 AIPL EVALUATION REPORT |
Average PTA for recently progeny-tested bulls by country of most daughters (August 2008)P.M. VanRadenAnimal Improvement Programs Laboratory, ARS-USDA, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350 301-504-8334 (voice) ~ 301-504-8092 (fax) ~ rlaipl@aipl.arsusda.gov ~ http://aipl.arsusda.gov |
Ayrshire || Brown Swiss || Guernsey || Holstein || Jersey || Country Codes
Genetic evaluations from the International Bull Evaluation Service (Interbull) increase evaluation accuracy for domestic bulls by including additional foreign data and provide estimates of genetic merit calculated on the U.S. scale for foreign bulls with few or no domestic daughters. Breeding programs of different countries were compared using predicted transmitting ability (PTA) calculated on the U.S. scale, and PTA averages for individual traits and net merit (NM$) for bulls aged 6.5 to 8.5 years (78 to 102 months) with Interbull yield evaluations are reported by breed and country of most daughters.
Not all countries that participate in Interbull provide data for all traits, and some bulls had Interbull yield evaluations without meeting the requirements for other trait evaluations. Therefore, the country of most daughters and the number of bulls for that country were determined separately for yield, SCS, PL, type, and CE. The average number of daughters (Daus) is reported only for yield PTA's. Average PTA's for yield (milk, fat, and protein in pounds), somatic cell score (SCS), type (size, udder, and feet and legs composites), and calving ease (CE) reported as percentage of difficult births in heifers (%DBH) for both sires (SCE) and daughters (DCE) are calculated from Interbull evaluations. Although Interbull currently provides evaluations for direct (single-trait) longevity, the U.S. longevity measure is multitrait productive life (PL) in months, which includes direct longevity and other correlated traits. Bulls included for longevity had Interbull evaluations that were used to determine country of most daughters, but average PTA PL is reported because that is the U.S. trait. The average NM$ values and reliabilities (REL) of NM$ were calculated by USDA's Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory (AIPL) with trait evaluations designated as official in the United States (see "AIPL Changes to Evaluation System – May 2001").
Interbull uses International Organzation for Standardization (ISO) country abbreviations and additional 3-letter codes to identify specific national or multi-national populations. Code definitions are available in an AIPL reference note.