The Norwegian Red breeding goal

Total merit index

• TMI (Total Merit Index) is used to identify the best Norwegian Red bulls to become elite sires for use throughout Norway.

• 14 traits and indexes are grouped into an index called TMI, with production, udder health, udder conformation, and fertility indexes receiving the highest relative weights within the TMI.

• The relative weights in the current TMI give optimal genetic response for all important traits in the Norwegian Red breeding goal.

Trait averages and standard deviations for purebred Norwegian Reds in units converted from breed average of 100 and standard deviation (SD)* of 12.

Milk yield

Protein yield

Fat yield

Protein percent

Fat percent

Stature

Temperament No. of inseminations, heifers

No. of inseminations, cows

Calving to first insemination (CFI)

Calving ease, direct

Clinical mastitis

Somatic cell count (SCC)

Feed$aved™

Body weight

Average milk per lactation for lactations 1-3 (kg)

Average protein per lactation for lactations 1-3 (kg)

Average fat per lactation for lactations 1-3 (kg)

Average % protein per lactation for lactations 1-3 (%)

Average % fat per lactation for lactations 1-3 (%)

Rump height in lactation 1 (cm)

Lact 1 daughters classified with good temperament (%)

Number of inseminations in heifers until pregnant

Number of inseminations in cows until pregnant

Days from calving to first insemination for lact 1-4 (days)

No calving problems when bred to 1st lact heifers (%)

Lact 1-3 daughters not treated for clinical mastitis (%)

SCC for lactation 1-3 daughters (cells/ml) dry matter intake compared to 700 kg cow

*68% of the population is within ±1 SD (±12 points) of the average, 95% within ±2 SD (±24 points) of the average, etc.

E.G. Milk Production: the average kg of milk for lactations 1-3 is 8,144kg (17,955 lbs.). For Milk yield=112 expect +274kg (604 lbs.) for total milk yield of 8,418kg (18,559 lbs.) per lactation.

E.G. Stature: average 1st lactation cows have rump height of 136.8 cm (53.9”). For a bull with Stature=112 expect an average daughter to be 1.13 cm (0.44”) taller. For Stature=88 an average daughter would be 1.13 cm (0.44”) shorter.

E.G. Calving ease: 88.0% of calvings of 1st lactation heifers, attributed to sire of calf, have no difficulty. For a bull with direct calving ease=112 expect 3.5% better or 91.5% of calvings of 1st lactation heifers with no calving difficulty due to sire of calf.

TMI

Udder conformation index20.5% of

• The udder conformation index consists of nine traits viewed from the exterior of the cow. These udder traits are weighted in such a way that a high score for udder index reflects a durable and functional udder.

• Udder conformation traits are scored by breeding advisors using a linear scale. The udder trait definitions are harmonized with definitions for dairy cattle populations in other countries. The udder conformation index consists of:

Daughter fertility index11.4% of TMI

• The Norwegian Red is likely the most fertile breed of dairy cattle in the world due to sustained selection for increased fertility for over 40 years.

• The fertility index was recently improved by replacing non-return rate with number of inseminations. Number of inseminations is biologically very similar to non-return rate, but it has more genetic variation since cows requiring more inseminations are penalized more heavily than cows with just one unsuccessful insemination. The fertility index consists of:

Calving ease index2.9%

of TMI

• The frequency of calving difficulty in the Norwegian Red population is very low compared to other breeds.

Temperament index0.5% of

TMI

• This trait is scored by farmers on first-lactation heifers and is reported to the Norwegian Dairy Herd Recording System. They use a scale of 1 to 3, where 1 is easy, 2 is average and 3 is uneasy.

Production index27% of TMI

• The production index is based on data collected by the Norwegian Dairy Herd Recording System.

The production index consists of:

Trait Relative weight (%)

• Paternal calving ease (calving ease attributed to sire of calf) was recently added to maternal calving ease (how daughters of a bull perform when they calve) to make up the calving ease index.

• Long-term selection for calving ease since 1978 has resulted in a low frequency in calving difficulty even though the two calving ease traits have low heritability.

• Rump angle is an important trait related to calving difficulties. With the move to GS, maternal calving ease has a lower reliability compared to reliability under the progeny test program. The indirect information on rump angle in TMI now adds significantly to the accuracy for selection to improve maternal calving ease.

The calving ease index consists of:

Calving ease, paternal Calving ease, maternal Rump angle

Udder health index13.4% of TMI

• Udder health (mastitis) causes the greatest economic losses of any disease in dairy cattle. The Norwegian Red now has a low frequency of clinical mastitis (CM) due in part to genetic progress in resistance to mastitis.

• SCC is the 305-day lactation geometric mean of SCC.

• Somatic cell count (SCC) and CM are highly correlated genetically, meaning that selection for SCC (the trait with higher heritability) will result in indirect selection for CM (each are influenced by some of the same genes). A low incidence of clinical mastitis makes it important to include SCC from an economic standpoint and, also, for indirect selection to continue to improve clinical mastitis resistance.

The udder health index consists of:

Trait Relative weight (%)

• Breeding advisors record foot and leg conformation traits together with other conformation traits. These are rear legs rear view, foot angle and rear legs side view.

The foot & leg conformation index consists of: