Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T05:18:03.773Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The economic performance of dairy cows of different predicted genetic merit for milk solids production

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

G. Simm ,
R. F. Veerkamp  and
P. Persaud
G. Simm
Affiliation:
Scottish Agricultural College, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG
R. F. Veerkamp
Affiliation:
Scottish Agricultural College, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG
P. Persaud
Affiliation:
Scottish Agricultural College, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG
Get access

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between pedigree index for kg fat plus protein and the financial margins between milk returns and food, health and reproduction costs in individual lactations. Records of milk and milk component production, food intake, health and reproduction were obtained for individual Holstein-Friesian cows over 38 weeks of lactation over a 7-year period, at the University of Edinburgh/Scottish Agricultural College Langhill dairy cattle research centre. Records for a total of 302 lactations were collected. Milk prices, input costs and margins were calculated for individual animals, using 1989/90 values. Regressions of margin over food costs (MF) and margin over food, health and reproduction costs (MFHR) on pedigree index (PI) for kg fat plus protein were all positive and ranged from £2·50± 3·00 per kg PI for MFHR for heifers, to £6·50 ± 2·10 per kg PI for MFHR for all animals. The lower regression for heifers was attributed to higher reproduction costs in animals of higher genetic merit, though the standard error for the regression estimated in this smaller data set was high. Sensitivity analyses showed that the regression coefficients remained very similar, even with ±50% changes in food, health or reproduction costs. It was concluded that selection on PI for kg fat plus protein is likely to lead to increased margin over food, health and reproduction costs.

