Our innovations

In December 2019, EVOLUTION genetics efficiency gets stronger with the arrival of 4 innovations.
These 4 innovations are part of a movement towards precision genetics: a genetic that improves the efficiency of your breeding, by an ever more precise adaptation to your system.

 


Genosanté

GENOSANTE aims at improving productive health in breeding, thanks to genomic selection and advices. This program, led by French Breeding partners, produces health proofs with the same proof process than public values, but together with a Scientific cohort for a more scientif reliability.

French breeding Partners :

  • Breeding program compagnies
  • Milk record compagnies
  • Milk industry

Scientific cohort :

  • French scientific organizations

 

What are the genosanté proofs ?
  •   2016 : first result: KETOSIS
  •   2017 : second result: HOOF HEALTH in Holstein and Pie Rouge breed
  •   2019 : Hoof health available in Normande breed
Why select on ketosis ?

Because this trait is heritable! Livestock farmers who factor the Ketosis index into their female selection and mating programs will quickly cut down the number of ketotic cows in their herd.
Targeted selection geared for direct pay-off in farm revenues:

  • Right from the first generation: 21% reduction in Ketosis cases, i.e. 1 200 € in per year savings for a french herd of 100 dairy cows (or 12 € savings per ketotic cow).
  • Right from the second generation: 36% improvement in health, i.e. a cumulated 2 100 € in savings for a french herd of 100 dairy cows (or 21 €/dairy cows).
Health hoofs, 2 proofs :
RLI (Infectious Lesions Resistance)
= 50% Digital Dermatitis
+ 25% Interdigital Hyperplasia
+ 25% Heel horn erosion
RLNI (Non-Infectious Lesions Resistance)
= 40% White Line
+ 40% Sole Ulcer
+ 10% Sole Hemorrhage Circumscribed Form
+ 10% Sole haemorrhage Diffused Form
Economical effect working with genosante hoof health

100% bulls processing with Hoof Health evaluation: global impact :

  • Average consequences of hoof health troubles : 5 775€/100 cows/year
  • First generation: 10% less of lesions = +5,8€/cow/year
  • Second generation: 20% less lesions = 11,5 €/cow/year
Hoof Health is now available in Normande breed

Lameness is the second pathology of dairy cows after clinical mastitis. 11% of cows have clinical lameness and 2 to 3 time more subclinical lameness.
Direct Consequences:

  • Limits movements Ingestion, rumination and therefore production decrease and effects on feed disorder 
  • Degraded cyclicity and heat expression with 35% more failures at AI
  • Weight and body condition losses (Huxley, 2013)
  • Culling are 8.4 times higher in cows with clinical lameness (Sprecher et al., 1997)
  • Animal welfare 

Economic impact: 265 € per cow with clinical lameness and 130€ per cow with subclinical lameness.
I.e 5,830€ per year for an average herd of 100 dairy cows

Génosanté hoof health indicator

Genosanté is the most robust information for the Normande breed.

  • The largest reference population
  • The same scientific methodology as all official proofs
  • 2 indicators for a more reliable selection effect
    • RLI : (Resistance to Infectious Lesions) : Dermatitis and Interdigital Hyperplasia synthesis
    • RLNI : (Resistance to Non-Infectious Lesions) : White Line, Sole Ulcer and Sole Hemorrhage Circumscribed synthesis
2 benefits for the breeder :
  1. For females: get 2 indicators to limit the incidence of lameness
  2. For bulls: identify the most favourable (especially among the proven ones/more precise)

Here download the hoof health product sheet :


Gestation Length (GL)

The gestation length plays a role in the productive life of dairy cows on 3 aspects:

  • The productive days rate : a dry cow consumes 1.3€ per day and 1 housing place.
  • Reproduction with calving-calving interval : 1 additional day of CCI (calving-calving interval) costs 2€/ dairy cow / day.
  • Calving control and comfort: a difficult calving costs 300€.
What is the gestation length proof?

It’s calculated by EVOLUTION’s Research & Development team, following the G-BLUP international indexing methodology, from 476 369 genotyped individuals of which 347 091 with direct performances.

4 benefits for the breeder :
  1. Economy in feed costs of 2.6€/ dairy cow ie 260€/ year
  2. 2 days improvement in the calving-calving interval for 2€/ dairy cow ie 400€/year
  3. In a strict grouped calvings system, 2 cows not culled and 2 less heifers to raise represent 2 x 300€ less additional cost ie 600€/ year or 6€ / dairy cow / year
  4. Calving better controlled during the birth period and better calving ease, facilitating daily work with time savings

Here download the gestation length product sheet :


Homogeneity of Descendants (HD+)

When mating a female, one of the main objectives is to obtain a significantly improved progeny on one or more criteria.
The choice of the bull aims to have a strong impact on this criteria. 50% of the sire’s genes are transmitted, adding to the 50% of the dam’s inheritance
The genetic value of the offspring fluctuates around the average of the sire and the dam
The challenge of homogeneity of descendants is to be able to obtain a higher and more homogeneous level on a strategic criteria.

What is HD+?

HD+ is the bull capacity to transmit a quality more regularly to his offspring. This is observed on a specific criteria.
Method: the knowledge of the bulls’ DNA has made possible to project more than 500 random
descendants and to measure the distribution of their genetic level.
Thus, HD+ bulls are not only very improving on one criteria, but «tested» for their ability to transmit this quality in a more homogeneous way:

What benefits for the breeders?

By using HD+ bulls on a female with a significant defect, it will be corrected in a more homogeneous way and the probability having an insufficiently corrected female goes from 17 to 12%.
The breeder will also earn 10% perfectly satisfactory female rate on HD+ couplings.

Here download the homogeneity of descendants product sheet :


Feed efficiency

Whatever the breeding system, from the most extensive to the most intensive, the system valorisation
depends on the dairy cow efficiency, its capacity to valorise the available feed.

EVOLUTION provides to breeders a 1st feed efficiency synthesis that values this first stage of work
Concept : select the individuals who best value the feeding over their dairy career:

  1. Produce more from my available feeding
  2. Eat less feed
  3. Being healthy

Product synthesis : available for EVOLUTION bulls and for all genotyped females with EVOLUTION

What benefits for breeders?

A challenge of 10% performance improvement

Here download the feed efficiency product sheet :