Relationship between intramammary infection prevalence and somatic cell score in commercial dairy herds.

We examined consistency of the relationship between intramammary infection (IMI) and somatic cell score (SCS) across several classes of cow, herd, and sampling time variables. Microbial cultures of composite milk samples were performed by New York Quality Milk Production Services from 1992 to 2004. SCS was from the most recent Dairy Herd Improvement test before IMI sampling. Records were analyzed from 79,308 cows in 1,124 commercial dairy herds representing a broad range of production systems. Three binary dependent variables were presence or absence of contagious IMI, environmental IMI, and all IMI. Independent variables in the initial models were SCS, SCS2, lactation number, days in milk, sample day milk yield, use of coliform mastitis vaccine, participant type (required by regulation or voluntary), production system (type of housing, milking system, and herd size), season of sampling, year of sampling, and herd; also the initial models included interactions of SCS and SCS2 with other independent variables, except herd and milk yield. Interaction terms characterize differences in the IMI-SCS relationship across classes of the independent variables. Models were derived using the Glimmix macro in SAS (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) with a logistic link function and employing backward elimination. The final model for each dependent variable included all significant independent variables and interactions. Simplified models omitted SCS2 and all interactions with SCS. Interactions of SCS with days in milk, use of coliform mastitis vaccine, participant type, season, and year were not significant in any of the models. Interaction of SCS with production system was significant for the all IMI model, whereas interaction of SCS with lactation number was significant for the environmental and all IMI models. Each 1-point increase in SCS (or doubling of somatic cell count) was associated with a 2.3, 5.5, and 9.1% increase in prevalence of contagious, environmental, and all IMI, respectively. Empirical receiver operator characteristic curves and areas under the curve were derived for final and simplified models. The areas under the curve for simplified and final models within each type of IMI differed by 0.009 or less. We concluded that the relationship of IMI with SCS was generally stable over time and consistent across seasons, production systems, and cow factors.

Short communication: Heritability estimates for susceptibility to Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis infection defined by ELISA and fecal culture test results in Jersey cattle.

Paratuberculosis (Johne's disease), an enteric disorder in ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis, causes economic losses in excess of $200 million annually to the US dairy industry. Costly diagnostic testing, cumbersome control programs, incurability, and ineffective vaccination all make M. avium ssp. paratuberculosis susceptibility a good candidate for genetic studies and genetic selection a potentially useful adjunct to management-based control programs. No report has been published for heritability of susceptibility to M. avium ssp. paratuberculosis infection in Jersey cattle. The objective of this study was to estimate variance components and heritability for susceptibility to M. avium ssp. paratuberculosis infection in US Jersey cattle. Data consisted of complete serum ELISA and partial fecal culture results on a total of 2,861 Jersey cows from 23 commercial herds throughout the United States after editing. Four M. avium ssp. paratuberculosis susceptibility phenotypes were defined using (1) ELISA sample-to-positive ratios as a continuous trait, (2) ELISA results as a binary trait (positive=1, negative=0), (3) ELISA results as an ordered categorical trait, and (4) a combined test in which ELISA and fecal culture results were both taken into account in a binary analysis. Three statistical models, including linear, binary threshold, and ordered threshold sire models, were used to analyze the data. All analyses were executed using the restricted maximum likelihood method in ASReml 3 software. The heritability estimates were low to moderate and ranged from 0.08 (±0.03) to 0.27 (±0.11) based on different trait definitions. The nonzero heritability indicates that susceptibility to M. avium ssp. paratuberculosis infection in Jersey cattle is influenced by genetic factors. Therefore, selection of the least susceptible animals could decrease genetic predisposition to M. avium ssp. paratuberculosis infection in Jersey populations in future generations.

Evidence of birth seasonality and clustering of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis infection in US dairy herds.

