GENETIC EVALUATIONS AT A CROSSROADS

摘要

When it comes to the genetic evaluations dairy producers use to make breeding decisions, USDA has been the source of information for more than 75 years, dating back to the first bull evaluations calculated from daughter-dam comparisons in 1936. Sincethe 1960s, dairy producers, breed associations, artificial msernina-tion (AI) companies and co-ops and others have relied on regular "sire summaries" - calculated and provided by USDA's Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory (AIPL) - to gain production,health, fertility and conformation information they can use to make genetic decisions. The U.S. genetic evaluation program has contributed greatly to the productivity of U.S. dairy cattle and the industry as a whole. A1999 National Dairy Shrine survey ranked genetic evaluations as the second most positive and significant change in dairy cattle breeding in the previous 50 years, behind only AI. Now, however, AIPL wants out of the service business, so it can devote more time and funds toward research. Making the transition from a governrnent-based and taxpayer-financed evaluation program to one administered and funded by an independent, industry-led initiative has proven challenging.