Prediction of lifetime milk yield and breeding values of sire in Frieswal cattle

Abstract

Lifetime milk yield (LTMY) is a crucial economic trait in dairy farming directly affecting farm profitability and sustainability. Identifying high-yielding animals for LTMY at early age is advantageous which can help to select genetically superior animals, optimizing breeding decisions, improving herd productivity and reducing costs associated with low yielding cows. An extensive dataset was analyzed comprising records from 3,425 Frieswal cows and 239 sires over 36 years including 9,094 lactations. The data were obtained from the Military Farm, Pune of Maharashtra state. LTMY was categorized into three groups based on completed lactations viz. LTMY up to three (LTMY3), five (LTMY5) and seven (LTMY7). Prediction models used early life traits such as birth weight, milk yields from the first three lactations and age at first calving to estimate LTMY at different stages of the cow’s productive life. Statistical analysis using SAS 9.13 showed highest prediction accuracy for LTMY3 followed by LTMY5 and LTMY7 indicating that early-life production traits are strong indicators of lifetime productivity. Accuracy improved with more lactation records included in the models. These models also estimated sire breeding values, revealing high rank correlations between breeding values predicted using LTMY3 and LTMY5 models and those estimated through BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Prediction). These findings suggest that early prediction models are valuable tools for dairy farmers and breeders enabling accurate selection of high-yielding animals. Their application could enhance genetic progress, improve herd productivity and contribute to the economic sustainability of dairy farming by ensuring that only the most productive animals are retained for future generations.