KuhVision: More than 1 million genotyped female Holsteins

Calves with KuhVision eartag

Cows with KuhVision eartag

Herd genotyping of female Holsteins in Germany has come to a new milestone: with the weekly publication of the breeding values on August 29th, 2023, the number of genotyped animals exceeded 1,000,000 to 1,000,500 for the first time now!

The possibility to have female animals genotyped has been given since the start of the project “KuhVision” in 2016. Genomic breeding values of female animals have been used until today for both the development of new breeding values (e.g. RZhealth) in the breeding program and for specific mating and selection on each individual farm.

Latest figures:
• more than 1,000,000 genotyped, female Holsteins in Germany
• more than 2,150 dairy farms in Germany using herd genotyping
• more than 400 farms abroad using herd genotyping in the German system
• 23.6% of all (Red) Holstein herd book cows in Germany are housed on farms using herd genotyping

When summing up all female and male animals from Germany and abroad, the “genome data base” of the vit includes DNA information of more than 1.4 million Holsteins to date. Those figures were recently published in a press release of the data center vit in Verden (GER).

Genomic herd management

Why do more and more farms use herd genotyping? Genomic breeding values of the own herd have established to become an essential part of the herd management on many dairy farms. On the one hand, data give an overview of the genetic herd level and show weaknesses. On the other hand, specific selection and mating based on genomic breeding values are the key to maximum breeding progress. With even increasing use of beef breed bulls (Beef-on-Dairy) and sexed Holstein semen, it becomes more important to make the right decisions for young cattle already.

Herd genotyping for your farm – the advantages:

• specific mating and selection decisions
• increase of breeding progress
• pedigree preservation and identification
• improvement of herd health
• decrease of rearing costs
• consideration of genetic traits (e.g. A2A2, PP, genetic defects…)

More information and terms and conditions can be obtained here:
KuhVision/Herd genotyping

A perfect example for specific work with genomic breeding values is the farm Bauern AG Neißetal in Brandenburg (GER). The professionally managed large-scale operation shows an average lactation production of 11,376 kg milk with 811 kg fat and protein and an average lifetime production of 37,125 kg. A total of 850 Holstein cows are strong for production, healthy and have great longevity. All female animals are genomically tested, selected and mated using their breeding values.

The detailed report can be read here:
Bauern AG Neißetal: 850 cows and a lifetime production of more than 37,000 kg