Choice of Scales for Delivery of Genetic Evaluations

Choice of Scales for Delivery of Genetic Evaluations to the Public Paul Van. Raden USDA Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory Beltsville, MD, USA paul@aipl. arsusda. gov 2004

Can We Harmonize Trait Scales? w International marketing and education is difficult because scales differ w Advertisements cross national borders w 9 of 19 full-page bull advertisements contained only pictures, no numbers! (Holstein International, March, 2004) w Internet sites provide foreign evaluations w Joint data analyses could produce evaluations on a common scale Trait Scales - Interbull 2004 (2) P. M. Van. Raden 2004

Time to Change Bases w Every 5 years (2005, cows born in 2000) w 18 of 25 countries: AUS, BEL, CZE, DEU, ESP, EST, GBR, HUN, IRL, ISR, ITA, JPN, NLD, NZL, POL, SVN, USA, ZAF w At beginning of year? w Every year w 6 countries: CAN, CHE, FIN, FRA, NOR, SWE w At beginning of year except FRA=June w Each evaluation w 1 country: DNK Trait Scales - Interbull 2004 (3) P. M. Van. Raden 2004

Previous USA Base Changes 1965 Predicted Difference (subtract mean yield) 1974 Modified Contemporary Comparison 1984 Red & White and Holstein bases separated 1989 Red & White and Holstein bases merged, Animal Model 1995 Age-Parity adjustments (changed trend) 2000 Lifetime Net Merit, true protein (SD change) Trait Scales - Interbull 2004 (4) P. M. Van. Raden 2004

Possible Things To Do w Change mean and variance base w Change units and/or direction w Change evaluation models w Put different breeds on the same base w Submit to the Interbull test run w Prepare educational materials Trait Scales - Interbull 2004 (5) P. M. Van. Raden 2004

Somatic Cell Count w Measured with same standard metric unit (cells / ml) in every country w Transformed by log 2, log 10, or log e w Reversed scales in 9 of 19 countries w Added means of 100, 3, 4, etc. w Changed SD to report EBV, PTA, or STA Different choice in almost every country! Trait Scales - Interbull 2004 (6) P. M. Van. Raden 2004

Udder Health Scales Ctry Unit Mean USA PTA 3. 1 CAN PTA BEL Dir Ctry Unit Mean SD Dir . 22 — NLD RBV 100 4 + 3. 0 . 25 — DNK RBV 100 5 + EBV 3. 0 . 47 — SWE RBV 100 7 + JPN EBV 2. 4 . 42 — DEU RBV 100 12 + AUS EBV 0. 0 . 11 — ITA STA 4 1 + GBR PTA 0. 0 13 — FRA STA 0 1 + HUN STA 0. 0 1 — ESP STA 0 1 + Trait Scales - Interbull 2004 (7) SD P. M. Van. Raden 2004

Longevity Scales Ctry Unit Mean SD GBR PTA 0 0. 3 NLD RBV 100 4. 0 CAN PTA 3 0. 2 DNK RBV 100 5. 0 USA PTA 0 1. 7 SWE RBV 100 10. 0 ISR PTA 0 7. 0 DEU RBV 100 8. 0 CHE EBV 0 4. 1 ITA STA 3 1. 0 AUS EBV 0 1. 9 FRA STA 0 1. 0 NZL EBV 0 11. 0 IRL STA 0 1. 0 Trait Scales - Interbull 2004 (8) P. M. Van. Raden 2004

Yield Trait Scales w True protein in 5 of 21 countries: w AUS, FRA, HUN, POL, USA (as of 2000) w True% = Crude% —. 19 (e. g. 3. 00% vs 3. 19%) w Protein yield (kg) reduced by 5 - 6% w Age-parity adjustments differ w 16 of 25 countries adjust to average parity w 5 adjust to mature, 4 adjust to 1 st parity w Separate lactation proofs available w 2 scales (RBV and EBV) seems too much Trait Scales - Interbull 2004 (9) P. M. Van. Raden 2004

Conformation Scales w Standardized Genetic Merit (PTA SD) w Mean = 0, SD = 1 w 9 of 21 countries: CHE, CZE, DNK, FRA, HUN, GBR, ITA, JPN, USA w Relative Breeding Values w Mean = 100, SD = 4, 7, 10, 12 w 8 countries in northern Europe w PTA, EBV, or other (4 countries) Trait Scales - Interbull 2004 (10) P. M. Van. Raden 2004

Selection Index Scales w Units and SD not well documented w Top bull for total merit (February ‘ 04) w DNK 114, DEU 145, AUS 162, FRA 179 w NZL 246, NLD 366, GBR 826 w USA 857 (NM), USA 1918 (TPI) w ESP 2148, CAN 2360, ITA 2944 w Ranking on home scale may include traits not evaluated by Interbull Trait Scales - Interbull 2004 (11) P. M. Van. Raden 2004

Conclusions w Base and scale changes go together w Many countries plan to change in Feb 2005 w Too many different scales cause confusion w Direction of udder health / SCS unclear w Recommended scales may help w Only 3 months until September test run Trait Scales - Interbull 2004 (12) P. M. Van. Raden 2004