Dairy Futures CRC and CRV join forces in genomics

The co-operation involves the sharing of the New Zealand and Australian Holstein and Jersey reference populations that both CRV and Dairy Futures CRC are using. On top of that the project aims to genotype a further 30,000 cows from Australia as well as from New Zealand. This joint enlargement of the reference population will improve the accuracy of genomic predictions for many traits within the main production systems in each country. New technologies will be developed in order to obtain and use full DNA sequence information as effectively and efficiently as possible in the estimation of genomic breeding values.

Stimulate data collection
The continual addition of genomic information and high quality herd recording data is vital to ensure the industry sustains improvements from genomic selection into the future. Therefore the new project will develop technology to reduce the price barrier for dairy farmers to test their cows. Part of this will be the development of an advanced low cost genomic test for cows, which will make it possible to screen commercial cows and add their information to the reference population. This will help to ensure the ongoing testing of large numbers of cow genotypes and phenotypes.
Announcing the agreement with CRV, Dairy Futures CRC’s CEO, Dr David Nation said: ‘Both of us are facing common challenges which are increasingly complex. By pooling our resources we will be able to deliver even better genomic breeding values to address these challenges. Beneficial outcomes from this research, and previous genotyping projects by the CRC, will continue to flow to the local industry through the Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme (ADHIS)’, he said.

‘Genomics has steadily led breeding companies into a new era in cattle breeding and this collaboration is a significant step forward in improving the value of this science,’ CRV Oceania’s Managing Director, Mr Angus Haslett, said. ‘CRV are delighted to be collaborating to this extent with Dairy Futures CRC and looking forward to delivering significant benefits to the dairy industry’.