Milking Speed Index

Reference ID:1097

Whereas…

Whereas the Relative Breeding Value (RBV) for the trait MILKING SPEED is based on subjective evaluations, without direct measurement, made in first lactation.

Whereas the person doing the subjective assessment is not always a person who does the milking, and therefore not able to offer a fair assessment.

Whereas acow can be evaluated with a fast milking speed (desirable) because her milk production is low and conversely, a cow can be evaluated with a slow milking speed (undesirable) because her milk production is high.

Whereas genetic selection based on the RBV for MILKING SPEED, mostly on young bulls with a genomic evaluation, offers disappointing and inconsistent results for this trait in the barns.

Whereas withrobotic milking systems, the amount of milk and/or fat per minute from each cow influences the economic performance of the herd.

Whereas with these systems, productive and fast milking cows are preferred.

Whereas many milking systems offer accurate milking speed data from which it is possible to calculate a produced amount of milk and/or fat per minute for all milkings of each animal.

Therefore…

Therefore, it isproposed that Lactanet develop a new genetic index based on objective milking system data, measuring the ability of cows to give a high milk yield quickly that would be expressed as a Relative Breeding Value (RBV), based on a calculation of the amount of fat produced per minute of milking.  This new index would set aside any subjective evaluation and replace the current index.