Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes organic dairy farmers and consumers of their products, artificial insemination companies, genomic testing companies, and conventional dairy producers interested in reducing reliance on antibiotics for disease treatment. Changes/Problems:There were some challenges encountered. The animal behavior monitoring halters under research aim 3 required further development to work under field conditions. Due to Covid travel restrictions, field testing was delayed. While the system now works well, our ability to collect and analyze data during the grant timeline was prevented. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Undergraduate students learned to collect research data on organic calves. One post-doc and five graduate students completed most or all of their research using data they collected on organic farms. More than a dozen research presentations were made by the students at national meetings. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our research has been reported in dairy farm popular press magazines that have wide distribution plus regional extension publications. Additionally, we have conducted over 20 extension events including field days and online presentations. Our research has also been transmitted to the dairy community through several podcasts available here: https://moosroom.transistor.fm/ What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Accomplishments under research aim 1. A database with >100,000 cow health records was established using data from 16 organic herds spread across the US. This facilitated several research studies that have been published in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at research conferences. The research highlights have been delivered to the target audience through popular press articles in Hoard's Dairyman which is the most widely distributed dairy farm periodical, and many other extension events, webinars, online presentations, and extension newsletters. The most important conclusions are that: 1.organic cow health is heritable and can be improved through genetic selection and crossbreeding; 2. national genetic evaluations predicted cow health in organic herds moderately well. This suggests that national genetic evaluations derived from conventional herd data is a tool to help lower disease incidence in organic herds. However, using data directly from organic herds would be preferred is a large enough database could be developed; 3. We demonstrated that there are differences among cows in health when confronted with heat stress and developed methodologies to select for improved cow health during heat stress. Accomplishments under research aim 2. A database of calf health was established. We developed a novel trait for genetic selection that will facilitate selection for calves with improved immune function. We demonstrated that genetic selection using national calf health evaluations will help to improve disease resistance; however, large genotype by environment interactions exist and direct selection using data from an antibiotic free management system is required to make optimal genetic progress. Accomplishments under research aim 3. We developed a fly infestation scoring system that can facilitate rapid recording of fly loads on many cows to facilitate genomic selection. The fly scoring system was validated by counting flies in cow pictures. Fly infestation levels are heritable, associated with coat coloration, and genomic regions associated with fly infestation were evident. Cows with heavy fly infestation levels produce less milk than expected. We also improved functioning of an animal behavior halter under field conditions. Under this research aim. Accomplishments under outreach aim 1. Our research has been reported in dairy farm popular press magazines that have wide distribution plus regional extension publications. Additionally, we have conducted over 20 extension events including field days and online presentations. Our research has been transmitted to the dairy community through several podcasts. We have developed and recommended specific breed combinations for crossing in organic systems and have highlighted the potential to use national genomic evaluations for cows health in organic herds. Accomplishments under outreach aim 2. By partnering with the Center for Organic and Sustainable Agriculture at Alfred State College, undergraduate students learned to collect research data on organic calves. One post-doc and five graduate students completed most or all of their research using data they collected on organic farms. Specialized genetic selection considerations for organic herds have also been woven into existing course material on genetic selection in dairy cattle.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Hardie, L.C., I.W. Haagen, B.J. Heins, and C.D. Dechow. 2022. Genetic parameters and association of national evaluations with breeding values for health traits in US organic Holstein cows. J. Dairy Sci. 105. doi:10.3168/jds.2021-20588.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Hardie, L.C., B.J. Heins, and C.D. Dechow. 2021. Genetic parameters for stayability of Holsteins in US organic herds. J. Dairy Sci. 104. doi:10.3168/jds.2020-19399.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Basiel, B.L., L.C. Hardie, B.J. Heins, and C.D. Dechow. 2021. Genetic parameters and genomic regions associated with horn fly resistance in organic Holstein cattle. J. Dairy Sci. 104. doi:10.3168/jds.2021-20366.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Haagen, I.W., L.C. Hardie, B.J. Heins, and C.D. Dechow. 2021. Genetic parameters of passive transfer of immunity for US organic Holstein calves. J. Dairy Sci. 104:20182026. doi:10.3168/jds.2020-19080.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Haagen, I.W., L.C. Hardie, B.J. Heins, and C.D. Dechow. 2021. Genetic parameters of calf morbidity and stayability for US organic Holstein calves. J. Dairy Sci. 104. doi:10.3168/jds.2021-20432.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
B. Basiel. Genomic evaluation of horn fly resistance and phenotypes of cholesterol deficiency carriers in Holstein cattle. MS Thesis. Available: https://etda.libraries.psu.edu/catalog/18230blb5624.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
I. W. Haagen. Genetic parameters of dairy calf and heifer health. Ph.D. Dissertation. Available: https://etda.libraries.psu.edu/catalog/24151iwh5042
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
L. Han. Genetic and phenotypic associations of heat stress with performance, health, survival, and ghrelin concentration in dairy cattle. Ph.D. Dissertation.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
C.D. Dechow. Fitness genetics improve health on organic farms. HOARDS DAIRYMAN. p710.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
L. Hardie. National Genetic Evaluations Foster Healthier Organic Cows, too. https://extension.psu.edu/national-genetic-evaluations-foster-healthier-organic-cows-too?j=608496&sfmc_sub=22291110&l=159_HTML&u=14162299&mid=7234940&jb=1001&utm_medium=email&utm_source=MarketingCloud&utm_campaign=DRYT_2021_JULY_EM_GN_DAIRYDIGEST&utm_content=DRYT_2021_JULY_EM_GN_DAIRYDIGEST&subscriberkey=003d000002vHnmJAAS
|
Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes organic dairy farmers and consumers of their products, artificial insemination companies, genomic testing companies, and conventional dairy producers interested in reducing reliance on antibiotics for disease treatment. Changes/Problems:Pasture behavior will be evaluated with specialized bite recording halters. Development of the halters was hindered by technical difficulties but is now resolved. Unfortunately, Covid-19 work and travel restrictions prevented to use of behavior recording this pasture season. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have provided a postdoctoral scholar with the opportunity to run a large-scale research project, coordinate among scientists from different universities, and oversee student researchers. Three graduate students are learning how to collect samples for genomic testing, evaluate animals for their health status, and maintain accurate research records. Four undergraduate students are learning the process involved with conducting university research. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have presented several scientific reports and peer reviewed articles are now either in press or in the review process. We also have incorporated results into lectures on selection for cow health in organic dairy herds. Participating farms have reeceived research updates and extension activities have been held to disseiminate results to the wider organic community. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We have a few aims left to finish. First, we will finalize our genomic evaluations in Holsteins and publish those results. Second, we will conduct across-breed evaluations. Third, we are actively developing course material for undergraduates. Finally, we will begin the behavior monitoring part of the project.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Our phenotypic database now complete and includes 443,429 survival records from 118,173 organic cows and calves. We have mastitis and disease records from approximately 75,000 Holstein lactations. We have begun the process of disseminating our results to organic produces and the scientific community. Research aim 1. Based on genetic evaluation of nearly 47,786 records, heritability estimates for mastitis susceptibility in organic Holsteins was 16%, which is relatively high when compared to estimates of heritability in conventional Holstein herds. Whether this higher heritability estimate is due to sampling variation or due to the trait being more fully expressed in an organic environment is not certain. Resistance to mastitis is correlated with resistance and survival in conventional herds; however, there are early indications that mastitis resistance may have a different relationship to milk yield in organic and conventional herds which must be explored more fully. Research aim 2. We have developed a new trait for evaluation of calf health (serum total protein level) which serves as an indicator of the effectiveness of antibody absorption in newborn calves. This trait is associated with improved calf survival. Research aim 3. We have conducted a genome wide association study for fly resistance in pastured organic cows. There is a significant region related to the KIT gene that appears to influence coat color and, subsequently, the number of horn flies on cows. Outreach objective 1: We conducted seminars that relate to organic dairy production systems. The seminar series provided an opportunity for the public, as well as researchers, to learn about the key issues related to organic dairy production. Dairy producer's identified animal health and mastitis as two of the most important issues for organic dairy systems. Outreach objective 2: Course material related to genetic selection for organic herds has been incorporated into dairy genetics courses at Penn State and curriculum is under development for students at Alfred State College's Center for Organic and Sustainable Agriculture.
