Genetic and genomic evaluations for Resistance to Diarrhea (DIA) and Resistance to Respiratory Problems (RSP) will represent the expected resistance of an animal’s offspring to these issues in a herd with average management conditions. Final approvals are being wrapped up, with the goal of introducing these traits for Holstein and Jersey breeders soon.

Dairy farmers now have a more powerful, long-term tool to affect the milking time of their herds with a new trait developed by the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB): milking speed, which became available for Holsteins in the August triannual genetic evaluations.

The U.S. has high-quality data pipelines for the flow of production, fertility and health records, but there is not currently a pipeline of hoof health information. As an essential first step, CDCB, the University of Minnesota (UMN) and several collaborators are working to consistently identify and record hoof health traits.