Keywords

dairy cowseconomic marginsfood intakegenetic merit
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 58 , Issue 3 , June 1994 , pp. 313 - 320
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agricultural Research Council. 1980. The nutrient requirement of ruminant livestock. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough.Google Scholar
Allaire, F. R. and Thraen, C. S. 1985. Prospectives for genetic improvement in the economic efficiency of dairy cattle. In Symposium: The dairy cow of the future — biological requirements for economic efficiency. Journal of Dairy Science 68: 3110–3123.Google Scholar
Andersen, B. B. 1989. [Genetic aspects of appetite, food utilisation and beef production capacity]. [Basis for choice of breeding goal and matching production system within dairy herds]. Beretning fra Statens Husdyrbrugsforsog 660: 45–63.Google Scholar
Andrus, D. F. and McGilliard, L. D. 1975. Selection of dairy cattle for overall excellence. Journal of Dairy Science 58: 1876–1879.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anonymous. 1990. Index of veterinary specialities, vol 30, no. 6. Publ. IVS, Lancaster.Google Scholar
Arendonk, J. A. M. van. 1991. Use of profit equations to determine relative economic value of dairy cattle herd life and production from field data. Journal of Dairy Science 74: 1101–1107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arendonk, J. A. M. van, Vos, H. and Werf, J. H. J. van der. 1991. Genetic aspects of feed intake and efficiency in dairy cows. Proceedings of the ninth conference Australian Association of Animal Breeding and Genetics, pp. 37–44.Google Scholar
Baber, P. L., Rowlinson, P., Willis, M. B. and Chalmers, A. J. 1984. A comparison of Canadian Holstein × British Friesian and British Friesian steers for beef production. 2. Carcass characteristics. Animal Production 38: 407–415.Google Scholar
Balaine, D. S., Pearson, R. E. and Miller, R. H. 1981. Profit functions in dairy cattle and effect of measures of efficiency and prices. Journal of Dairy Science 4: 87–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beard, K. T. 1987. Efficiency of index selection for dairy cattle using economic weights for major milk constituents. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 38: 273–284.Google Scholar
Bonczek, R. R., Richardson, D. O., Moore, E. D., Miller, R. H., Owen, J. R., Dowlen, H. H. and Bell, B. R. 1992. Correlated responses in reproduction accompanying selection for milk yield in Jerseys.Journal of Dairy Science 75: 1154–1160.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burnside, E. B., McClintock, A. E. and Hammond, K. 1984. Type, production and longevity in dairy cattle: a review. Animal Breeding Abstracts 52: 711–719.Google Scholar
Christensen, L. G. 1989a. [Health of different genotypes]. [Basis for choice of breeding goal and matching production sytstems within dairy herds]. Beretning fra statens Husdyrbrugsforsog 660: 64–83.Google Scholar
Christensen, L. G. 1989b. [Reproduction of different genotypes]. [Basis for choice of breeding goal and matching production systems within dairy herds]. Beretning fra statens Husdyrbrugsforsog 660: 84–100.Google Scholar
Custodio, A. A., Blake, R. W., Dahm, P. F., Cartwright, T. C., Schelling, G. T. and Coppock, C. E. 1983. Relationships between measures of feed efficiency and transmitting ability for milk of Holstein cows. Journal of Dairy Science 66: 1937–1946.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emanuelson, U. 1988. Recording of production diseases in cattle and possibilities for genetic improvements. A review. Livestock Production Science 20: 89–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Esslemont, R. J. and Peeler, E. J. 1993. The scope for raising margins in dairy herds by improving fertility and health. British Veterinary Journal 149: 537–547.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eriksson, J. A. 1991. Mastitis in cattle. In Breeding for disease resistance in farm animals (ed. Owen, J. B. and Axford, R. F. E.), pp. 394–411. CAB International.Google Scholar
Freeman, A. E. 1975. Genetic variation in nutrition of dairy cattle. In The effect of genetic variation on nutrition of animals, pp. 19–46. National Academy of Science, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Genstat 5 Committee. 1989. Genstat 5 reference manual. Clarendon Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Gibson, J. P. 1986. Efficiency and performance of genetically high and low milk-producing British Friesian and Jersey cattle. Animal Production 42: 161–182.Google Scholar
Grainger, C., Davey, A. W. F. and Holmes, C. W. 1985. Performance of Friesian cows with high and low breeding indexes. 1. Stall feeding and grazing experiments and performance during the whole lactation. Animal Production 40: 379–388.Google Scholar
Hageman, W. H., Shook, G. E. and Tyler, W. J. 1991. Reproductive performance in genetic lines selected for high or average milk yield. Journal of Dairy Science 74: 4366–4376.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hickman, C. G. and Bowden, D. M. 1971. Correlated genetic responses of feed efficiency, growth and body size in cattle selected for milk solids yield, journal of Dairy Science 54: 1848–1855.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hitchings, J. B. 1983. The comparative efficiency of Friesians and Holsteins for milk and beef production. Farm Business Unit, occasional paper no. 7. Wye College, University of London.Google Scholar
Keller, D. S. and Allaire, F. R. 1990. Economic weights for genetic changes in milk component yields at the herd level. Journal of Dairy Science 73: 1631–1643.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Korver, S. 1988. Genetic aspects of feed intake and feed efficiency in dairy cattle. A review. Livestock Production Science 20: 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milk Marketing Board. 1990. Report of the Farm Services Division 1988/89, no. 39. MMB, Thames Ditton.Google Scholar
Patterson, H. D. and Thompson, R. 1971. Recovery of inter-block information when block sizes are unequal. Biometrika 58: 545–554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Persaud, P. 1990. Genetic aspects of yield, feed intake and feed efficiency in dairy cattle fed ad libitum. PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Persaud, P., Simm, G., Parkinson, H. and Hill, W. G. 1990. Relationships between sires' transmitting ability for production and daughter's production, food intake and efficiency in a high-yielding dairy herd. Animal Production 51: 245–253.Google Scholar
Persaud, P., Simm, G. and Hill, W. G. 1991. Genetic and phenotypic parameters for yield, food intake and efficiency of dairy cows fed ad libitum. 1. Estimates for ‘total’ lactation measures and their relationship with live-weight traits. Animal Production 52: 435–444.Google Scholar
Rogers, G. W., Arendonk, J. A. M. van and McDaniel, B. T. 1988. Influence of production and prices on optimum culling rates and annualized net revenue. Journal of Dairy Science 71: 3453–3462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shanks, R. D., Freeman, A. E., Berger, P. J. and Kelley, D. H. 1978. Effect of selection for milk production on reproductive and general health of the dairy cow. Journal of Dairy Science 61: 1765–1772.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simianer, H., Solbu, H. and Schaeffer, L. R. 1991. Estimated genetic correlations between disease and yield traits in dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science 74: 4358–4365.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simm, G., Persaud, P., Neilson, D. R., Parkinson, H. and McGuirk, B. J. 1991. Predicting food intake in dairy heifers from early lacatation records. Animal Production 52: 421–434.Google Scholar
Solbu, H. and Lie, O. 1990. Selection for disease resistance in dairy cattle. Proceedings of the fourth world congress on genetics applied to livestock production, vol. XVI, pp. 445–448.Google Scholar
Tigges, R. J., Pearson, R. E. and Vinson, W. E. 1986. Prediction of lifetime relative net income from first lactation production and individual type traits in Holstein cows. Journal of Dairy Science 69: 204–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veerkamp, R. F., Simm, G. and Persaud, P. 1994. Potential value of linear type traits for the prediction of intake, efficiency and economic margins in dairy cattle. Livestock Production Science In press.Google Scholar
White, J. M., Miller, R. H. and Wilcox, C. J. 1977. Review of regional project S-49 — genetic methods of improving dairy cattle for the south. Journal of Dairy Science 60: 473–481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilton, J. W., Vleck, L. D. van, Everett, R. W., Guthrie, R. S. and Roberts, S. J. 1972. Genetic and environmental aspects of udder infections. Journal of Dairy Science 55: 183–193.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed