262.51

12. Norman ADSA – 2009 (12) Correlations between methods* Evaluation methodSCRERCRWBFA SCR—0.700.61 ERCR0.68—0.53 WBFA0.630.67— *April 2009 evaluations; Jersey below diagonal; Holstein above diagonal

13. Norman ADSA – 2009 (13) Correlations – January/April evaluations BreedSCRERCRWBFA Holstein0.980.930.94 Jersey0.960.940.93

14. Norman ADSA – 2009 (14) Change between evaluations

15. Norman ADSA – 2009 (15) Conclusions l SCR evaluations available for over twice as many bulls as ERCR and WBFA l SD of Holstein SCR (2.4) slightly higher than SD of ERCR and WBFA (1.9 to 2.0) l Holstein correlations of SCR with ERCR (0.7) and WBFA (0.6) higher than correlation of ERCR with WBFA (0.5) l Higher correlations between consecutive evaluations for SCR (0.96 to 0.98) than for ERCR and WBFA (0.93 to 0.94)