IGENITY^® for dairy

IGENITY^® — Longevity

How long do your cows last?

What is every extra month worth?

While there are many genetic and environmental factors involved in how long cows last, two good indicators of longevity are productive life and dairy form. The impact of these traits has been well documented. But selection efforts to improve longevity have proven to be difficult because:

• Heritability of productive life is low¹
• Productive life could not be reliably calculated, using traditional methods, until late in an animal’s life²
• Selecting for lower dairy form has usually meant selecting for lower milk production

Economic Value of Productive Life

We are now learning that ignoring these traits can significantly decrease on-farm profitability.³

The economic value of productive life for every 100 cows can be as much as $5,900 per additional month. Multiplied over the lifetime of a herd, the impact of additional productive life months can be significant.

What the Dairy Cattle Industry says about Longevity

The average U.S. dairy cow lasts 2.8 lactations.
- USDA⁵

Currently, about 57% of cows make it past the second lactation. Any increase in this percentage increases profits.
- Jagannatha, et al. University of Nebraska⁶

Herd life [productive life] has greatest value when feed costs are high or when beef prices [cull cow price] are low.
- VanRaden, USDA and Klaaskate, University of Maryland⁷

Selection for productive life will not only increase the longevity of cattle, but also has a positive influence on all other economically important traits for efficient milk production.
- Seykora, University of Minnesota

IGENITY helps predict potential for longevity, earlier than ever before.

Because productive life is recorded so late in life, longevity potential is extremely difficult to predict. Experts have long argued that genetic evaluation of productive life should be supplemented with other information to improve reliability.

IGENITY Profile provides analyses used to help predict Productive Life and Dairy Form

Intense selection for high milk production has meant an unintentional selection for high dairy form, and an increase in metritis, ketosis, lameness, mastitis and days open.^1-7 The IGENITY profile contains two analyses that can be used to predict longevity — productive life and dairy form. So selecting for low dairy form with the IGENITY profile can help improve cow longevity. The IGENITY profile for productive life accounts for 8.3 months difference between cows with an IGENITY score of 10 verses cows with an IGENITY score of 1.