Publications
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
GENOMIC EVALUATION OF HORN FLY RESISTANCE AND PHENOTYPES OF CHOLESTEROL DEFICIENCY CARRIERS IN HOLSTEIN CATTLE. M.S. Thesis. Penn State University.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Genetic parameters of passive transfer of immunity for US organic Holstein calves. J. Dairy Sci.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Genetic Parameters for Stayability in US Organic Holsteins. J. Dairy Sci.
|
Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes organic dairy farmers and consumers of their products, artificial insemination companies, genomic testing companies, and conventional dairy producers interested in reducing reliance on antibiotics for disease treatment. Changes/Problems:Pasture behavior will be evaluated with specialized bite recording halters. Development of the halters has been hindered by technical difficulties with a circuit board. That has now been resolved and evaluating pasture behavior can now commence. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have provided a postdoctoral scholar with the opportunity to run a large-scale research project, coordinate amongscientists from different universities, and oversee student researchers. Three graduate students are learning how to collectsamples for genomic testing, evaluate animals for their health status, and maintain accurate research records. Fourundergraduate students are learning the process involved with conducting university research. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have presented several scientific reports. We also have incorporated results into lectures on selection for cow health in organic dairy herds. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We have three manuscripts that will be submitted to peer-revied publications early in 2020. We will also begin to collect behavior data during the summer of 2020.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We have trained several students in organic dairy production through research and educational opportunities. Our research team now stands at one postdoctoral scholar, four graduate students, and several undergraduate students. Course material related to genetic selection for organic herds has been incorporated into dairy genetics courses at Penn State and curriculum is under development for students at Alfred State College's Center for Organic and Sustainable Agriculture. Outreach efforts have begun with presentations on crossbreeding in organic dairy herds and demonstrations of crossbred animals at West Central Research and Outreach Center. The research team has collected health related data from 17 organic dairy herds to develop a database of producer recorded health records from 133,263 organic cows and calves. The team has evaluated fly infestation level (5004 observations), body condition score (8364 observations), udder traits (9364 observations), locomotion (7744 observations), hygiene (9444 observations), hock lesions (9178 observations) and stature (9164 observations); 6900 calves have been evaluated for respiratory and scours and the research team will begin evaluating pasture behavior in 2020. Genomic evaluations and A2 milk status have been provided for 2,741 of the animals (1618 Holsteins, others are primarily crosses). The project has now entered the data analysis phase with seven research abstracts presented from the project to date. Research aim 1. Organic herds rely less on organized data collection and evaluation services. Incomplete data recording could also lead to biased genetic parameter estimates if survival in early life is correlated with performance in later life. Thus, we developed stayability to different lactations to account for selection bias and for use in multiple trait selection programs. Birth, calving, and cull dates were gathered from 14 commercial and 2 research USDA certified organic farms recommended by industry personnel as herds maintaining detailed individual cow records and using artificial insemination. Heritabilities for stayability to parities 1, 2, and 3 were 0.09 ± 0.01, 0.07± 0.02, and 0.08 ±0.03, respectively. Genetic correlations ranged from 0.42 ± 0.20 between stayability to parity 1 and 3 to 0.81 ± 0.09 between stayability to parity 2 and 3. Excluding stillbirth, stayability to all timepoints was significantly correlated with productive life and with livability for parities. Gestation length was positively associated with stillbirth. Stayability in organic herds is heritable and positively associated with nationally evaluated longevity traits suggesting that improvement for stayability in organic herds is afforded. Research aim 2. Passive transfer of immunity is important for calf health and survival. We estimated genetic parameters for calf passive transfer of immunity through on-farm recording of serum total protein and determine associations with other routinely evaluated traits in organic Holstein sired calves (n = 16,725) that were born between July 2013 to June 2018. Calves that had the opportunity to reach one year of age were recorded as staying in the herd or having left the herd. The heritability of serum total protein was estimated to be 0.08. Heritability estimates for calf stayability were approximately 0.10 and the genetic correlation estimates between serum total protein and stayability was 0.25. Approximate genetic correlations were estimated for sires with at least 10 daughters for STP and predicted transmitting abilities for health, calving traits, and production. Serum total protein displayed positive approximate genetic correlations with cow livability, productive life, net merit, and milk yield; favorable approximate genetic correlations were observed for daughter and sire calving ease, and sire stillbirth. Longer gestation length was associated with reduced STP genetically and phenotypically. These results suggest that passive transfer as measured through STP is heritable and favorably correlated with current