Paratuberculosis (Johne's disease) is a contagious intestinal infection of ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). In cattle, young calves are at the highest risk for acquiring the infection which occurs mainly through ingestion of MAP from contaminated milk, colostrum and feces or environmental contacts. Data consisted of birth dates and ELISA results of 8000 mature cows from 24 Jersey herds from throughout the US and 4 Wisconsin Holstein herds. Some herds also had complete fecal culture (FC) results. The first infection (case) definition (CD1) relied on only ELISA results. A second case definition (CD2) was used in which results of both ELISA and FC tests were considered: animals testing positive to either test were considered "test-positives" and cows testing negative to ELISA or to both ELISA and FC were regarded as "test-negatives". Objective one was to assess seasonality in birth of MAP-infected animals. The effects of age, breed, herd and season of birth (expressed as the sine and cosine functions of birth days within year) were examined using logistic regression. Age was significantly associated with the MAP infection status of dairy cows for both CDs (OR=1.11; 95% CI 1.09, 1.14; P<0.0001 for CD1; OR=1.16; 95% CI 1.08, 1.24; P<0.0001 for CD2). Season of birth had a significant effect on the risk of MAP infection based on CD1 (OR=0.79; 95% CI 0.71, 0.89; P<0.001 for cosine of birth days) with a peak in summer and a trough in winter based on the fitted model. Objective two was to assess whether test-positive animals were randomly distributed or were clustered by date of birth within herds. A temporal cluster analysis approach (scan statistic) implemented in SaTScan software was used for each case definition to detect clusters of birth cohorts using birthdates. Results identified significant clustering of MAP infection cases for CD1 in multiple herds (P<0.05). These results necessitate matching cases and controls of MAP infection on their birth dates to control for non-uniform exposure to MAP in paratuberculosis case-control genome wide association studies, candidate gene studies or in on-farm disease intervention trials.

Genetic parameters for paratuberculosis infection and effect of infection on production traits in Israeli Holsteins.

Paratuberculosis (Johne's disease) is an infectious enteric disease in dairy cattle and other species that causes substantial economic loss worldwide. In this study, two recursive Gaussian-threshold models were employed in order to infer the effects of Johne's disease on milk yield, fat yield, and protein yield while simultaneously estimating genetic parameters (i.e. heritability and genetic correlation) in an Israeli Holstein population. Disease diagnosis was based on ELISA serum antibody tests. Data were available for 4694 daughters of 361 sires; 3.5% were positive; and 1.6% were suspect for the disease test. Disease status was coded either as a binary character (negative vs. positive) or as an ordered categorical trait (negative, suspect, and positive) in the two recursive models and as a binary trait in a linear model. Among sires with ≥ 50 daughters, predicted probability of Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) infection in future daughters ranged from <1% to 16.5%. Heritability estimates for Johne's disease were near 0.15, confirming a genetic contribution to disease susceptibility. Genetic correlation estimates for Johne's disease with the three yield traits were 0.15-0.22. Residual correlations for Johne's disease with the yield traits were between -0.01 and -0.10. For the linear regression model, yield losses associated with a positive disease diagnosis during 305 days of lactation were 300 kg milk and around 10 kg for fat and protein. Yield loss estimates from the recursive models were 25-50% less than linear model estimates. Recursive modeling has theoretical advantages over linear models for these phenotypes, but the estimated genetic parameters in this study did not differ significantly between the two types of models.

Whole-Genome association analysis of susceptibility to paratuberculosis in Holstein cattle.

The objective of this study was to identify genetic markers and genomic regions associated with susceptibility to Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) infection in Holstein cattle. Associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified by genotyping 521 MAP-infected Holstein cows and comparing SNP allele frequencies of these infected cows with allele frequencies estimated from specific reference populations. Reference population allele frequency estimates used Holstein sire genotype data and were weighted estimates based on sire usage within the population in question. The 521 infected cows were 233 and 288 cows from two resource populations of approximately 5000 cows each, collected independently. Population 1 was comprised primarily of daughters of twelve Holstein artificial insemination sires used heavily within the US dairy cattle population. Samples were obtained from 300 co-operating commercial dairy herds throughout the US and were tested by both MAP faecal culture and blood-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Population 2 consisted of dairy cattle from six co-operating dairy herds in Wisconsin, with all animals in the herds tested by blood enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for MAP infection. Genotyping was performed with the Illumina Bovine SNP50 Bead Chip, providing genotypes for 35,772 informative SNPs. Data from the two resource populations were analysed both in separate and combined analyses. The most significant autosomal markers from the individual and combined analyses (n=197, nominal P<0.001) were used in a stepwise logistic regression analysis to identify a set of 51 SNPs that could be used as a predictor of genetics for Holstein cattle susceptibility to MAP infection.

