Milking Speed Producer Survey

U.S. dairy producers, please complete a short (5-minute) survey by December 1 to support the goal to develop U.S. genomic evaluations for milking speed.

CDCB is exploring the potential to implement genetic evaluations for milking speed (MS) in all dairy breeds, through the Milking Speed Evaluations Task Force appointed in October 2021.
 
Answers to the producer survey will remain anonymous and be used to describe how milking systems and management affects MS and how genetic evaluations would benefit producers. (Plus, respondents can enter a raffle for a $50 Amazon gift card!)
 
Situation Analysis: Many dairy producers actively use MS metrics to guide their management and make economic decisions; however, the U.S. does not have genetic evaluations for MS. After initial analysis, the task force recommends that MS scores be based on quantitative data through milking systems, rather than a classification system with subjective scores as is common in countries that currently have MS evaluations. To develop U.S. evaluations, considerable research is required to clearly define the phenotypes and identify the relevant data types and quality control/assurance measures required to standardize and integrate these data into the existing CDCB national evaluation system.
 
Send questions to Asha Miles, USDA AGIL Research Geneticist and Chair of the CDCB Milking Speed Evaluations Task Force.