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Title: LIFETIME YIELD AND HERD LIFE FOR CROSSES OF FRIESIAN STRAINS IN POLAND

Author
item ZARNECKI, A - DEPT OF GENETICS POLAND
item NORMAN, H
item JAMROZIK, J - DEPT OF GENETICS POLAND

Submitted to: Journal of Dairy Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Lifetime performance and length of herd life affect the profitability of dairy cattle. Additional data from later lactations of cows in the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization breed comparison project in Poland made possible the comparison of genetics from different countries (Canada, Denmark, Israel, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and West Germany) for number of calvings, days in milk, days of productive life, ages at last calving and at disposal, lifetime milk and fat yields, and average milk and fat yields per day in milk. Ranking of strains demonstrated the superiority of U.S., Canadian, New Zealand, and Israeli Holstein strains for measures of longevity and lifetime performance. For all lifetime traits, Polish, Netherlands, and Danish strains ranked lowest. Results of this breed comparison study indicate that U.S. genetics can produce dairy cows with long productive lifetimes as well as high yield and should promote import of U.S. semen, embryos, and cattle.

Technical Abstract: Lifetime yield performance and herd life through nine lactations were examined for 7353 F1 cows that resulted from crosses of 379 Holstein or Friesian bulls from Canada, Denmark, Israel, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and West Germany with Polish Black and White cows. Lifetime traits included number of calvings, days in milk, days of productive life, ages at last calving and at disposal, lifetime milk and fat yields, and mean milk and fat yields per day in milk. Mean number of calvings was 3.8. Ranking of strains based on means and mixed model solutions demonstrated the superiority of U.S., Canadian, New Zealand, and Israeli strains for measures of longevity and lifetime performance. For all lifetime traits, Polish, Netherlands, and Danish strains ranked lowest. Sire and error components of variance were estimated with a restricted maximum likelihood procedure. Heritabilities of lifetime milk and fat yields and measures of herd life were low (.03 to .07); heritabilities for mean yield per day in milk were .22 for milk and .19 for fat.