Genetic parameters for anovulation and pregnancy loss in dairy cattle.

The objectives were to estimate heritabilities and genetic variances for anovulation at ~50 d in milk and pregnancy loss occurring between first and second pregnancy diagnoses after artificial insemination. Data were originally collected for trials on reproductive management. Anovulation data consisted of 5,818 records from 13 studies in 8 herds with an overall prevalence of 23.3%. A Bayesian approach using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods was used in mixed threshold models for both traits. The statistical model for anovulation included fixed effects [parity, herd-study-treatment, and body condition score (BCS)], covariates (inbreeding and milk yield), and random effects (sire and residual). A second statistical model included all terms in the first model except BCS. In addition, 2 bivariate, mixed sire models were used to analyze anovulation with BCS and anovulation with milk yield. The posterior mean heritability estimate for anovulation was 0.171 [posterior standard deviation (PSD) = 0.052]. Correlations of anovulation with milk yield were as follows: genetic = 0.168, PSD = 0.187; residual = -0.046, PSD = 0.022; and phenotypic = -0.036. Bivariate analysis of BCS with anovulation showed a genetic correlation (-0.301, PSD = 0.177) and phenotypic correlation (-0.192, PSD = 0.019). Pregnancy-loss data consisted of 3,775 records from 14 studies in 8 herds with an overall prevalence of 14.4%. Analysis of pregnancy loss used a sire-maternal grandsire threshold model with embryo survival as the subject of analysis. Independent variables consisted of fixed effects (parity and herd-study), covariates (embryo and maternal inbreeding), and random effects (sire of embryo, maternal grandsire of embryo, and residual). In addition, separate sire models were analyzed using embryo as the subject and cow as the subject of analysis. The sire-maternal grandsire model yielded a heritability for direct effect of 0.489 (PSD = 0.221) and for maternal effects of 0.166 (PSD = 0.113). In this study, the breeding value variance for embryo effects was 3 times the breeding value variance for maternal effects, indicating that, at the level of breeding values, the embryo's ability to survive has a greater effect on pregnancy loss than does the cow's ability to maintain the pregnancy. These results suggest that genetic improvement of reproductive performance could be enhanced by selection for fundamental measures such as abnormally long periods of postpartum anovulation and pregnancy loss. Larger studies of these traits are needed to obtain parameter estimates with greater precision.

Identification of a QTL on BTA20 affecting susceptibility to Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis infection in US Holsteins.

The objective of this study was to identify QTL affecting susceptibility to Mycobacterium paratuberculosis infection in US Holsteins. Twelve paternal half-sib families were selected for the study based on large numbers of daughters in production and limited relationships among sires. Serum and faecal samples from 4350 daughters of these 12 sires were obtained for disease testing. Case definition for an infected cow was an ELISA sample-to-positive ratio >/=0.25, a positive faecal culture or both. Three families were selected for genotyping based on a high apparent prevalence (6.8-10.4% infected cows), high faecal culture prevalence (46.2-52.9% positive faecal cultures) and large numbers of daughters tested for disease (264-585). DNA pooling was used to genotype cows, with an average of 159 microsatellites within each sire family. Infected cows (the positive pool) were matched with two of their non-infected herdmates in the same lactation (the negative pool) to control for herd and age effects. Eight chromosomal regions putatively linked with susceptibility to M. paratuberculosis infection were identified using a Z-test (P < 0.01). Significant results were more rigorously tested by individually genotyping cows with three to five informative microsatellites within 15 cM of the significant markers identified with the DNA pools. Probability of infection based on both diagnostic tests was estimated for each individual and used as the dependent variable for interval mapping. Based on this analysis, evidence for the presence of a QTL segregating within families on BTA20 was found (chromosome-wide P-value = 0.0319).

Effect of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis infection on production, reproduction, and health traits in US Holsteins.

