Select Sires

SELECTIONS - Winter 2003
Herdlife Builders™: A Practical Approach to Breeding for Longevity

The Herdlife Builder list includes 7HO5801 Slave-Acres TRUE GRIT-ET*TV, who sires daughters like Slave-Acres Grit Extreme VG-86), Darby Dicke, Xenia, Ohio.
Photo by John Erbsen.

In a perfect world cows produce at high levels, produce valuable calves regularly and live long, productive lives. In the "real" world, we know that often cows don't stay in the herd as long as people would like. And that can affect a herd's profitability significantly. So, what is it that can help cows last longer? Recently Dr. Kent Weigel reported on a study evaluating Holsteins that calved for the first time between 1992 and 1996. When looking for type traits that were highly correlated with longevity, he found that all udder traits as well as "rear legs, rear view" had a linear relationship with productive life. For example, cows with high foreudder scores lasted more than a year longer than their lowscoring counterparts, and a similar pattern was seen for suspensory ligament. The relationship was even more pronounced for udder depth, with cows that scored 40 lasting from 12 to 18 months longer than cows scoring 10 on Holstein Association USA’s 50-point linear scale.

This is consistent with findings published by the Association, which concluded that type conformation is an important factor in long-lived cows. Its research has shown that among all linear traits, udder depth and fore-udder attachment are the two most important traits for explaining longevity.

The Association also conducted a study on herdlife, which identified that linear udder traits and selecting for foot-and-leg composite (FLC) result in offspring capable of longer lives.

Collectively this research supports what producers know: a long, productive life begins with well-attached udders, and correct feet and legs.

Identifying Bulls With Type that Leads to Longevity
The geneticists at Select Sires have translated this research into a practical, convenient way to identify bulls that are best able to sire longevity by developing a new breeding tool called "Herdlife Builders." This designation:

Includes only the top 50 percent of active-A.I. sires for udder composite;
Includes only the top 50 percent of active-A.I. sires for feet-and-legs composite; and
Excludes the highest 10 percent of active-A.I. sires for dairy form, which has a negative correlation to longevity.

Out of the 635 active-A.I. sires, only 188 (30 percent) meet these criteria, and 30 percent of those are at Select Sires.

Choosing What's Best for Your Herd
Recognizing that different operating environments call for different management and breeding strategies, we understand that you need to know more about Herdlife Builders to find the ones that are right for your dairy. That's why you'll find a list of these sires and additional background information at www.selectsires.com. (Click on Dairy Lineup, then click on Holstein.) Your professional SMS™ evaluator and sales representative can work with you to identify sires that will fit best in your program.

Backed by research and designed for use in the real world, Herdlife Builders can add longevity and profitabilityto your herd.

™Herdlife Builder and SMS are trademarks of Select Sires Inc.

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