Industry Applications of Genomic Predictions for Dairy Cattle in The Netherlands

The introduction of genomically enhanced breeding values (GEBV) has revolutionized the dairy cattle industry globally. In The Netherlands and Flanders, it has led to huge changes in breeding program management due to improved reliabilities of young breeding stock and the decreasing need for progeny-testing schemes for young bulls.

In addition, the availability of GEBV has led to a multitude of industry and market opportunities. These relate to new developments in herdbook registration, genetic disorders, and overall on-farm genetic management including the selection of young stock, breeding stock and bull choice i.e. selection and mating. It is predicted that genomic information will play an increasingly large role on the dairy cattle farm, eventually facilitating so-called precision farming.

Current challenges lie in the fields of 1) consistently maintaining the level of accuracy obtained for GEBV and genotypic information in general, 2) transparency to adopt this new technology in the market, and 3) the balance between costs and economic returns.