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Usefulness of International Dairy Bull Evaluations. Rex L. Powell Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Beltsville, MD rpowell@aipl.arsusda.gov http://aipl.arsusda.gov. Breeding-program Bull Choices. Farm bulls (natural service)
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Usefulness of International Dairy Bull Evaluations Rex L. Powell Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Beltsville, MD rpowell@aipl.arsusda.gov http://aipl.arsusda.gov
Breeding-program Bull Choices • Farm bulls (natural service) • Young AI progeny-test bulls • Proven AI bulls (domestic) • Proven AI bulls (international)
Interbull Milestones • 1983 - Interbull formed • 1988 - Became an ICAR committee • 1991 - Centre established • 1994 - First international service
Interbull Centre • Site: Uppsala, Sweden • Responsibilities and activities: • Steering committee sets policy • General operations by staff • Global service provider
Interbull Evaluation Process • National evaluations sent to Centre • MACE combines pedigree and national evaluation data • Estimated genetic correlations applied • Evaluations returned to countries on their own scale • Officiality responsibility of countries
25 20 15 10 5 0 Feb-99 Aug-94 Aug-95 Aug-99 Aug-96 Aug-97 Aug-98 Countries Participating in Service Sending Receiving No. countries Evaluation date
Numbers of Countries per Bull 100 62,259 80 60 Percentage of Bulls 40 20 3048 578 238 159 114 67 45 33 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9+ Number of countries
Use of Reliability • Measure of accuracy • Guides how much to use a bull, not whether to use a bull • Minimum restricts the number of bulls • Limiting bulls limits progress
Websites • interbull.org • Publications & bulletins • Evaluation summaries • aipl.arsusda.gov • Documents • Downloadable files • Access to all evaluations
Conclusions • Interbull service is growing (countries, breeds, traits) • Rankings differ by country & traits • Most gain is from considering all bulls on one scale
Impact of Minimum REL On Number of Bulls & Mean EBVM of Top 50 (USA) Source: Interbull, February 2002
Young Bull (PA Milk = +1000, REL = 36%) True TA milk is within ±480 pounds of estimated PTA two thirds of the time -920 -440 40 520 1000 1480 1960 2440 2920 PTA milk (pounds)