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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #396661
Research Project: Improving Dairy Animals by Increasing Accuracy of Genomic Prediction, Evaluating New Traits, and Redefining Selection Goals

Location: Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory

Title: Considerations in using quantitative measurements of milking speed for genetic evaluations for all dairy breeds in the USA

Author
item Miles, Asha
item FOURDRAINE, ROBERT - Dairy Records Management Systems(DRMS)
item SIEVERT, STEVEN - Collaborator
item PARKER GADDIS, KRISTEN - Council On Dairy Cattle Breeding
item BEWLEY, JEFFREY - Holstein Association Usa, Inc
item EAGLEN, SOPHIE - National Association Of Animal Breeders
item WEIKER, JAY - National Association Of Animal Breeders
item Hutchison, Jana
item DURR, JOAO - Council On Dairy Cattle Breeding

Submitted to: Interbull Annual Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/5/2022
Publication Date: 10/5/2022
Citation: Miles, A.M., Fourdraine, R.F., Sievert, S., Parker Gaddis, K.L., Bewley, J., Eaglen, S., Weiker, J., Hutchison, J.L., Durr, J. 2022. Considerations in using quantitative measurements of milking speed for genetic evaluations for all dairy breeds in the USA. Interbull Bulletin. 57:48-53.

Interpretive Summary: Dairy producers actively use information on how quickly their cows finish milking to manage their herds and make important economic decisions. There is a genetic component to milking speed, but standardizing and integrating milking speed data from a wide range of sources for a national evaluation is still a challenge. This work details a proposal to use quantitative measurements of milking speed calculated from milk weights and time stamps to characterize a cow’s speed, and addresses the need for more detailed data to describe the interactions between milking speed and udder health.

Technical Abstract: Milking speed is a trait evaluated in several breeds internationally, and most phenotypes are assembled using a subjective scoring system where a trained classifier travels to the farm to individually appraise cows alongside the farmer. This is unlikely to be practical in the United States due to larger average herd sizes and so the use of quantitative data generated by milk meters is being explored. The US Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding has appointed a task force to investigate the feasibility of implementing routine genetic evaluations for milking speed in all dairy breeds. In this presentation, we evaluate the economic importance of milking speed evaluations for US dairy producers, review data types and quality standards, and discuss the system and biological effects that need to be accounted for in the accurate characterization of milking speed in the US dairy population.