Our objective was to estimate the effect of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis infection on milk, fat, and protein yield deviations, pregnancy rate, lactation somatic cell score, and projected total months in milk (productive life). A serum ELISA and fecal culture for M. paratuberculosis were performed on 4375 Holsteins in 232 DHIA herds throughout the US. Primarily first through third lactation cows (99% of total) were assayed for infection. Trait information (except productive life) was obtained for the lactation concurrent with disease tests. Productive life was total months in milk through a cow's life, which was projected if a cow was still milking. For most analyses, case definition for M. paratuberculosis infection was defined as either an ELISA S/P ratio>or=0.25 or a positive fecal culture for M. paratuberculosis or both. To determine if diagnostic test affected estimates, case definition was redefined to include only cows with ELISA S/P ratios>or=0.25 or only fecal culture-positive cows. Linear models were used to estimate effect of M. paratuberculosis infection on traits. M. paratuberculosis-infected cows (7.89% of cows) produced 303.9 kg less milk/lactation, 11.46 kg less fat/lactation, and 9.49 kg less protein/lactation (P

Effects of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) gene on milk production traits in Holstein dairy cattle.

A functional candidate gene approach was used to search for genes affecting milk production traits in Holstein dairy cattle. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) was chosen because of its involvement in the development of the mammary gland. Using the pooled genomic DNA sequencing approach, we identified a single nucleotide polymorphism. Genomic DNA was extracted from 1,292 sons obtained from the Cooperative Dairy DNA Repository and from 715 blood samples of daughters of 12 bulls obtained from the University of Wisconsin resource population. Daughter yield deviation data for the sons and yield deviation for the daughters were obtained for milk production traits from the USDA Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory. For the Repository population, allele C was associated with significant increases in milk fat and protein percentages. For the University of Wisconsin population, genotypes CC and CT were associated with significant increases in milk, fat, and protein yields. Results from this study are consistent with previous studies on the role of STAT1 in regulating the transcription of genes involved in milk protein synthesis and fat metabolism.

Genetic variation of Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis infection in US Holsteins.

The objective of this study was to estimate genetic variability of Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis infection in US Holsteins. Blood and fecal samples were collected primarily from daughters of 12 bulls in their second or third lactation. Routine disease testing of the sires documented that they were not infected. Herds without a "suspect" or positive ELISA (sample/positive ratio > or = 0.10) or positive fecal culture test were deleted from the data set. The remaining 4,603 cows from 238 herds and 46 sires were used to estimate heritability of M. paratuberculosis infection. Heritability was estimated with 3 Johne's disease diagnostic tests: 1) fecal culture alone, 2) serum antibody ELISA alone, and 3) both tests (combined) with a positive animal defined as all animals with either a positive fecal culture or ELISA test. Four statistical models were used to estimate heritability: 1) linear (ELISA), 2) threshold (fecal culture and combined), 3) ordered threshold (ELISA), and 4) bivariate linear-threshold (ELISA-fecal culture). A sire model and Bayesian approach using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods were used in each case. Heritability of infection based on the fecal culture test was 0.153 [posterior standard deviation (PSD) = 0.115]. Heritability with the ELISA was 0.159 (PSD = 0.090) with a linear model and 0.091 (PSD = 0.053) with an ordered threshold model. Heritability of the combined tests was 0.102 (PSD = 0.066). Heritability estimates of fecal culture and ELISA with the bivariate model varied slightly from estimates obtained with the univariate models (0.125 and 0.183, respectively), with a corresponding increase in precision (PSD = 0.096 and 0.082, respectively). This study demonstrates that exploitable genetic variation exists in dairy cattle for M. paratuberculosis infection susceptibility.

Major advances in determining appropriate selection goals.

