President’s Medal Essay
As part of the entry process for the President’s Medal Award, applicants must submit an essay which Semex UK provide the title for each year. Jamie Pottow from the South & Wiltshire HYB Club was awarded the President’s Medal for his dedication and commitment to HYB, Holstein UK and the dairy industry as a whole. His determination, passion and positivity helped him stand out to a panel of judges who named him as the worthy winner of HYB’s most prestigious award.
Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the genetic breeding techniques commonly available to UK farms, and then suggest your optimum solution to driving genetic progress in an average UK herd.
Genetic advancement of UK dairy cows has become a major focus for all involved within the dairy industry. Arguably the push for genetic advancement has been centred around the introduction of Genomics in 2012 (AHDB). Moving from a phenotyping evaluation to a genotype evaluation. AHDB state that average Holstein production has risen from 4,500kg in the 1980’s to 9,500kg today (1). Although management technique has improved it is safe to say that Genetic advancement has a large part to play.
With Genomics being introduced in 2012, the improvement of genetic advancement cannot solely be placed on genomics. So, what other breeding techniques are available? Classification has played a large role for many years and continues to do so, alternative phenotype evaluation such as Triple A has been popular in Europe but seldom seen in the UK. AI companies offering a ‘mating program’ is often a popular option found on farms, removing the ‘stress’ factor of bull selection. Moving forward, Advanced breeding techniques, embryo transfer and IVF are going to play pivotal roles in rapidly advancing genetic gain.
1. Genomics
The introduction of genomics has undoubtedly had a major impact on the UK dairy cow, allowing decision makers to not only assess the visual correctness of an animal but also assess those traits that we have not been able to quantify historically. Since the introduction of Fertility Index in 2005 the UK average calving interval has decreased from 425 days in 2005 to 395 days in 2022 (2). As Genomics has advanced alternative options have become available as well with Zoetis developing their DWP$ index focusing on advanced health traits as well as the US GTPI now available.
Although Genomics allows us to evaluate an animals genetic potential on paper, it is important to remember that dairy farmers have successfully been breeding cows for generations. To ignore the teachings of our mentors and solely take a breed by numbers approach would be foolish. Breeding solely based on genomics can occasionally result in breeding animals with phenotypic flaws. Ultimately not matter how high a heifers PLI is if she has poor legs then there is little chance, she will be a high performing cow.
2. Classification and Phenotypic Evaluation
Some would argue that classification has been made redundant with the introduction of Genomics, yet the NBDC Classification scheme still evaluates over 130,000 animals every year (3). Classification allows a fresh set of eyes to evaluate animals on farm and provide a live update of not only an individual animal but on a herd level farms are able to follow conformation trends, identifying trends across the herd that are becoming problematic thus allowing bull selection to be carried out accordingly.
Although Classification is a tried and tested technique, relying solely on this technique often can result in slower advancement of genetic gain. Without any health or fertility data it is understandable how classification in the average UK herd can be seen as a less beneficial technique within an industry demanding efficiency.
It is worth noting that alternative phenotypic evaluations can be used, Triple A being very popular across Europe. With just three numbers to focus on Triple A is a simple option. However, there is only a handful of triple A evaluators in the UK making it unlikely to become a major contributor.
3. Mating Programs
As the advancement of genomics has grown, the speed in which new bulls come to market has grown to. Thus, creating the inbreeding issue, many breeders find it near impossible to keep up with sire stacks of young genomic bulls. This has created the need for mating programs, ensuring a breeding coefficient is kept withing the acceptable range. Studies by AHDB, and Bayode et al. 2020 found that for every 1% increase in inbreeding milk production has reduced by ~0.35% (4). These programs not only allow farmers to avoid inbreeding but can also ensure that the most appropriate bull in the tank is used on each cow or heifer bred.
Much like classification trained scorers assess each milking heifer, creating a numerical picture of where the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals are. Using this data farmers can choose bulls that can begin to rectify these issues. Further advancements to the programs allow genomics evaluations to be included in this assessment, utilising both phenotypic and genotypic data.
As with all services the cost to farmers can be high and often may cause an overcomplication to many who looking to keep their breeding program as simple as possible.
4. Advanced Breeding techniques – MOET, IVF
A new and rapidly advancing breeding technology is Embryo Transfer and now IVF. Although not commonly utilised in the UK, the most effective way to increase herd level genetic potential would be through selecting the herds top 5 or 10% and using Embryo technology to breed all animals. Using embryos across the whole herd is certainly an extreme practice now, but one that is becoming increasingly more popular in North America, in 2023 Miles et al. found that ET use in American Dairies increased five times from 2016 – 2021, with greater than 1 million ET calves born in 2021 (5).
Is embryo work something that the average UK dairy farm will be carrying out on a herd level? Maybe not in the near future, with the public eye ever growing on the UK dairy farm advancements like this may be a step too far. But on a farm level to understand that ET technologies on the very best animals is available must be a major factor when considering the advancement of genetic potential.
Solutions to driving genetic progress To begin suggesting optimum solutions for genetic progress on UK dairies, starts with understanding that no two farms will have the same breeding goals. However, there are fundamentals that all dairies should be striving for: Increased fertility, legs and feet, and udder quality. These three factors are relative to the most extensive grazing cow, the most successful show cows and everything in between. Accepting that these factors are musts farms are then able to identify other traits they feel are the most important to follow.
Keeping in mind the that many dairy farms in the UK are under substantial financial pressures, to suggest that all dairies should utilise Genomics, Classification, mating programs and ET is intangible. However, I believe that a combination of Genomic data and mating programs is both financially beneficial and simple from a management perspective. Mating programs offer a phenotypic evaluation that can be fully utilised simply and effectively, whilst also aiding in controlling inbreeding coefficient.
Genomic data use does not simply have to be about ‘chasing index’. Using the data to create the animal that you feel is most appropriate for your farm, and business is extremely valuable. Having the ability to vastly improve those traits that cannot be seen with human eye (fertility, cell count, CFP) is only going to become more important in the ever evolving industry that is UK dairy farming.
(1) AHDB (What Genetic Progress has been made)
(2) Marco Winters AHDB (AHDB Fertility document)
(3) HUK Type Classification Scheme3. Mating Programs
(4) Bayode et al. June 2020, Journal of Dairy Science
(5) Miles et al. July 2023 Journal of Dairy Science