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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 #348482
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: Genetic improvement programs for U.S. dairy cattle

Author
item Cole, John

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/12/2017
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Genomic selection has revolutionized dairy cattle breeding. Since 2000, assays have been developed to genotype large numbers of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at relatively low cost. The first commercial SNP genotyping chip was released with a set of 54,001 SNPs in December 2007. Over 15,000 genotypes were used to determine which SNPs should be used in genomic evaluation of US dairy cattle. Official USDA genomic evaluations were first released in January 2009 for Holsteins and Jerseys, in August 2009 for Brown Swiss, in April 2013 for Ayrshires, and in April 2016 for Guernseys. Dairy farmers have accepted that genomic evaluations are accurate indications of a bull's eventual daughter-based evaluation. The integration of DNA marker technology and genomics into the traditional evaluation system has doubled the rate of genetic progress for traits of economic importance, decreased generation interval, increased selection accuracy, reduced the costs of progeny testing. A number of previously unknown recessive lethals have been identified using haplotype information, and causative variants identified using exome-capture and whole-genome sequencing. The number of genotyped animals in the US continues to grow, enabling the use of SNP genotypes for on-farm management decision-making, as well as genetic improvement.