Substantial increases of 3,500 kg of milk, 130 kg of fat, and 100 kg of protein per cow per lactation have resulted from improvements in genetics, nutrition, and management during the past 20 yr. At the same time, the interval from calving to conception increased (unfavorable) by 24 d. Genetics has accounted for about 55% of gains in the yield traits and about one-third of the change in interval to conception. Genetic gains in the yield traits and productive life have accumulated to around 1.7 and 1.2 genetic standard deviations since 1980. Unfavorable genetic changes in conception interval since 1980 and somatic cell score since 1990 have accumulated to 1.0 and 0.12 genetic standard deviations. The most important advance in selection indexes has been the introduction of nonyield traits. Advances in selection indexes have gone hand in hand with advances in data collection and genetic evaluation. As new traits were recorded in dairy management databases and as genetic evaluations were developed for these traits, they were incorporated into selection indexes. Until 1994, when somatic cell score and productive life were introduced, selection indexes provided by USDA included only yield traits. In 2000, composite type indexes for udder, feet and legs, and body size were added. Daughter pregnancy rate and service sire- and daughter-calving ease were included in 2003. The lifetime merit indexes introduced in 2003 have, for the first time, resulted in theoretical selection responses in the desired direction for all traits. During this time, the percentage relative economic weights in selection indexes increased from 0 to 45% for the nonyield traits. Selection emphasis on nonyield traits should continue to increase as additional traits (e.g., calf survival, metabolic disease, and male fertility) are introduced in the future. Wide variation exists among countries in traits included in selection indexes and in relative economic weights. Molecular genetic studies have identified many chromosome regions with potentially important major genes for economic traits. Use of DNA markers for genetic improvement is currently limited by lack of precision in marker location. Discovery of major genes will be accelerated by the availability of the bovine genome sequence, comparative genome maps and genome sequences across species, and increased use of breed crosses in molecular studies. As major genes are identified, their effects will be incorporated into genetic evaluations and selection indexes.

The effect of synchronization on genetic parameters of reproductive traits in dairy cattle.

Genetic evaluation and selection is one strategy for improving female reproductive performance. Many producers use synchronization of ovulation or estrus to manage reproduction. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of reproductive synchronization on genetic parameter estimates of days to first breeding (DFB), days open (DO), and pregnancy rate at 120 d postpartum (PR120). Data were collected from 64 producers participating in an artificial insemination progeny testing program and using Dairy Comp 305 herd management software to record reproductive treatments and events. Data included 18,359 records for DFB and 16,379 records for DO and PR120. Synchronization was classified by breeding codes at time of insemination. The traits DFB and DO were analyzed using a linear model with age at calving, herd-year-season, and parity as fixed effects and sire and residual as random effects. For PR120, a threshold sire model was used with fixed effects as in the DFB and DO models. Three models were applied to the complete data sets of all traits; a base model with no synchronization effect, an expanded model with a fixed synchronization effect, and an interaction model with a random sire by herd management interaction. Herd management categories were based on an individual herd's use of synchronization protocols. Also, data subsets were analyzed separately based on cow synchronization treatment and herd management categories. Synchronized records for DFB had on average 40% higher sire variance and 60% lower residual variance than nonsynchronized records. Heritability for DFB ranged from 0.01 to 0.09. Sire variance was 40% lower for DO and 25% lower for PR120 in first synchronized records than either later-synchronized or nonsynchronized records. Residual variances for DO varied by 3% among cow treatment categories and 14% for herd management categories. Heritabilities ranged from 0.03 to 0.07 for DO and 0.10 to 0.26 for PR120. Including a fixed effect for synchronization in the DO model reduced sire variance by 33% and residual variance by 10%. Sire by herd management interactions were less than 2% of the total variance for all traits. Accounting for synchronization, especially for DFB, may improve accuracy of genetic parameter estimates and animal evaluations.

Assessment of the impact of somatic cell count on functional longevity in Holstein and Jersey cattle using survival analysis methodology.

Survival analysis in a Weibull proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the impact of somatic cell count (SCC) on the involuntary culling rate of US Holstein and Jersey cows with first calvings from 1990 to 2000. The full data set, consisting of records from 978,043 Holstein and 250,835 Jersey cows, was divided into subsets (5 for Holsteins and 3 for Jerseys) based on herd average lactation SCC values. Functional longevity (also known as herd life or length of productive life) was defined as days from first calving until culling or censoring, after correcting for milk production. Our model included the time-dependent effects of herd-year-season, parity by stage of lactation interaction, within-herd-year quintile ranking for mature equivalent production, and lactation average SCC (rounded to the nearest 50,000 cells/mL), as well as the time-independent effect of age at first calving. Parameters of the Weibull distribution, as well as variance components for herd-year-season effects, were estimated within each group of herds. Mean failure and censoring times decreased as herd average SCC increased, and a nonlinear relationship was observed between SCC and longevity in all groups. The risk of culling for Holstein cows with lactation average SCC > 700,000 cells/mL was 3.4, 2.7, or 2.3 times greater, respectively, than that of Holstein cows with SCC of 200,000 to 250,000 cells/mL in herds with low, medium, or high average SCC. Likewise, the risk of culling for Jersey cows with lactation average SCC > 700,000 cells/mL was 4.0, 2.9, or 2.2 times greater, respectively, than that of Jersey cows with SCC of 200,000 to 250,000 cells/mL in low, medium, or high SCC herds. These trends may reflect more stringent culling of high SCC cows in herds with few mastitis problems. In addition, cows with lactation average SCC <100,000 cells/mL had a slightly higher risk of culling than cows with SCC of 100,000 to 200,000 cells/mL in both breeds, particularly in herds with high average SCC, where exposure to mastitis pathogens was likely.

