Five European cattle breeding partners have decided to join forces to further improve results from genomic selection under the name of EuroGenomics. The cooperation will give an important boost to the reliability of genomic values for Holstein.
Several European partners will aggregate the reference populations they are using for a number of Holstein breeding programs. A reference population is a group of bulls with breeding values from progeny tests and known DNA profiles. It provides breeding organizations the indispensable basis for the calculation of reliable genomic effects and genomic breeding values. The enlargement of the total reference population within EuroGenomics will therefore further increase the reliability of genomic breeding.
The aggregation of the reference populations will take place in two steps, resulting in a total reference population of 16,000 proven bulls by the end of this year. This first common European reference population will be one of the largest in the world.
The customers of the EuroGenomics partners will benefit highly from this important cooperation, because it will further improve the accuracy and reliability of the genomic breeding values. Furthermore the ongoing development of genomic selection will result in extra genetic progress and eventually lower costs of the individual breeding programs, retaining the same or even higher quality. EuroGenomics will therefore position Europe as a leading continent in the world of Holstein breeding.
The following partners are the founders of EuroGenomics:
UNCEIA – French national Association of Livestock & Artificial Insemination Cooperatives
CRV – International cattle improvement organisation with headquarters in the Netherlands
DHV and vit – German national umbrella organization of the Holstein breeding industry and the German computing centre of cattle data
VikingGenetics – Danish-Swedish cattle breeding association
The above mentioned partners will be working closely together with a number of research partners, amongst which are the University of Liège (Belgium), INRA (French research centre), the Nordic Cattle Genetic Evaluation and Aarhus University/Foulum (Denmark).
3 Comments on “European Breeding Partners Join Forces in EuroGenomics”
Gentlemen: I represent a private Albanian corporation that has joined in a public-private partnership with the five State Universities of the Republic of Albania and the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Economy. One of the designated projects of this joint cooperation is a dwarf Holstein beef breeding and processing initiative. We are interested in cooperating with your research partners and request further information. Thank you.
Gentlemen: I represent a private Albanian corporation that has joined in a public-private partnership with the five State Universities of the Republic of Albania and the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Economy. One of the designated projects of this joint cooperation is a dwarf Holstein beef breeding and processing initiative. We are interested in cooperating with your research partners and request further information. Thank you.
Gentlemen: I represent a private Albanian corporation that has joined in a public-private partnership with the five State Universities of the Republic of Albania and the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Economy. One of the designated projects of this joint cooperation is a dwarf Holstein beef breeding and processing initiative. We are interested in cooperating with your research partners and request further information. Thank you.