measures of health, calving, and production. Research aim 3: Horn flies contribute to major economic losses of pastured cattle operations. Infestation can cause reduced milk yield and spread disease-causing pathogens which further reduce yield and incur health expenses. Most fly control methods require synthetic chemicals that cannot be used on organic operations. The objective of this research was to determine if natural resistance to horn flies is a heritable trait that can be incorporated into a traditional breeding program. Observations of fly load were recorded from pastured Holstein cows on 13 organic dairies across the United States. There were 1,823 records of fly load from 1,265 Holstein sired cows included in the analysis. The scoring system was validated by counting flies from photographs taken at the time of scoring on a subset of observations. The rank correlation between the subjective fly score and the objective count was 0.80. The heritability of fly score was 0.09±0.05 with a repeatability of 0.21±0.04. The genetic correlation between fly load and stayability was not significant. The magnitude of heritable variation in fly infestation is similar to other traits included in selection programs, suggesting that we can select for resistance to horn flies. Outreach objective 1: We conducted seminars that relate to organic dairy production systems. The seminar series provided an opportunity for the public, as well as researchers, to learn about the key issues related to organic dairy production. Over 150 people attended the five seminars organized by the planning team. The focus groups provided an opportunity for dairy producers to discuss current challenges and opportunities for organic dairy production in the Minnesota and the Midwest. Dairy producer's identified animal health and mastiti as two of the most important issues for organic dairy systems. Outreach objective 2: Course material related to genetic selection for organic herds has been incorporated into dairy genetics courses at Penn State and curriculum is under development for students at Alfred State College's Center for Organic and Sustainable Agriculture.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Haagen, I.W., L. Han, L.C. Hardie, B.J. Heins, and C.D. Dechow. 2019. Associations between serum total protein and gPTA for production, fitness, and conformation in organic Holstein calves. J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 102 (Suppl. 1):29.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Hardie, L.C., I.W. Haagen, L. Han, B.J. Heins, D. Fitzsimmons, and C.D. Dechow. 2019. The genetic relationship of production traits recorded during grazing and non-grazing seasons in US organic Holstein cows. J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 102 (Suppl. 1):259.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Pereira, G.M. B.J. Heins, L.C. Hardie, and C.D. Dechow. 2019. Sire predicted transmitting ability for production and fertility traits in U.S. organic Jersey cows. J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 102 (Suppl. 1):260.
|
Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes organic dairy farmers and consumers of their products, artificial insemination companies,genomic testing companies, and conventional dairy producers interested in reducing reliance on antibiotics for diseasetreatment. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have provided a postdoctoral scholar with the opportunity to run a large-scale research project, coordinate amongscientists from different universities, and oversee student researchers. Four graduate students are learning how to collectsamples for genomic testing, evaluate animals for their health status, and maintain accurate research records. Several undergraduate students are learning the process involved with conducting university research. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have presented three abstracts at the annual meeting of the American Dairy Science Association. This allowed us to receive input on future project directions and to inform the scientific community of selection considerations for organic dairy herds. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue to expand our cow health database and increase the number of animals that are genotyped.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We have trained several individuals in organic agriculture research and production. Our research team now stands at one postdoctoral scholar, four graduate students, and several undergraduate students. Our producer recorded database has grown to over 100,000 cows and calves with health records. This database will allow us to develop robust plans for selection to improve calf and cow health in organic herds. Our first data analyses have been conducted. We have reported that organic cows have a reduced response to selection for yield than cows on conventional herds, but greater expression for somatic cell score. Lower response to selection for yield was expected because milk yield is lower in organic herds. The enhanced response to selection for somatic cell score suggests that selection for cow health will improve mastitis resistance on organic herds which is essential in organic herds that are not allowed to use antibiotics to treat mastitis. Research aim 1: Production and fertility data were collected from 3,002 Holstein cows housed on 9 commercial organic farms across the US. We regressed 1,560 daughter records of 305-d mature equivalent (ME305) milk, fat, and protein yield on sire PTA for milk, fat, protein, respectively, and we regressed 1,624 records of average lactation somatic cell score (SCS), on sire PTA for SCS. For analyses of fertility, we regressed 5,432 daughter phenotypes for days open on sire PTA for daughter pregnancy rate (DPR) and cow conception rate. Regression coefficients on sire PTA were 0.87 ± 0.15, 0.62 ± 0.15, 0.86 ± 0.16 for ME305 milk, fat, and protein, respectively, and 1.43 ± 0.25 for SCS. Expectations for