Implementing Technology for Genetic Improvement: Industry's View

Abstract

Decisions in the AI industry are driven by market forces and are relatively unencumbered by regulation in the United States. Breeders make their own buying decisions and their collective decisions determine selection goals and policy. Customer education is the key to directing change and must be synchronized with the changes that occur. Sound conformation is important to commercial dairy farmers. Commercial and seedstock sectors are highly integrated and share the same bulls, testing programs, and milk markets and have similar breeding goals. The breeder ultimately judges the bulls by his or her own standards – usually by the performance (phenotype) of their progeny. Selection has become more intense and the rate of genetic change continues to increase. Generation interval has little practical significance in the sire-of-sons and dam-of-sons pathways. Strong positive assortative mating exists in seedstock herds and has accellerated the rate of genetic change. The industry needs better implementation of existing technology, comparable genetic ratings for young and proven sires, better identification of sires of cows on DHI test, implementation of the animal model genetic evaluation procedures, and better definition of equal opportunity groups. © 1988, American Dairy Science Association. All rights reserved.