Join us for the next DCRC Webinar - "Genetic impacts on calving & feed efficiency"
Friday, October 2, 2:00 p.m. Central time
Members and non-members may join this DCRC webinar for free.
Presenters: Ezequiel Nicolazzi, Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB) technical director, and Kristen Parker Gaddis, CDCB geneticist
The strides of the U.S. dairy herd in productivity, cow health and overall performance have been fueled by progress in herd management and the rapid pace of genetic improvement. In the past decade, the genomic revolution has forever changed genetic evaluations, dairy cow performance and herd management.
Calving traits and feed efficiency are the emphasis in 2020 for CDCB, which delivers the U.S. dairy genetic evaluations and manages the world’s largest animal database.
Calving traits that previously were problematic in many U.S. dairy herds have been successfully improved through better genetics and management practices. In this webinar, Ezequiel Nicolazzi will describe the genetic trends of dystocia and stillbirth and how CDCB re-scaled the evaluations for Sire Calving Ease and other calving traits in August 2020 to match the observed on-farm incidence rates.
In December 2020, a revolutionary new trait, Feed Saved, will become available in dairy’s genetic toolkit and Kristen Parker Gaddis will share how producers can incorporate this trait into their breeding program. Genetic selection for feed efficiency has been a long-time goal of geneticists and producers alike, with the promise of improving farm profitability and lowering the carbon footprint of milk production.
