Datagene News

In preparation for the August public ABV release, this week’s run has a number of new initiatives, including:

• Sustainability Index. (read more)
• Updated Mastitis Resistance ABV

As the 26/7/22 run is not a public run, results are available only to animal owners.
 

Emu Banks Guthrie Jackie (VG89), owned by the Dickson family of South West Victoria has taken out the award for the Highest BPI Female at the 2022 Victorian Winter Fair.

Health traits such as survival and fertility underpin Australia’s latest crop of young dairy females.

As the industry’s next bull mothers, these elite heifers embody the vital longevity, welfare and milk quality traits that Australian farmers need to run profitable modern businesses.

Some of these females also have Balanced Performance Index’s (BPI) of more than 500.

Key facts:

GENOMIC testing of dairy cows and heifers has doubled in the past twelve months as farmers look to fast-track herd genetic gain and productivity.

Almost 50,000 dairy females were tested during 2020-21, a result of faster turnaround times for genomic data, favourable industry conditions and a Dairy Australia/DataGene genomic testing campaign, according to DataGene CEO Matthew Shaffer.

• Genomic Australian Breeding Values (ABVs) are now available for red dairy cattle breeds.
• Red breeders will be able to access genomic ABVs for traits such as milk, fat, protein, and cell count.
• DataGene and red breeders will continue to collect more data to boost the reliability and offering of genomic ABVs.

Australian red dairy cattle breeders can now use the genomic information from DNA-samples of their animals to make herd improvement decisions.

For the fourth time in a row, a member of Elmar’s Jessica cow family has taken out the award for the top BPI award at the Victorian Winter Fair, with this year’s award going to Elmar Unix Jessica 4586, bred by the Hore Family of Leitchville, Northern Victoria and owned by the Flemming family (Philmar Holsteins, Western Victoria) in partnership with Brett Kuhne.

Australian dairy farmers can now make faster and more informed breeding decisions, thanks to new weekly genetic analysis.

This change means Australian milk producers can now access their herd’s genomic data as frequently as their peers in the United States of America – one of the world’s largest milk producing nations.

Further research into how much dairy cows eat will help farmers identify their most efficient animals and provide tools to improve culling and breeding decisions.

Health and business performance underpin refinements to Australia’s dairy breeding indices, as the industry improves how animals are evaluated to reflect the evolution of the nation’s herd improvement priorities.

These updates make it easier to choose animals to fast-track breeding priorities such as fertility and mastitis resistance.