Identification of an ovulation rate QTL in cattle on BTA14 using selective DNA pooling and interval mapping.

Increased twinning incidence in beef cattle has the potential to improve production efficiency. However, phenotypic selection for twinning rate is difficult because of the trait's low heritability and the long time interval necessary to collect phenotypic records. Therefore, this trait and the correlated trait of ovulation rate are ideal candidates for marker-assisted selection. The objective of this study was to complete a genome-wide search for ovulation rate quantitative trait loci (QTL) in two related sire families. The families (paternal halfsib sires 839802 and 839803) were from a population of cattle selected for ovulation rate at the USDA Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, Nebraska. Putative ovulation rate QTL have previously been identified in the 839802 family on chromosomes 7 and 19; however, marker coverage in the original scan was not complete. This study fills the gaps in marker coverage of the earlier study by adding approximately 60 informative microsatellites to each sire family. Each family was genotyped using selective DNA pooling. Sons and daughters were included in either the high or low pool based on their estimated breeding value deviations from the mid-parent average (EBVMD) for ovulation rate. Approximately 40% (839802) and 26% (839803) of available progeny comprised the high and low pools combined. Pooled typing revealed possible associations (nominal P < 0.05) between ovulation rate and marker genotype for 11 and 15 microsatellites in the 839802 and 839803 families, respectively. Subsequent interval mapping strengthened support for the presence of an ovulation rate QTL on BTA14 (chromosome-wise P < 0.02).

Bayesian analysis via Gibbs sampling of susceptibility to intramammary infection in Holstein cattle.

A Bayesian analysis was undertaken to assess the susceptibility of Holsteins to mastitis from 120 to 305 d in milk. Data included 595 lactations from 267 cows. The response variable was presence or absence of intramammary infection; explanatory variables were period and season of calving, somatic cell score, and cow. The logistic model adopted had period and season of calving and the regression on somatic cell score with vague prior distributions, and cow effects had a normal prior with unknown variance sigma u2, which, in turn, had a gamma prior. Implementation was by Gibbs sampling. Posterior densities of location parameters were unimodal and symmetric. The probability of intramammary infection of a sample cow was skewed. The posterior distribution of sigma u2 was skewed also. Gibbs samples of sigma u2 had high lag correlations, which gave an effective sample ranging between 47 and 117 from a chain of size 3000. There were differences between estimates of sigma u2 found using Gibbs sampling and those obtained using approximations. The low information content arising from the small size of the data and the binary nature of the response are reasons for such differences. A sensitivity analysis revealed influences of hyperparameters of the prior distribution of sigma u2 on inferences about this parameter.

Factors affecting susceptibility to intramammary infection and mastitis: an approximate Bayesian analysis.

Susceptibility to IMI and to mastitis in Holstein cows was studied using logistic mixed effects models and an approximate Bayesian analysis. Dichotomous response variables were the presence or absence of IMI, caused by any microorganism. IMI caused by Staphylococcus spp. or Corynebacterium spp., and clinical mastitis caused by any microorganism at specific lactation stages. Data included 619 lactation records from 282 cows. Fixed explanatory variables in the model were period, season and age at calving, lactation number, log-transformed SCC, and a joint effect of age and log SCC. Because random cow effects were assumed to be normally distributed and to have an unknown variance, this parameter was estimated by approximate marginal maximum likelihood. Results from the Bayesian analysis were contrasted with maximum likelihood estimates obtained from a fixed effects logistic model that ignored cow effects. Posterior mode and maximum likelihood estimates of location parameters were similar, although standard errors of the maximum likelihood estimates understated uncertainty. The IMI status during a previous lactation was a poor predictor of IMI status in subsequent lactations, and susceptibility increased as SCC increased. Interlactation (logit scale) repeatability estimates of susceptibility ranged from 0.22 to 0.23. A Taylor series expansion was used to approximate correlations between lactations on a binary scale. These correlations depended on associated fixed effects and ranged between 0.12 and 0.18, which were lower than correlations using the logit scale.

