Genetic Improvement of Livestock for Organic Farming Systems

Organic farming which experienced a constant rise over the last two decades is a system based on sustainability and on a concept tending towards functional integrity. Legislation as well as the wish to produce separately from conventional farming raise the question whether organic farming should be conducted completely apart from conventional farming or not. This paper discusses the aspects that affect animal breeding under these circumstances, e.g., maintaining genetic diversity by using local breeds and possible G×E interactions which might occur when breeds adapted to conventional farming systems are used in organic farming. Ways of modelling G×E are presented, moreover examples of G×E in dairy cattle, swine, and poultry are given. Trends in selection index theory–designing multi-trait breeding goals including functional traits on one hand, and developing methods for using customised selection indices on the other hand–support breeding work for organic farming systems. It is concluded that before the technical issues can be addressed, all parties involved, farmers, consumers as well as legislators, have to agree on the socio-cultural conditions under which organic farming should be conducted

Effect of summer grazing on welfare of dairy cows reared in mountain tie-stall barns

Traditional mountain farms have an important economic, social and environmental role. The Alps management system for dairy cows consists of animals kept indoors from autumn to spring, mostly in tie-stalls, and moved to mountain pasture in summer. The aim of our study was to assess the effect of mountain summer grazing on the welfare of dairy cows housed in tie-stall barns. Twenty-four farms were considered. In twelve of them, animals were reared in tie-stalls and moved to mountain pasture for three months in summer; they were visited three times: (i) four weeks before grazing during the indoor period in the stall; (ii) about three weeks after the start of grazing; and (iii) in the stall, in autumn, at least three weeks after returning from grazing. The other twelve farms kept the animals in tie-stalls all year; they were visited once in autumn. Data were collected following a protocol that considers animal-based measures and structure information on the basis of Quality Welfare Consortium® indications. Data allowed the calculation of both the Animal Needs Index score (ANI 35L) and an overall assessment of the cows' welfare obtained from three general aspects: housing, animal's physical condition, and animal's behaviour. Summer grazing had a significant positive effect on injuries, lameness and animal's rising duration but a negative effect on faeces consistency. Moreover, a reduction of tongue playing was observed. The ANI 35L and the overall assessment did not show significant differences linked to summer grazing, which tended to have a positive but temporary effect on animal behaviour

The influence of phenotype and genotype on locomotion in cattle

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DX194847 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Session 26: Environment and Breed Aspects of Functional Traits in Ruminants Corresponding author: Dorothee Boelling; [email protected] Claw Trimming Records and Locomotion Can Improve Selection for Feet and Legs

Abstract Since lameness is an increasing problem in modern dairying, efforts have been made to improve the trait genetically. In the Nordic countries, first indices included feet and leg traits from the linear assessment scheme. Recently, other traits requiring more logistic recording challenges have been collected, like veterinary treatments for claw disorders, locomotion in Denmark, and disorders treated by claw trimmers in Sweden. This study presents genetic parameters and different index scenarios for these traits estimated on first lactation Danish Holstein cows. Estimated heritabilities were 0.01 for all subcategories of claw-and leg disorders, 0.09 for locomotion, between 0.13 and 0.27 for linear feet and leg traits, and about 0.06 for claw trimming data (Swedish estimate). The genetic correlation for claw disorders and locomotion was 0.46, while those between leg disorders and hock quality or bone structure were 0.42 and 0.26, respectively. Different selection indices including disorders, claw trimming, locomotion and rear leg rear view were developed. The index including claw trimming and locomotion showed the highest accuracy, especially for small daughter groups. Generally, claw trimming data achieved a higher accuracy than claw disorder data, and locomotion is more advantageous than rear leg rear view. The collection of claw trimming data and locomotion and their inclusion in a feet & leg index are recommended. Introduction Lameness has been on the rise in modern dairy cattle production over the last two decades. Scientists have taken up the topic and conducted research on improving the trait genetically. In the Nordic countries, the first selection indices for feet and legs included feet and leg traits which are part of the linear assessment scheme. Over the last decade, other traits requiring more logistic recording challenges and involving other people than field inspectors, have been collected on a large scale, like veterinary treatments for claw and leg disorders in the Nordic countries, locomotion in Denmark, and most recently, claw disorders treated by claw trimmers in Sweden, the latter two on research basis only so far. In Denmark, a sub-index for "Other diseases" which contains, among others, breeding values on feet and leg health based on veterinary records is included in the total merit index. As information on different and maybe more appropriate traits are becoming available, the question arises whether a new index based on these new traits would not be more suitable for selecting the best sires