Future-Proofing your Herd Genetics
James Dunne, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, Ballyhaise College and Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, Moorepark share their insight into the future dairy cow and Future-Proofing your Herd Genetics for sustainability here
Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, Moorepark descibes tomorrow's dairy cow in this shot video clip.
Summary
• Higher EBI herds outperform their lower EBI contemporaries
• The EBI continues to evolve to deliver profitable, low environmental hoofprint cows for the Irish dairy sector
Introduction
The Economic Breeding Index (EBI) summarises the expected performance of an animal’s progeny for a range of characteristics into a single euro value. The EBI is useful for comparing which cows to breed from and which dairy bulls to use. The daughters of a bull with an EBI of €300 are expected to be, on average, €100 more profitable per lactation (i.e., >€400 per lifetime) than the daughters of a bull with an EBI of €200. Analysis of average co-op performance data compared to that of the Johnstown castle research herd shows the potential to improve overall farm performance through improved herd genetics. The average EBI for the Johnstown herd stands at €186 placing it in the Top 5% of herds nationally.
The Future Cow
The significance of being forward thinking is as important today as it has been heretofore. The characteristics of the dairy cow of the future are outlined. The characteristics highlighted in green are those that are well covered in the EBI; those in blue, while included in the EBI, can be improved and those in red require attention. Nonetheless, indirect improvement in the traits in red continue to be realised without explicit inclusion in the EBI to date. As a result the carbon footprint per kg fat and protein corrected milk yield produced by the modern high EBI cow is 14% less than the cow that existed at the introduction of the EBI. This has been achieved through a combination of improved milk solids yield, better reproductive performance and greater longevity. Hence, genetic gain through improving EBI is a major contributor to the abatement of carbon on Irish dairy herds, while also being economically advantageous to Irish farmers.
Conclusion
The EBI continues to evolve and contribute towards improved performance and profitability on Irish dairy farms, as well as favourably impacting the environmental credentials of milk production.
Other resources & online information
Read: Investing in the correct herd genetics
Find more on Teagasc Dairy here
The Teagasc Dairy Specialists issue an article on a topic of interest to dairy farmers every Monday here on Teagasc Daily.