A flexible data architecture to automate collection of (near) real-time methane sensor data at commercial dairy farms

To reduce methane emissions from the animal production domain, a large intensive research programme has been started in 2018 by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food. Part of this programme involves continuous monitoring of methane, by means of sensor measurements, both at the barn and ..

Inclusion Of The Spatial Dimension Of Population Data In Developing Policies For The Management Of AnGR –The Case Of The Heritage Sheep Breeds

The sustainable use of farm animal genetic resources is connected with the recognition of their contribution to the society and the environment and the assessment of the threats they are facing. The category of the heritage breeds, which are genetically distinct, geographically concentrated, adapted to their environment, commercially farmed to contribute to the local economy were considered in the frame of the HERITAGESHEEP project. The aim of this project was to deliver the potential of the heritage sheep breeds for a sustainable future for medium to low input production systems, which support local rural communities throughout Europe. This was achieved by addressing the conservation of these breeds, defining the current and future threats and developing new uses and markets for products

Roodbont Fries vee : adviezen voor opzetten fokprogramma

Het doel van dit onderzoek richt zich op het in kaart brengen van de demografische en genetische situatie van het Roodbont Fries Vee en het aandragen van bouwstenen voor een goed genetisch beheer. Aansluitende analyses zijn uitgevoerd om de haalbaarheid van een fundamentfokkerij in kaart te brengen. De demografische analyse gaf aan dat het aantal raszuivere Fries Roodbonten sterk is afgenomen sinds 1986. Momenteel worden er jaarlijks slechts 60 raszuivere Fries Roodbonte kalveren geboren. Dit heeft dan direct een impact op de genetische verwantschappen in de populatie. Om die goed in kaart te brengen, is het noodzakelijk dat de stamboom toch zeker minimaal 3 generaties teruggaat. Het absolute inteeltniveau van de populatie is te hoog. Door dit hoge niveau kunnen erfelijke gebreken de kop opsteken. Om het inteeltniveau in de populatie te beheersen is het belangrijk om een breed palet aan stieren in te zetten. Uit de analyses ten aanzien van de fundamentfokkerij blijkt dat er wel bedrijven aan te wijzen zijn die nauwelijks aan elkaar verwant zijn. Helaas weten wij niet welke bedrijven dat zijn, aangezien er geanonimiseerde data is geanalyseerd. Voor fundamenten is het vooral belangrijk dat de veehouders binnen dit fundament overeenstemming hebben over het eigen fokdoel. Verder moeten de onverwante dieren in verschillende fundamenten zitten om zo de diversiteit tussen de fundamenten zo veel mogelijk te behouden

Indicatoren om dracht te meten in melk = Biomarkers in milk to predict pregnancy in dairy cattle

In this project the technical possibilities were investigated to use protein profiles in dairy milk as an indicator to improve fertility

Genomic selection: the option for new robustness traits?

Genomic selection is rapidly becoming the state-of-the-art genetic selection methodology in dairy cattle breeding schemes around the world. The objective of this paper was to explore possibilities to apply genomic selection for traits related to dairy cow robustness. Deterministic simulations indicate that replacing progeny testing with genomic selection may favour genetic response for production traits at the expense of robustness traits, owing to a disproportional change in accuracies obtained across trait groups. Nevertheless, several options are available to improve the accuracy of genomic selection for robustness traits. Moreover, genomic selection opens up the opportunity to begin selection for new traits using specialised reference populations of limited size where phenotyping of large populations of animals is currently prohibitive. Reference populations for such traits may be nucleus-type herds, research herds or pooled data from (international) research experiments or research herds. The RobustMilk project has set an example for the latter approach, by collating international data for progesterone-based traits, feed intake and energy balance-related traits. Reference population design, both in terms of relatedness of the animals and variability in phenotypic performance, is important to optimise the accuracy of genomic selection. Use of indicator traits, combined with multi-trait genomic prediction models, can further contribute to improved accuracy of genomic prediction for robustness traits. Experience to date indicates that for newly recorded robustness traits that are negatively correlated with the main breeding goal, cow reference populations of =10 000 are required when genotyping is based on medium- or high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism arrays. Further genotyping advances (e.g. sequencing) combined with post-genomics technologies will enhance the opportunities for (genomic) selection to improve cow robustness

Fokwaarde voeropname : introductie van fokwaarde voor voeropname in Nederland

Feed costs represent above 50% of the total costs of dairy production, so reducing costs by improving dairy cow feed efficiency is a way to increase profitability. Therefore it is important to improve efficiency of that dairy cattle population. This project has shown that it is possible to breed for more efficient animals, resulting in permanent and cumulative changes in the genetic merit of dairy cows. The breeding value for feed intake is currently integrated in the Better Life Efficiency index for all sires of CRV, and it is under discussing if it will be included in the national index (published by GES) for all bulls in the Netherlands and Flanders