Breeding goals for conservation and active Polish dairy cattle breeds derived with a bio-economic model

The aim of the study was to calculate economic values (EV) of breeding traits (production, reproduction, direct health, calving and survival traits) for the Polish dairy cattle breeds Polish Holstein (PH) and Polish Red (PR). EV are key elements in setting up economically based breeding goals for dairy cattle and they are crucial for optimizing breeding schemes. For deriving EV, a stochastic bio-economic model was used, which estimates EVs based on population-specific biological and economic characteristics. Because the bio-economic model considers correlations between different traits, a multiple regression approach was used to correct for any double counting of effects. The results showed that EVs for direct health traits and fertility differed between breeds. The biggest difference was observed for lameness (PH -1.44 €, PR -1.09 € per cow-year), ketosis (PH -0.94 €, PR -0.58 € per cow-year) and for cow conception rate (PH 1.94 €, PR 0.84 € per cow-year). The relative economic weights for production traits were estimated as 37.00 % (PH) and 34.30 % for (PR) and for fertility traits 15.10 % (PH and for 16.10 % (PR). Major economic differences between the relative weights were observed for cow mortality (22.70 % PH, 16.90 % PR). The results of our study showed that breeding the PH brings higher economic profit than breeding the PR. Total income per PR cow was equal to 1,623 € and for PH 2,970 €.