The Rural Voice, 2019-02, Page 32Whether selling bulls or
quickly replacing a dairy
herd with superior
genetics, dairy farmers say genomics
are a tool they use to increase
profitability in their herds.
Three dairy farmers, with unique
marketing goals, highlighted the pros
and cons of using genomics during a
dairy panel on January 3 at Grey
Bruce Farmer’s Week.
Wayne Wagler of Claynook
Farms Ltd, near New Hamburg;
Philip Armstong of Armstrong
Manor Farms north of Brampton and
Gary Markus of Markhill Holsteins
near Ingersoll have specialized goals
for their dairy farms. Wagler sells
bulls and has a huge goal of one day
having every dairy cow in the world
linked to a Claynook bull. Armstrong
and his partners cull any heifer with a
Lifetime Profit Index (LPI) below
2800 to improve their herd and profit
on cattle sales while Markus’s goal is
a herd transformation over the next
four years using six high-end animals
he recently purchased.
Each farmer uses genomics to
reach these goals.
“We want to stay on the leading
edge of genetics as we sell bulls
worldwide,” said Wagler, following a
presentation by Lynsay Beavers of
the Canadian Dairy Network. She
said that 40,000 holstein females
were genotyped in 2017 and that
almost 70 per cent of semen is now
used from genomic young sires.
“Use of genomics is not rising as
quickly as we thought it would
but it is being used,” said
Beavers. “Genomics is a herd
management strategy where, in
an environment where it’s difficult
to expand, it allows farmers to cull
and raise only the heifers they want
for replacements.”
She teaches that by using
genomics, breeders can double the
genetic progress of their herd.
Genomics “increases the reliability of
genetic evaluation from 35 to 70 per
cent LPI.”
Testing is done by taking a hair
and tissue sample and costs about
$33 for a basic panel of information.
Results are available in about three
weeks. Beaver said when starting to
use genomic testing, it’s important to
choose results based on your goals,
to set a threshold, and don’t forget
the “real deal.”
“If you have a heifer with a high
index but she has a terrible bout of
pneumonia, she will never live up to
her genetic potential,” said Beavers.
Wagler said Claynook Farms has
been using genomic testing since
inception. “It has been lucrative for
us,” he said. “We wanted to know if
our cows had the stuff or not and if
they didn’t, we wanted to know what
we had to buy.”
“We don’t test an animal that
doesn’t have the potential to create
bulls for us,” said Wagler of the
family farm that now involves the
third generation with three families
in ownership. They crop 340
hectares, 183 tie stalls to milk in,
keep 200 cows and retain 400 young
cattle including 70 bulls.
Since using genomics, Wagler
believes the herd has both better
conformation and better conception
rates. The Waglers test 80 per cent of
their females to measure their value
as bull dams while 70 per cent of
males are tested for potential as
artificial insemination (AI) bulls.
He would like to see better testing
for recessive genes and haplogroups
(scientists have identified nine
haplogroups that appear to cause
embryo loss or stillbirths when they
exist in the homozygous state) to
28 The Rural Voice
Genomics can double genetic progress
Thee dairy farmers says genetic testing is a useful tool
to speed up marketing and production goals
Members of the panel of genomics at the Grey Bruce Farmer’s Week Dairy
Day were: (left to right) Gary Markus of Markhill Holsteins, Wayne Wagler of
Claynook Farms, Philip Armstrong of Armstrong Manor Farms and Lynsay
Beavers of the Canadian Dairy Network.
•By Lisa B. Pot •
Dairy