these coefficients were one. The regression coefficients for days open on sire PTA for cow conception rate and DPR were -1.38 ± 0.38 and -1.72 ± 0.45 days per unit PTA, respectively. Nationally, the expectation is 4 fewer days open per unit PTA of DPR. Overall, regression coefficients were smaller in magnitude than expected indicating that the genetic variation of Holstein sires is not fully expressed on these farms, with the exception of the regression on SCS. However, regression coefficients carried the expected sign, suggesting that use of sire PTAs estimated through national evaluations should foster genetic improvement for production and fertility on US organic farms. Research aim 3: The main objective was to develop an efficient and effective way to score fly populations on cows. Cows for this study were housed on 4 organic dairy farms in the Midwest and Eastern United States. Cows were given a subjective score based on visible flies located on the side of their body that was closest to the scorer. The subjective score scale was from 0 to 4, with 0 being few to no flies and 4 being a high population of flies. Pictures were then taken of those cows in order to objectively count the flies. In total, there were 144 pairs of observations of subjective scores and objective counts with 15, 51, 24, 8, and 2 percent of scores assigned as 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The median number of flies for each category were 9, 26, 83, 216, and 378, respectively. On average, 35.7% of the total flies were located in the chine region and the rank correlation between chine and total side counts was 0.66 (P < 0.01). In conclusion, subjective scores recorded on farm accurately reflected differences in fly counts, suggesting that subjective scoring is an efficient and effective method for determining fly populations on dairy cows. Outreach aim 2: Students at Alfred State College were enrolled to collect data on calves. Students weight the calves weekly, and assign health scores to each calf.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Hardie L. C., I. W. Haagen, L. Han, B. J. Heins, D. D. Fitzsimmons, and C. D. Dechow. Relationships between daughter phenotypes and sire PTA for production and fertility traits in US organic Holstein cows. J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 101(Suppl. 2) p. 139.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Auman C., L. Hardie, I. Haagen, L. Han, B. Heins, and C. Dechow. Development of a scoring system to estimate fly counts on organic cows. J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 101(Suppl. 2) p. 208.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Heins B. J., G. M. Pereira, L. C. Hardie, and C. D. Dechow. Dairy Wellness Traits from genomic testing with a control Holstein cow population compared to contemporary Holstein cows in a pasture production system. J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 101(Suppl. 2) p. 371.
|
Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes organic dairy farmers and consumers of their products, artificial insemination companies, genomic testing companies, and conventional dairy producers interested in reducing reliance on antibiotics for disease treatment. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have provided a postdoctoral scholar with the opportunity to run a large-scale research project, coordinate among scientists from different universities, and oversee student researchers. Three graduate students are learning how to collect samples for genomic testing, evaluate animals for their health status, and maintain accurate research records. Four undergraduate students are learning the process involved with conducting university research. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are now in the process of reviewing cow breed breakdown of the crossbreds to determine if additional herds that represent other dairy breeds should be added to our database. Our efforts to build our farm-recorded health database and visually evaluate cows will continue, and we will be equipping cows with specialized halters to monitor their pasture behavior in the summer of 2018. We are now processing samples for genomic testing. Our initial data analyses will be conducted in the next year to quantify basic health event frequencies in organic dairy herds.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We have implemented a research team to facilitate the data collection needed to accomplish our research objectives. This includes a postdoctoral scholar with a PhD in Genetics and Genomics and that also has a background in organic dairy production, three graduate students, and 4 undergraduate students. We have enrolled 13 organic dairy herds in the project, including 2 experimental herds, 3 from the Northeast, 5 in the upper Midwest, and 3 from the West. A data use agreement has been established to facilitate the collection of cow health data while also guarding sensitive farm information. Our database currently includes producer recorded health events on over 10,000 dairy cows and an equivalent number of youngstock. These records come from a mix of farm management software such as Dairy Comp 305 and PCDart, and paper records. In addition to farm recorded health events, we have visually appraised 3,500 animals for traits associated with health and performance. These traits include body condition scores, stature, udder depth, locomotion, hygiene scores, and fly infestation levels for lactating dairy cows. To date, approximately 2,000 cows have been evaluated. Additionally, 1500 calves have been visually appraised for respiratory health, scours incidence, and general health status. Approximately 100 calves have been weighed to monitor growth rate. The cows we have visually evaluated include 1,400 Holsteins and 600 crossbreds, whereas 750 Holstein calves and 750 crossbred calves have been evaluated. The farmer recorded health database includes more than 5,000 Holsteins and 5,000 crossbreds.
Publications
|
|