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54 WC DAIRY NEWS  CHRISTMAS 2024
Keeping Up with Genetic Evaluations
Lactanet’s Open Industry Session Highlights
Amanda Poelman
Lactanet held its third and final Open
Industry Session (OIS) for this year on
October 7th, 2024. The session kicked off
by highlighting the successes that Lactanet
has had in the past five years, including
increases in DairyTrace and proAction
validations, and improvements in milk
recording for robotic herds, which are
growing at a rate of 2% annually.
Looking ahead to the next five years,
Lactanet’s goals focus on the following
areas:
• Farm & Data Connections
•  more farm tech investments, more data
available, 2-way data movement
• Milk Analysis
•  potential for genomic evaluation potential
(i.e. Methane)
• Sustainability
•  Sustainability Report, Feed Efficiency
and Methane Efficiency, carbon footprint
calculators
• Bulk Tank Management
•  focused on disease and health, decision
tools, and various trends and alerts
At the Dairy Cattle Industry Forum in
September, Lactanet recognized Gary
Bowers as the 15th recipient of the Dairy
Cattle Improvement Industry Distinction
Award. Gary has dedicated his career,
which spans nearly 40 years, to the
improvement of dairy cattle, serving on
many boards and committees through
the years, including Jersey Canada, CIAQ,
Semex Alliance, Canadian Dairy Network and
Dairy Farmers of Canada. His contributions
are highlighted by his involvement in
multi-breed classification, the adoption of
genomics, DairyTrace, and the development
of Pro$ (the profit-based economic index).
The first in a series of presentations for
the session, Knowledge Transfer Advisor,
Dr. Hannah Sweett, provided viewers a
look at Lactanet’s new genetic website,
www.lactanetgen.com. The website
was created to mimic the cdn.ca user
experience, focused on less scrolling, easy
navigation and more compatibility with
technology. While articles, OIS session
presentations, reports and data files will
remain on the lactanet.ca website, users
can enjoy the Animal Query, Group Query
and Inbreeding Calculator on the new site.
The new website was officially launched at
the end of October, but additional changes
and new functions will continue to be added
moving forward into 2025 like beef on dairy
queries, a user sign-in option, and the
modernized LPI.
Filippo Miglior, Senior Advisor – Genetic
Strategic Initiatives, gave an update on
Feed Efficiency and Methane Efficiency
evaluations. The Feed Efficiency data has
increased significantly with data from
24 herds in five countries now added,
which will mean some changes for bull
proofs, especially when adding foreign
daughters. There have also been small gains
in Reliability.
Chief Services Officer, Brian Van Doormaal’s
presentation covered the finalizing of the
‘Modernized LPI Formula’ which will be rolling
out in the April 2025 proof round. The new
formula will expand from the three current
components to include a “sustainability”
section, as the industry seeks to achieve net
zero emissions by 2050. The six subindexes
will include Production, Longevity & Type,
Health & Welfare, Reproduction, Milkability
and Environmental Impact. An in-depth look
at these subindexes of the new formula were
discussed, as well as the recommendations
of the Genetic Evaluation Board. More
extension on the new formula will be
provided by Lactanet leading up to April’s
launch date.
Gabriella Condella, a Ph. D student at the
University of Guelph, provided an update
on her Bovine Spastic Syndrome research,
better known as crampy. Her studies show
a 7% heritability of crampy and there are no
significant correlations with health-related
traits, reproductive traits or LPI. Gabriella
concluded that genetic selection against
crampy is feasible and inclusion of genomic
data is beneficial as multiple regions are
associated with crampy, however more data
collection is needed.
In the final presentation of the day,
Dr. Allison Fleming – Manager, Genetic
Evaluation Services, gave an update on the
evaluation of Calf Health and the calculation
of Muscle Weakness carrier probability
values. Lactanet is planning to add genetic
evaluations for two calf health traits,
respiratory problems and diarrhea, in August
2025. Since the resistance to disease in
early life is highly valuable (with impacts
on economics, lifetime performance and
overall welfare) a genetic evaluation system
has been built. In 2024, Lactanet published
Muscle Weakness (MW) gene test results as
well as carrier probability values. There has
since been feedback on carrier probability
calculations for ‘probable carriers’ being
treated as carriers as the majority were
found to be ‘free’ once gene tested. As such,
‘probable carriers’ will now be treated as
40% probable carrier instead of 99%. An
implementation date is yet to be determined.
The Lactanet Open Industry Sessions
occur two to three times each year and
are open to all producers and industry
people who are passionate about Genetic
Evaluations in Canada. It is a good way
for all interested parties to voice their
opinions and get updates on Lactanet
projects. The next session will be held on
February 27th, 2025.
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