ICC$™ Index for Holstein Flexes to Meet Producers' Needs

By Leah James, Dairy Marketing Manager

Balanced production. Healthy cows that stay out of the sick pen. Cows that breed back quickly, and cows that are the right size for facilities. This is what GENEX members and customers asked for, and this is what GENEX strives to provide.

Feedback from members and customers formed the foundation of the Ideal Commercial Cow™ (ICC$™) index. Originally launched in August 2014, the ICC$™ index has been proven the go-to index for creating problem-free, high-profit animals for commercial operations. It’s comprised of five easy-to-use sub-indexes driven by science-based data and directly tied to dairy economics.

“The ICC$™ index is probably the largest step forward we have seen in meeting the needs of commercial producers,” comments Don Bennink of North Florida Holsteins. “The index really looks at the characteristics commercial producers – those making a living from their dairy herd – need from their cattle for maximum profit.”

Index Updates

With the December 2018 proofs, the ICC$™ index for Holsteins was updated to meet producers’ needs. Changes included a renewed focus on healthy cows through the transition period, a re-balancing of Fat and Protein weightings, and an updated focus on fertility and functional commercial conformation.

The sub-index weightings shifted slightly with the Production Efficiency (PREF$) sub-index now at 47% (previously 46%) and the Fertility & Fitness (FYFT$) sub-index now at 14% (previously at 15%).

Down to the Details

One benefit of the ICC$™ index is its ability to flex to meet the evolving needs of commercial dairies. Based on current milk markets and customer feedback, the PREF$ sub-index underwent a significant shift in weightings, namely increasing the importance of Fat. Fat is now weighted at 29% (an increase of 10%) and Protein at 26%.

The other big change was to the HLTH$ sub-index where a Transition Health component was added, emphasizing the importance of breeding healthy cows. Transition Health encompasses four critically important health traits: Metritis, Ketosis, Displaced Abomasum and Retained Placenta. These four traits come from the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB) and are proven to be economically important to a dairy operation. Livability, also from CDCB, was added to the HLTH$ sub-index too.

Rounding out the changes are slight re-weights within the FYFT$ sub-index and a refocusing on functional udder traits within the MABL$ sub-index. The Calving Ability (CABL$) sub-index did not change.

The updates made to this proprietary index are an exciting reflection of its ability to evolve to meet producers’ ever-changing genetic needs. This commercially driven index and economically driven sub-indexes are the ideal combination for any operation.