Genetic analysis of the growth rate of Israeli Holstein calves

Weller, J. I.; Ezra, E.

doi:10.1017/s1751731108003042

Cited by 7 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Conversely, heritability estimates were higher in females for yearling weight gain in Holstein cattle [22], body weight in broiler chickens [3,23], and slaughter weight in pigs [4] and such discrepancies deserve further investigation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic and environmental heterogeneity of residual variance of weight traits in Nellore beef cattle

Neves

Carvalheiro²,

Queiroz

2012

Genet Sel Evol

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BackgroundMany studies have provided evidence of the existence of genetic heterogeneity of environmental variance, suggesting that it could be exploited to improve robustness and uniformity of livestock by selection. However, little is known about the perspectives of such a selection strategy in beef cattle.MethodsA two-step approach was applied to study the genetic heterogeneity of residual variance of weight gain from birth to weaning and long-yearling weight in a Nellore beef cattle population. First, an animal model was fitted to the data and second, the influence of additive and environmental effects on the residual variance of these traits was investigated with different models, in which the log squared estimated residuals for each phenotypic record were analyzed using the restricted maximum likelihood method. Monte Carlo simulation was performed to assess the reliability of variance component estimates from the second step and the accuracy of estimated breeding values for residual variation.ResultsThe results suggest that both genetic and environmental factors have an effect on the residual variance of weight gain from birth to weaning and long-yearling in Nellore beef cattle and that uniformity of these traits could be improved by selecting for lower residual variance, when considering a large amount of information to predict genetic merit for this criterion. Simulations suggested that using the two-step approach would lead to biased estimates of variance components, such that more adequate methods are needed to study the genetic heterogeneity of residual variance in beef cattle.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic and environmental heterogeneity of residual variance of weight traits in Nellore beef cattle

Neves

Carvalheiro²,

Queiroz

2012

Genet Sel Evol

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“…This formula assumes a birth weight of 35 kg and includes birth weight in the calculation of YG. This value was found be the mean birth weight for Israeli Holsteins [ 3 ]. Records with YG values <150 and >650 were deleted because these values probably are the result of recording mistakes.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the economic value for growth rate may also be positive for countries in which meat production of surplus calves from the dairy herd is economically important. Genetic and environmental correlations between growth rate and other economic traits have also been computed in various studies, and these generally tend to be economically negative or negligible [ 1 , 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Brothersone et al [ 1 ] wrote in relationship to the UK Holstein population: “It is unlikely that routine weighing (or type classification) of young stock would be implemented in the national population due to both the cost and the practical problems associated with such a process.” Since the beginning of the 1990s, a large number of Israeli Holstein herds have routinely weighed both male and female calves several times prior to slaughter or calving. Weller and Ezra [ 3 ] used 285,800 records on 105,935 animals from 458 herds recorded between 1994 and 2007 to estimate variance components of growth rate for male and female calves, and both sexes jointly. They also estimated genetic and phenotypic trends for growth rate and the genetic correlations between growth rate and other economic traits.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genetic and Genome-Wide Association Analysis of Yearling Weight Gain in Israel Holstein Dairy Calves

