Dairy farmers will be able to base their breeding choices on more up-to-date Australian Breeding Values (ABVs) with this week’s public ABV release by the Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme.
And the reliability of production trait ABVs for Holstein and Jersey breeds has increased with recent refinements to the model.
Until now, public ABV releases have occurred twice a year in April and August. Michelle Axford from ADHIS said it now made sense to provide a third update in December due to the additional data available from genotyped animals and performance data from overseas and Australia.
“Farmers and their advisers will be able to access the updated information through the Good Bulls App, and the Good Bulls Guide and cow lists published on the web,” Michelle said.
Owners of Holstein and Jersey breeds can also expect improved reliability of the ABVs of both bulls and cows.
“The refinements to the model for calculating ABVs were implemented for Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Illawarra and Aussie Red breeds in April 2015. We know from this experience that the ABVs for young – first crop – bulls will be more stable over time, with the refined model in place.” she said.
For more information and the latest ABV lists, visit www.adhis.com.au contact Michelle Axford at ADHIS ph 0427 573 330 or email maxford@adhis.com.au.