Project Number: 1245-31000-101-02
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 09, 2009
End Date: Sep 08, 2014

Objective:
Determine traits that would benefit most from expanded educational efforts. Develop computer programs to illustrate how daughters of superior bulls nationally for the traits of interest deliver an advantage within an individual producer’s own herd. Promote the development of an efficient and healthy national dairy herd through demonstration of genetic selection results. Provide a convenient way of using the software developed for extension type meetings of dairy producers.

Approach:
Records from the national dairy database will be shared with PSU cooperators. Existing AIPL programs will be modified to identify the top and bottom quartile of cows each year based on sire PTA + 1/2 MGS PTA. The performance of the top and bottom quartiles will be compared. The number of observations needed to reliably demonstrate that genetic selection results in superior performance will be determined. Web applications will be developed that will allow users to query the AIPL database for herd specific results, including performance charts for each trait with a link to the cows and sires in each group. Demonstrate the tool to producer groups.