Effects of age on milk yield: time trends and method of adjustment.

Multiplicative adjustment factors for age that were used in the US from 1974 through 1994 were developed from performance records of the 1960s. Rapid genetic improvement and improved management may have altered the relationship between lactation yield and calving age. The purpose of this study was 1) to examine changes in age effects on lactation milk yield over time; 2) to compare multiplicative, additive, or a combined method to adjust records for calving age; and 3) to examine effect of adjustment method on estimates of genetic trend. Data were complete lactation records (n = 765,413) of 383,011 Holsteins from Wisconsin DHI. An animal model was used with fixed effects for herd-year and month of calving by period by age-lactation class and with random effects for EBV, permanent environment, and error. Correction factors were applied additively, multiplicatively, and in combinations. The combination of additive and multiplicative adjustments that minimized heterogeneity of standard deviations within age class was considered to be optimal. The increase in yield that was associated with advancing age and lactation number was greater during recent years than during earlier years. Heterogeneity of standard deviations within age class was nearly minimum with additive adjustment for lactations 1 to 3. For lactations 4 and 5, heterogeneity was not sensitive to method of adjustment; however, multiplicative adjustment was near the optimum. The genetic trend from records with multiplicative adjustment was substantially greater than additive and optimal adjustments, especially during recent years.

Nutrient requirements and feed costs associated with genetic improvement in production of milk components.

Dietary requirements for NEL and absorbed true protein were summarized for marginal production of milk components because of genetic improvement through selection. Shelled corn and soybean meal were used to meet marginal nutrient requirements and were assigned variable concentrations of absorbed true protein, depending on rumen-available energy and protein. Mean ratios among national averages for shelled corn to milk prices and soybean meal to milk prices (DM: standardized milk, dollars per kilogram) over a recent 25-yr period were .52 and 1.20, respectively. Stability of these relationships over time permits estimation of feed costs from milk price as prices inflate. Feed costs per kilogram of component, expressed as kilograms of standardized milk with equivalent value, were 1.00 for lactose, 1.89 for fat, and 3.49 for protein. Costs of milk protein were higher if production of absorbed true protein was limited by rumen-available energy, suggesting that selection for fat or lactose, in addition to protein, may be beneficial. High feed costs for milk protein indicate a need for adequate compensation to producers for milk protein and consideration of feed costs during selection. A net value index is proposed that considers feed costs associated with marginal production of individual milk components.

Selection on somatic cell score to improve resistance to mastitis in the United States.

Increased genetic susceptibility to mastitis has accompanied the rapid genetic increase in milk yield, and genetic selection for mastitis resistance should be considered. Somatic cell score is recommended as an indicator trait to achieve genetic improvement for mastitis resistance. Heritability of somatic cell score is around 10%, and genetic correlation between somatic cell score and clinical mastitis is around .6 to .8. Selection for lower somatic cell score is consistent with the goal of maximizing genetic improvement for total economic merit and should be included in breeding programs. National genetic evaluations for somatic cells scores will use the same animal models and methods as are currently used for milk yield traits. Reliabilities of PTA for somatic cell scores will be smaller than for yield traits because of lower heritability and availability of records from fewer cows. Several forms are proposed for reporting genetic evaluations of somatic cells to producers, and advantages and disadvantages are discussed. Using somatic cell scores for breeding decisions would marginally decrease genetic gain for milk yield and increase total economic merit. Optimal selection indexes would slow the rate of increase in mastitis, rather than decrease its incidence.

Genetic improvement of mastitis through selection on somatic cell count.

Heredity influences both clinical mastitis and somatic cell score. Intramammary infection is the major cause of elevated somatic cell score. A nationwide program of genetic evaluation of dairy cattle for somatic cell score is being developed. Proper selection of artificial insemination sires, considering their genetic merit for both milk production and somatic cell score, will reduce the genetic increase in mastitis susceptibility that accompanies selection for high production.