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The new dairy proofs boast a revamped genetic index for cattle lifespan, enabling milk producers to identify bulls whose offspring will be more healthy and productive will help predict more accurate longevity in additional days rather than lactations.

Previously expressed in lactations which meant very little difference between the best and worst animals, the indexs scale has now been increased to approximately -305 to +305 days enabling producers to make more precise decisions.

Marco Winters, head of animal genetics with AHDB Dairy, said: The new figures give producers a more meaningful prediction of the extra lifetime expected from a bulls daughters and make a greater distinction between individual bulls.

Lifespan reflects many contributory factors, ranging from fertility and somatic cell counts to legs, feet and udder conformation. The index has a strong correlation with an animals average daily lifetime yield, which is a key contributor to its lifetime profitability.

Producers have made progress in their cows lifespan, which has steadily increased since LS was included in AHDBs Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI) in 1999 (see graph).

By helping to differentiate individual sires and moving to a larger and more meaningful scale, we feel confident we can further increase genetic progress for this trait, so cutting a herds replacement rate and its costs of heifer rearing, he said.

Lifespan Index Q and A

1. Why is lifespan so important?

It is estimated to cost more than 1800 to rear a Holstein dairy heifer from birth to the point of calving. Around 70% of farmers pay back this investment during the animals second lactation. More precisely, the average number of days at which payback occurs is a staggering 530 after first calving! Any measures which can therefore be taken to extend an animals productive life beyond this point will help improve its return on the large initial investment. Using the Lifespan Index when breeding cattle can help producers improve their herds survival rates by hundreds of days.

2. How does the new scale work?

The new scale for Lifespan Index (LS) will run from around -305 days to +305 days, with positive figures being desirable. Daughters of a +305 Lifespan Index bull are predicted to live, on average, 305 days longer than daughters of a sire whose index is zero. Equally, they are predicted to live 610 days longer than daughters of a -305 LS bull. As with all UK genetic indexes, zero represents the average.

3. How are Lifespan Indexes calculated?

The Lifespan Index is calculated from actual daughter survival, when that information is available. When it is not, it is either calculated from the animals own genotype (if it has a genomic index), or from predictive traits such as type traits (legs, feet and udders) and Somatic Cell Count Index, all of which are correlated with lifespan. Where necessary, information on ancestors lifespan will also be included in the calculation of the index. This and all other predictors will diminish in their importance as the animal acquires progeny lifespan information of its own.

4. Arent many animals culled for low production rather than survivability?

An important feature of the Lifespan Index is that it predicts involuntary rather than voluntary culling. As there is such a strong relationship between milk production and lifespan (because low producers are generally culled earlier from the herd), Lifespan Index is corrected for milk production. This correction ensures the index is more a measure of daughters ability to survive than of their failure to produce milk, which itself would be apparent from Predicted Transmitting Abilities (PTAs) for production.

More:
Revised genetic index will help boost longevity - The Scottish Farmer

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