Gershoni

Weller

Ezra³

2021

Genes

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Yearling weight gain in male and female Israeli Holstein calves, defined as 365 × ((weight − 35)/age at weight) + 35, was analyzed from 814,729 records on 368,255 animals from 740 herds recorded between 1994 and 2021. The variance components were calculated based on valid records from 2008 through 2017 for each sex separately and both sexes jointly by a single-trait individual animal model analysis, which accounted for repeat records on animals. The analysis model also included the square root, linear, and quadratic effects of age at weight. Heritability and repeatability were 0.35 and 0.71 in the analysis of both sexes and similar in the single sex analyses. The regression of yearling weight gain on birth date in the complete data set was −0.96 kg/year. The complete data set was also analyzed by the same model as the variance component analysis, including both sexes and accounting for differing variance components for each sex. The genetic trend for yearling weight gain, including both sexes, was 1.02 kg/year. Genetic evaluations for yearling weight gain was positively correlated with genetic evaluations for milk, fat, protein production, and cow survival but negatively correlated with female fertility. Yearling weight gain was also correlated with the direct effect on dystocia, and increased yearling weight gain resulted in greater frequency of dystocia. Of the 1749 Israeli Holstein bulls genotyped with reliabilities >50%, 1445 had genetic evaluations. As genotyping of these bulls was performed using several single nucleotide polymorhphism (SNP) chip platforms, we included only those markers that were genotyped in >90% of the tested cohort. A total of 40,498 SNPs were retained. More than 400 markers had significant effects after permutation and correction for multiple testing (pnominal < 1 × 10−8). Considering all SNPs simultaneously, 0.69 of variance among the sires’ transmitting ability was explained. There were 24 markers with coefficients of determination for yearling weight gain >0.04. One marker, BTA-75458-no-rs on chromosome 5, explained ≈6% of the variance among the estimated breeding values for yearling weight gain. ARS-BFGL-NGS-39379 had the fifth largest coefficient of determination in the current study and was also found to have a significant effect on weight at an age of 13–14 months in a previous study on Holsteins. Significant genomic effects on yearling weight gain were mainly associated with milk production quantitative trait loci, specifically with kappa casein metabolism.

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“…Heritability and genetic variance for the traits were based on estimates used in Interbull evaluations for Holstein cattle (Interbull, 2008(Interbull, , 2010(Interbull, , 2012(Interbull, , 2015 and estimates found in the literature (Van Arendonk et al, 1991;Hansen et al, 2002;Weller and Ezra, 2008;Laursen et al, 2009;Fuerst-Waltl and Sørensen, 2010;Vallimont et al, 2011;Heise et al, 2016;Li et al, 2016; Table 2). Heritability values were rounded to 2 decimal places.…”

Section: Genetic Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulating consequences of choosing a breeding goal for organic dairy production

Slagboom

Wallenbeck

Hjortø

et al. 2018

Journal of Dairy Science

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In Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, the Nordic Total Merit index is used as the breeding selection tool for both organic and conventional dairy farmers based on common economic models for conventional dairy farming. Organic farming is based on the principles of organic agriculture (POA) defined by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. These principles are not set up with an economic point of view, and therefore it may be questionable to use a breeding goal (BG) for organic dairy production based on economic models. In addition to economics and the principles of organic agriculture, it is important to look at farmers' preferences for improving BG traits when setting up a BG for organic farming. The aim of this research was to set up, simulate, and compare long-term effects of different BG for organic and conventional dairy production systems based on economic models, farmers' preferences, and POA, with particular emphasis on disease resistance or on roughage consumption and feed efficiency. The BG based on economic models and on farmers' preferences were taken from previous studies. The other BG were desired gains indices, set up by means of a questionnaire about relatedness between the POA and BG traits. Each BG was simulated in the stochastic simulation program ADAM. The BG based on POA, with particular emphasis on disease resistance or on roughage consumption and feed efficiency, caused favorable genetic gain in all 12 traits included in this study compared with 6 traits for the other BG. The BG based on POA, with particular emphasis on disease resistance or on roughage consumption and feed efficiency, were very different from BG for organic and conventional production based on economic models and farmers' preferences in both simulated genetic change and correlations between BG. The BG that was created based on the principles of organic agriculture could be used as a specific index for organic dairy farming in Denmark, but this index was economically not very sustainable. Hence, an intermediate breeding goal could be developed by breeding companies to address both economics and the principles of organic agriculture.

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Genetic analysis of the growth rate of Israeli Holstein calves

Cited by 7 publications

References 15 publications

Genetic and environmental heterogeneity of residual variance of weight traits in Nellore beef cattle

Genetic and environmental heterogeneity of residual variance of weight traits in Nellore beef cattle

Genetic and Genome-Wide Association Analysis of Yearling Weight Gain in Israel Holstein Dairy Calves

Simulating consequences of choosing a breeding goal for organic dairy production

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