Status as of: 2017-08-31

Form GE

DESCRIPTION OF NATIONAL GENETIC EVALUATION SYSTEMS

Country (or countries)	Estonia	
Main trait group1
NOTE! Only one trait group per form!	Conformation	
Breed(s)	HOL (Estonian Holstein)	
Trait definition(s) and unit(s) of measurement2
Attach an appendix if needed	See appendix	
Method of measuring and collecting data	1st lactation linear scoring is included in genetic evaluation.Classifiers score all 1st lactation cows per herd but the classification is not carried out in all herds. Scored by special classifiers.	
Time period for data inclusion	Since 1999. Body condition score and locomotion since 2008.	
Age groups (e.g. parities) included	Only 1st lactation linear discription  and classification	
Other criteria (data edits) for inclusion of records	Age of 1st calving 20-42 months	
Criteria for extension of records (if applicable)	-	
Sire categories	All	
Environmental effects3, pre-adjustments 	Adjustment for classifier*year standard deviation	
Method (model) of genetic evaluation3	ST – BLUP - AM	
Environmental effects3 in the genetic evaluation model	Classifier*year + herd*year + age of 1st calving + stage of lactation	
Adjustment for heterogeneous variance in evaluation model	No	
Use of genetic groups and relationships	Phantom parent groups are defined separately for Estonian versus foreign ancestry according to breed, sex and year of birth of the animal	
Blending of foreign/Interbull information in evaluation	No	
Genetic parameters in the evaluation	Use Appendix GE for heritability/genetic variance estimates; for multiple-trait genetic evaluations, provide genetic correlation estimates between traits separately.
Use also appendices PR, CO, BCO, SM, LO, CA, as applicable, if you participate in the international genetic evaluations of Interbull	
System validation	Check on input data and results.	
Expression of genetic evaluations
If standardised (e.g. RBV), give standardisation formula in the appendix	RBV (100/12)  for all traits and for overall conformation score
Formula for calculation of RBV for overall conformation score:
RBV= 0.30*RBV(overall body score) + 0.40*RBV(overall udder score) + 0.30*RBV(overall feet & legs score)	
Definition of genetic reference base

Next base change	EBV: all cows born 2010
RBV: Official published bulls born since 1993

EBV: April 2020 -> all cows born in 2015	
Calculation of reliability	reliability =  n/ (n+(4-h2 )/h2 
where n = number of daughters	
Criteria for official publication of evaluations	At least 20 daughters in at least 3 herds with min. reliability of 70% 	
Number of evaluations / publications per year	3; April, August, December	
Use in total merit index4		
Anticipated changes in the near future	No	
Key reference on methodology applied	Reents, R., 1993. Estimation of breeding values for type traits in Germany, Interbull Bulletin No. 8.	
Key organisation: name, address, phone, fax, e-mail, web site	Estonian Animal Recording Centre
Kreutzwaldi 48A
Tartu 50094
Estonia
Tel. +372 738 7700
Fax. +372 738 7702
e-mail: mart.uba@epj.ee
web-site: http://epj.ee	
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):	Estonia	
Main trait group:	Conformation	
Breed(s):	HOL (Estonian Holstein)	

Trait	Definition	h2a	genetic
variancea	official proof
standardisation formulab	
Stature	WHFF definition	0.45	144		
Chest Width	WHFF definition	0.12	144		
Body Depth	WHFF definition	0.31	144		
Angularity	WHFF definition	0.10	144		
Rump Angle	WHFF definition	0.32	144		
Rump Width	WHFF definition	0.28	144		
Rear Leg Set	WHFF definition	0.18	144		
Rear Leg Rear View	WHFF definition	0.18	144		
Foot Angle	Height of rear hoofs	0.14	144		
Fore Udder	WHFF definition	0.25	144		
Rear Udder Height	WHFF definition	0.26	144		
Udder Support	WHFF definition	0.25	144		
Udder Depth	WHFF definition	0.48	144		
Front Teat Placement	WHFF definition	0.29	144		
Teat Length	WHFF definition	0.42	144		
Rear Teat Placement	WHFF definition	0.36	144		
Overall Conformation Score	A linear function of three composites 	(0.28)			
Overall Udder Score		0.38	144		
Overall Feet & Leg Score		0.14	144		
Locomotion	WHFF definition	0.08	144		
Body Condition Score	WHFF definition	0.30	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.