Simulating consequences of choosing a breeding goal for organic dairy production

Abstract

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.

Genetic parameters of forage dry matter intake and milk produced from forage in Swedish Red and Holstein dairy cows

“…Arguably, this trait could be especially desirable for (Swedish) organic producers, as they have been shown to prioritize roughage intake more than conventional dairy producers (Ahlman et al, 2014). Additionally, Slagboom et al (2018) showed that a breeding goal based on organic principles would put more emphasis on roughage intake than done in the current breeding goals in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. To improve DMI For , DMI seems to be a good proxy; however, it is not a good proxy for improving ECM For .…”

Characteristics of restricted selection indices and geometrical interpretation of restricted breeding values

“…Yamada's selection (selection for desired changes) has been cited in many publications recently, for example, Slagboom et al (2018) for dairy cow simulation, Dzama et al (2001) for beef cattle simulation, Suzuki et al (2005), Kadowaki et al (2012), andOhnishi andSatoh (2018) for pig selection experiments, Noda et al (2002) and Ochiai et al (2005) for chicken experiments, and Lwelamira et al (2008) for chicken simulation. There are also many studies that have predicted genetic gains by selection for desired changes, for example, reproductive and production traits (Kaushik & Khanna, 2003), lactation persistence (Lin & Togashi, 2005;Togashi & Lin, 2003) in dairy cows, red blood cell volume and weight gain in beef cattle (Fukasawa et al, 2002), rabbit carcass traits (Ács et al, 2019), and quail weight and egg production (Hidalgo et al, 2014).…”

Possibilities for a specific breeding program for organic dairy production

“…Therefore, economic values based on an average production environment may not sufficiently consider the organic environment. Slagboom et al (2018) simulated long-term effects of breeding goals (BG) specifically for organic dairy production based on different methods. Breeding goals based on economic models for organic dairy production (Kargo et al, 2015) or based on preferences of organic farmers (Slagboom et al, 2016) were very similar and had very high BG weights on production traits.…”

“…However, the newest NTM calculations include economic values calculated specifi-cally for organic production, and these economic values have higher weights on functional traits. Alternatively, BG designed to resemble the principles of organic agriculture (IFOAM, 2016) or BG set up with desired gain indices aimed at improving functional traits seemed more suitable for organic dairy production (Slagboom et al, 2018). However, these BG might be lacking in economic progress, and farmer acceptance of such BG is questionable.…”