HOW CAN TRACEABILITY SYSTEMS INFLUENCE MODERN ANIMAL BREEDING AND FARM MANAGEMENT? FAO-FEPALE-ICAR Meeting in Santiago, Chile, December 2011 Ole Klejs Hansen
IDENTIFICATION Owner identification Still relevant in big parts of the world Animal identification Herd management Herd Books Recording systems Disease eradication or control programmes Coordinated identification Same animal ID in all programmes Additional features Animal traceability Health certificate Medicine administration Animal welfare Product traceability
DANISH HISTORY 1895: Worlds first regular milk recording scheme started in Denmark 1920: Uniform national tagging system: Ear notch Mothers number New identity when becoming a cow New identity when moved to new owner 1982: New identification system from Danish Cattle Federation Unique farm codes (premises code) Unique lifetime animal identification codes Farm of origin code (6 digits) and serial animal number (5 digits) Transformation of old identity to new unique identity Mandatory for recorded dairy and beef herds (herd book)
DANISH HISTORY 1997: EU legislation on identification and traceability The DCF system was already able to meet the EU requirements 70 % of all cattle already voluntarily registered (milk recording, beef recording, herdbook) Existing ID system adopted by Danish Veterinary Services 1998: Mandatory registration of all cattle completed by March Constantly following ICAR and ISO groups on animal identification 2004: Electronic ear tags officially approved by Danish Veterinary Services for voluntary use 2010: Electronic tagging of cattle mandatory as of 1. June 2010
REGISTRATION, NO UNIQUE LIFETIME ID
REGISTRATION, LIFETIME ID
HERD BOOK AND ACTIVE BREEDING POPULATION Herdbook - Official pedigree Manual herd book registration Herd book requirements fulfilled Breeders choice Registration fee Top animals of the breed Automatic herd book registration Herd book requirements fulfilled Automatic registration No registration fee All animals of the breed Proportion of herd book animals different Active breeding population
HERITABILITIES Milk, Fat, Protein: 0,30 Weight gain: 0,16 Conformation: 0,29 Reproduction: 0,03 Cow / Calf Size of calf: 0,04 / 0,20 Vitality: 0,04 / 0,04 Calving ease: 0,07 / 0,10 Diseases, Udder: 0,05 Diseases, Reproduction: 0,03 Diseases, Metabolism: 0,01 Diseases, Feet and legs: 0,01 Milkability: 0,26 Temperament: 0,13
SIRE INFLUENCE ON MASTITIS FREQUENCY RED DANISH HOLSTEIN JERSEY Sire index, mastitis resistance Cows Mastitis frequency Cows Mastitis frequency Cows Mastitis frequency >107 5.763 18,3 % 38.306 15,7 % 2.209 17,4 % 103-107 13.355 18,1 % 107.646 18,5 % 31.367 20,9 % 98-102 12.624 22,7 % 70.184 22,3 % 15.236 25,4 % 93 97 16.585 26,5 % 44.227 26,3 % 4.210 29,0 % <93 2.800 33,2 % 7.838 31,3 % 2.170 34,8 % Frequency of first mastitis treated in first lactation 10 days before until 180 days post partum Gert Aamand Pedersen & Ulrik Sander Nielsen, 2002
Percent cows with mastitis diagnose 10 days before until 100 days after calving EBV Udder health of the bull First lactation Third lactation < 86 21,6 % 28,9 % 86 95 18,3 % 26,0 % 96 105 15,3 % 23,9 % 106-113 13,9 % 21,0 % > 113 10,7 % 17,0 %
HERD BOOK AND ACTIVE BREEDING POPULATION Birth registration according to EU traceability requirement: Calf s ID Date of birth Sex Live or still born Mother s ID Gradually opens the female side of the pedigree for all calves born
HERD BOOK AND ACTIVE BREEDING POPULATION Artificial insemination: Animal serviced Date of service Sire Immediately opens the male side of the pedigree for calves borne after AI Provided that AI data are accessible Provided that date of birth matches date of AI service Pedigree data not depending on farmer
PRODUCTION RECORDING Milk recording milk weight and composition Beef recording Weight at birth Weights at specified ages (200 days, 365 days etc.) Other types of production recording Slaughter weight in combination with animal ID, date of birth and pedigree Breeding value estimation for weight gain Some production recording data not depending on extra work for farmer
ACCESS TO DATA Veterinary information Veterinary invoicing system Authorities regarding special diseases and medicines??? Abbattoir Payment to farmers Authorities regarding production statistics Internal controls??? Artificial Insemination AI invoicing system Internal controls??? Who owns data? Who can acces data? Access may be restricted by private or legal barriers
USE OF DATA Farmer: Breed the cow or not Expect problems such as ketosis or difficult calving Monitor production Monitor herd health Adjust feeding Adjust barn Steeply increasing demand with increasing herd size
USE OF DATA Production and health advisers/veterinarians: Herd level rather than animal level Problem indicators All-round information needed Quarterly Farm board meeting: Owner, production adviser, veterinarian, banker, accountant Breeding system and advice: Needs as many data as possible on production and health
FUTURE OPTIONS Electronic identification: Lifetime electronic tag Electronic tags identify the animal everywhere Calf milk feeder Weighing AI and Vet Milking Feed station No need to move neckband transponders Save time No extra updates of on farm computer
FUTURE OPTIONS Tissue sampling tags: Linking official animal ID directly to test tube (using same identity) No cross reference needed Health surveillance DNA parentage testing Genomic selection of female animals?
CONCLUSIONS Unique lifetime identification code The key component Join data across Animal lifetime Herds Registration and recording programmes Databases Countries In principle the current owner should have access to all data ever recorded or registered about his animal
CONCLUSIONS Traceability: Some traceability data help building pedigrees outside herd books Expanding the active breeding population Especially important for low heritability traits Traceability systems can help provide more data More data and better data form the basis for better herd management and breeding programmes.
Thank you for attention