Status as of: 2015-05-22

Form GE

DESCRIPTION OF NATIONAL GENETIC EVALUATION SYSTEMS

Country (or countries)	Germany, Austria and Luxembourg	
Main trait group1
NOTE! Only one trait group per form!	Conformation	
Breed(s)	HOLstein (Black&White; Red&White), Red Dairy Cattle (RDC)	
Trait definition(s) and unit(s) of measurement2
Attach an appendix if needed	See appendix	
Method of measuring and collecting data	Conformation scoring is done by classifiers. Linear classification scores of cows only in first lactation are considered in genetic evaluation. Either cows in the whole herd or randomly selected daughters of progeny-tested bulls are classified by herd book organisations. Since 2004 or 2006 body conditional score and locomotion or foot angle of a new definition, respectively, have been added to the classification programmes.	
Time period for data inclusion	Type classifications since 1998	
Age groups (e.g. parities) included	Only first lactation linear classification scores are included in genetic evaluation.	
Other criteria (data edits) for inclusion of records	Age at first calving is set to 22-36 months.	
Criteria for extension of records (if applicable)	N/A	
Sire categories	All categories of bulls (i.e. AI, natural service, imported bulls)	
Environmental effects3, pre-adjustments 	None	
Method (model) of genetic evaluation3	MT – BLUP – AM
3 multiple-trait models for
-Body traits: stature, angularity, body depth, chest width, rump angle, rump width, body condition score, body score, and dairy type   
-Feet & Leg traits: F&L score, rear leg rear view, rear leg side view, foot angle, locomotion, Sprunggelenke 
-Udder traits: udder score, rear udder height, udder support, front teat placement, rear teat placement, fore udder attachment, udder depth, and teat length 
Overall conformation score is neither scored nor evaluated. 	
Environmental effects3 in the genetic evaluation model	Fixed: herd-year (with fewer than 5 cows) or herd-date (with 5 or more cows) of classification, age of first calving x lactation stages, daughter type (randomly selected daughters of progeny-tested bulls and randomly selected cows in the same contemporary group) x classifier x year of classification	
Adjustment for heterogeneous variance in evaluation model	Adjustment for heterogeneous variances across classifier*year classes	
Use of genetic groups and relationships	Ancestors are traced back in pedigree as far as possible, genetic groups are assigned to unknown parents by breed, selection paths, and group of birth year of the animal.	
Blending of foreign/Interbull information in evaluation	No	
Genetic parameters in the evaluation	see Appendix	
System validation	-Extensive checks on input data and results. The whole evaluation process is certified with ISO 9001.
-Interbull trend validation methods II and III	
Expression of genetic evaluations
If standardised (e.g. RBV), give standardisation formula in the appendix	EBVs of individual traits on original scale are not published, instead relative breeding values (RBV) for
-	all linear traits
-	4 composites: dairy type, body, feet & legs, and udder 
-	total conformation (RZE)
are published with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 12 defined by a group of base bulls born in certain years.
The 4 composites are a combination of EBVs for linear traits and the corresponding EBV for classification scores.
Total conformation (RZE) is a linear function of the 4 composites with relative weights: dairy type 10%, body 20%, feet & legs 30%, udder 40%.	
Definition of genetic reference base
Next base change	RBVs: Every year in April evaluation a rolling base is defined with all AI bulls tested in Germany and born 8 to 10 years ago (youngest 3 years of bulls with complete information from progeny-test programme
The next base change is expected to be done in April 2016	
Calculation of reliability	Approximation using multiple trait daughter equivalent (EDC) method (Liu et al. 2004)	
Criteria for official publication of evaluations	Domestic tested bulls: daughters in at least 10 herds 
Foreign tested bulls:  a minimum reliability of 50% for RZE plus daughters in at least 10 herds.	
Number of evaluations / publications per year	3 times per year in April, August, December 	
Use in total merit index4	RBV of udder score (with weight 7.5%) and feet & legs score (7.5%) are included in total merit index. The EBVs for the linear traits Body depth and Fore udder attachment and the EBV for F&L score are used as information traits for calculating the combined RBV for functional herd life.	
Anticipated changes in the near future	None	
Key reference on methodology applied	Reents, R., 1993. Estimation of breeding values for type traits in Germany. Interbull Bulletin No. 8
Liu, Z., F. Reinhardt, A. Bünger, and R. Reents 2004. Derivation and calculation of approximate reliabilities and daughter yield deviations of a random regression test-day model for genetic evaluation of dairy cattle. J. Dairy Sci. 87:1896–1907.	
Key organisation: name, address, phone, fax, e-mail, web site	Vereinigte Informationssysteme Tierhaltung w.V. (vit)
Heideweg 1, 27283 Verden, Germany
Phone: +49-(0)4231-95510, fax: +49-(0)4231-955166
email: ge@vit.de, website: http://www.vit.de	
1) Either: Production (e.g. milk, fat, protein), Conformation, Health (e.g. mastitis resistance, milk somatic cell, resistance to diseases other than mastitis), Longevity, Calving (e.g. stillbirth, calving ease), Female fertility (e.g. non-return rate, interval between reproductive events, number of AI’s, heat strength), Workability (e.g. milking speed, temperament), Beef production, Efficiency (e.g. body weight, energy balance, body conditioning score), or Other traits.
2) Indicate frequencies per category if the trait is categorical and specify transformation of data if practiced.
3) Use abbreviations for most common effects (see document with list of abbreviations at http://www-interbull.slu.se/service_documentation/General/list_of_abbreviations.rtf) and indicate random (R) or fixed (F).
4) Please give economic weights and indicate how they are expressed (preferably in genetic standard deviation units).

Form GE	Appendix CO

Parameters for national genetic evaluations for conformation traits as provided to Interbull
(all breeds except Brown Swiss)

Country (or countries):		
Main trait group:	Conformation	
Breed(s):		

Trait	Definition	h2a	genetic
variancea	official proof
standardisation formulab	
Stature	WHFF definition	0.39	144		
Chest Width	WHFF definition	0.18	144		
Body Depth	WHFF definition	0.22	144		
Angularity	WHFF definition	0.24	144		
Rump Angle	WHFF definition	0.29	144		
Rump Width	WHFF definition	0.29	144		
Rear Leg Set	WHFF definition	0.17	144		
Rear Leg Rear View	WHFF definition	0.12	144		
Foot Angle	Height of rear hoofs	0.08	144		
Fore Udder	WHFF definition	0.23	144		
Rear Udder Height	WHFF definition	0.21	144		
Udder Support	WHFF definition	0.16	144		
Udder Depth	WHFF definition	0.33	144		
Front Teat Placement	WHFF definition	0.26	144		
Teat Length	WHFF definition	0.31	144		
Rear Teat Placement	WHFF definition	0.23	144		
Overall Conformation Score	A linear function of four composites 				
Overall Udder Score		0.23	144		
Overall Feet & Leg Score		0.11	144		
Locomotion	WHFF definition	0.08	144		
Body Condition Score	WHFF definition	0.23	144		
a	If repeated records are treated as separate traits, provide heritability estimates and genetic variances separately for each trait, as well as for all traits pooled, i.e. for the trait submitted to Interbull.
b	Expressed as follows:
StandEval=((eval-a)/b)*c+d where a=mean of the base adjustment, b=standard deviation of the base, c=standard deviation of expression (include sign if scale is reversed), and d=base of expression.