US Dairy Progress / US Genetic Milestones

U.S. Genetic Milestones

U.S. dairy has led the way in research and development of genetic evaluation methods and traits that have been adopted globally. Collaboration and a pioneer spirit is the foundation of this leadership. The U.S. genetic system is a collaboration between dairy producers and several organizations that serve farmers. The involvement of the U.S. Department of Agriculture – dating back to 1895 and continuing today – is a unique public-private partnership to optimize research, innovation and dairy industry cooperation. Along with U.S. leadership in R&D, the vast exportation of U.S. genetics to more than 120 countries has improved dairy cows and dairy farmer livelihoods around the world.

1885

Individual cow records

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began collecting milk and fat records of individual cows

1905

First milk recording organization

Cow Testing Association (CTA) started in Michigan

1927

DHIA became known

CTAs renamed Dairy Herd Improvement Association, or DHIA

1935

Unique identification

Eartag series developed to allow unique identification of all cows tested by DHIA

1936

First sire evaluations

Daughter-dam comparisons used to calculate first USDA evaluations

1937

Start of A.I. cooperatives

First U.S. Artificial Insemination (A.I.) cooperative organized; seven established by 1939

1950

DHIA records computerized

Faster, more accurate transfer of DHIA records enabled growth in USDA genetic evaluations

1953

Frozen semen commercialized

Allowed distribution of superior genetics around the U.S. and world

1962

Herdmate comparison

Herdmate comparisons developed by USDA, considering management differences when computing sire evaluations

1971

First U.S. genetic index

USDA published Predicted Difference Dollars index to combine milk and fat

1974

Genetic trends considered in evaluations

Modified contemporary comparisons accounted for genetic trends and replaced herdmate comparisons

1977

Protein evaluated

Protein and solid-not-fat evaluations calculated by USDA

1978

Linear type evaluations

Type evaluations became available in all breeds using linear appraisal

1989

Animal model implemented

USDA was first, using relationships among all cows and bulls for more accurate evaluations

1994

Net Merit, Productive Life and Somatic Cell Score launched

New Net Merit $ index combined fitness, conformation, and production traits – unique from indexes in most countries.

1999

Calving traits initiated

Calving ease for Holsteins and Brown Swiss, stillbirth for Holsteins

1999

Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB) incorporated

Collaboration began between USDA and CDCB for quality control

2000

Focus on fertility traits

Emphasis on female and male fertility increased with USDA’s launch of Daughter Pregnancy Rate (2003), Sire Conception Rate and stillbirth (2006) and Cow and Heifer Conception Rates (2009)

2003

Sexed semen commercialized

First U.S. license for sexed semen granted

2007

Chip for genomic testing made available

First commercial genotyping chip released with set of 54,001 SNPs

2009

First official U.S. genomic evaluations

U.S. pioneered use of genomic data, leading to epic genetic progress

2013

CDCB responsible for U.S. genetic evaluations

Calculation of U.S. genetic evaluations transferred from USDA to CDCB; USDA continues important role in research

2015

One million genotypes recorded

Number of dairy genotypes in National Cooperators Database hit the million mark, 7 years after first U.S. Holstein bulls were genotyped

2016

Breed Base Representation developed

Estimated contribution from multiple breeds to crossbred animals

2017

Genotyping certification created

CDCB established certification requirements for genotyping labs and genomic nominators to enhance data quality

2018

Health traits published

Evaluations for resistance to six disorders published by CDCB for Holsteins

2019

Genomic evaluations for crossbred animals

U.S. was first to evaluate crossbred dairy animals by applying a weighted combination of solutions estimated from purebred populations

2020

New Feed Saved trait

CDCB published Feed Saved, the first national evaluation in the U.S. to leverage genetic variation for feed efficiency

2021

Feed efficiency in national selection index

Net Merit index updated to account for feed efficiency, along with >40 other individual traits

2024

9 million animals genotyped

CDCB’s National Cooperator Database is the world’s largest set of animal phenotypic and genomic data; female genomic testing is common management tool