Status as of: 2022-01-04

Form GE

DESCRIPTION OF NATIONAL GENETIC EVALUATION SYSTEMS

Country (or countries)	NORWAY	
Main trait group1
NOTE! Only one trait group per form!	CONFORMATION	
Breed(s)	Norwegian Red (NR)	
Trait definition(s) and unit(s) of measurement2
Attach an appendix if needed	https://www.geno.no/contentassets/f60df29c591d4c38941694ca5ab684d3/manual-for-eksteriorvurdering-1.pdf	
Method of measuring and collecting data	Conformation traits:
Objective measurement and subjective scoring at a 9 level scale (see appendix), carried out by technicians. Dairy advisers (TINE) carry out conformation scoring on behalf of GENO. App. 60 advisers participate each year with on average 300 scored animals each. The season starts in August and ends in July. A list used to be designed to give at least 2 daughters in each herd, resulting in an average of 3 daughters per herd and season in a total of 6000 herds. Starting 2018, conformation scoring is performed in herds with at least 10 genotyped females. Conformation scoring may be repeated over years in these herds, resulting in multiple records per animal.

Claw health traits:
Recording of claw disorders at claw trimming is voluntary. 	
Time period for data inclusion	Conformation: Since August 1987
Claw health: Since 2004.	
Age groups (e.g. parities) included	Conformation: First parity only, until 2014. Then, 1st to 3rd parity; and from 2018, 1st to 5th parity. 
Claw health: All parities.	
Other criteria (data edits) for inclusion of records	Conformation traits:
Reasonable age at calving within parity is required. All traits must be recorded on each daughter (except for Stature). Sire must be logical (Set by herd recording system at birth. Single AI, or same sire if double AI at same heath. Reasonable interval between last AI and calving of dam).

Claw health traits:
Reasonable age at calving within parity is required. Within each herd at least 10 cows with healthy claws had to be reported within the time period. Sire must be logical (Set by herd recording system at birth. Single AI, or same sire if double AI at same heath. Reasonable interval between last AI and calving of dam).
	
Criteria for extension of records (if applicable)		
Sire categories	One category, AI bulls of NRF. 
Conformation traits:
Before the 1999 season, only daughters of test bulls were recorded. 
In order to achieve overlap of bull batches, recording daughters of elite bulls was introduced in the 1999 season. This enables better estimates of genetic trend.
From 2002 daughters of imported bulls have been recorded to improve structure in MACE.	
Environmental effects3, pre-adjustments 	Conformation traits:
Heterogeneous variance for season. Until the 2001 season, most of the subjective scores were done on a 1-3 scale. This was changed in the 2002 season, where a 1-9 scale was introduced. In order to use the complete dataset in genetic evaluation, standardization of the traits within season was performed: 

FTP, RUH and UDE was introduced as 1-9 scale traits in 2010. Their old counterparts have now been rescaled and the pairs are combined into single traits. FTP with ‘cm between front teats’. RUH with ‘rear udder attachment’. UDE with ‘cm udder-floor’.
Heterogeneous variance for technician.	
Method (model) of genetic evaluation3	MT-RP-AM. Seven groups of traits, udder/teats, leg/body and claw health are analyzed separately.	
Environmental effects3 in the genetic evaluation model	Conformation traits:
Level of heterozygosity (FR).
Days from calving to scoring, 1st and 2nd degree (FR).
Herd * 5-year periods (F).
Technician (F).
Year by month of calving (F).
Hours from milking to scoring (F). 
Age (months) at scoring (F).
Herd * year 1) ~N(0, σ2h); (R).
1) Year at end of testing-season (August-July)
Permanent Environment ~N(0, σ2pe); (R).

Claw health traits:
Year by month of calving (F).
Parity (F). Parity >4 is set to 4.
Tie stall or Loose housing (F).
Category of claw trimmer (F)
Time from calving to claw trimming, 4 periods (F).
Herd*year ~N(0, σ2h); (R).	
Adjustment for heterogeneous variance in evaluation model		
Use of genetic groups and relationships	Complete additive relationship with inbreeding and genetic groups. 
Missing pedigree grouped by year of birth. 
If unknown sire was possible AI-bull or ancestor of imported AI-bull then 3 years are added. 
If unknown sire was certain AI-bull or possible sire of embryo then 7 years are added.	
Blending of foreign/Interbull information in evaluation	None	
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	Correlations to previous estimates of EBV. Check on genetic trend.	
Expression of genetic evaluations
If standardised (e.g. RBV), give standardisation formula in the appendix	RBV with mean=100 and SD=12.	
Definition of genetic reference base
Next base change	Rolling average of dairy cows born 3 to 8 years previous to current evaluation. Updated at every evaluation.
Standard deviation based on AI-bulls born 5 to 12 years prior to July 1st 2019. Kept constant for the time being.	
Calculation of reliability	Interbull procedure of Mix99.	
Criteria for official publication of evaluations	Daughters in at least 10 different herds.
At least 50 daughters with phenotype.	
Number of evaluations / publications per year	3	
Use in total merit index4	TMI, Udder index accounts for 20.5%, feet and leg index 2.5% and claw health index 3.8%. Composition of indices, see appendix.	
Anticipated changes in the near future		
Key reference on methodology applied	https://www.geno.no/contentassets/f60df29c591d4c38941694ca5ab684d3/manual-for-eksteriorvurdering-1.pdf

https://www.geno.no/contentassets/f60df29c591d4c38941694ca5ab684d3/noteringsskjema_nordic-classification.pdf

https://www.geno.no/contentassets/f60df29c591d4c38941694ca5ab684d3/nc_web16.11.16.pdf

MiX99 Development Team (2015). MiX99: A software package for solving large mixed model equations. Release VIII/2015. Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). Jokioinen, Finland.  http://www.luke.fi/mix99.

Strandén, I., M. Lidauer, E.A. Mäntysaari and J. Pösö (2000). Calculation of Interbull weighting factors for the Finnish test day model. Interbull Bulletin no. 26: 78-79.	
Key organisation: name, address, phone, fax, e-mail, web site	GENA SA, Storhamargata 44, N-2317 Hamar, Norway.
Phone: +47 95020600
E-mail: post@geno.no
Web site: www.geno.no.	
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 GE

Parameters used in genetic evaluation

Country (or countries):	Norway	
Main trait group:	Conformation	
Breed (repeat as necessary):	RDC (Norwegian Red)	

Trait	Definition	ITBa	h2b	genetic
varianceb	official proof
standardisation formulac	
Stature, sta	cm	X	0.6791	0.507748		
Chest Width, cwi	scale 1-9	X	0.1646	0.136522		
Heart Girth	cm	-	0.4465	14.0921		
Body Depth, bde	scale 1-9 	X	0.2184	0.174763		
Angularity, ang	scale 1-9	X	0.0907	0.075227		
Rump Width, rwi	scale 1-9	X	0.3333	0.273238		
Rump Angle, ran	scale 1-9	X	0.3298	0.251757		
Rear Leg Set, rls	scale 1-9	X	0.1959	0.161075		
Rear Leg Rear View, rlr	scale 1-9	X	0.1586	0.129629		
Foot Angle, fan	scale 1-9	X	0.1609	0.116911		
Fore Udder Attachment, fua	scale 1-9	X	0.2077	0,162194		
Rear Udder Attachment, OLD	scale 1-9	-	0.078	0.063		
Rear Udder Height, ruh	scale 1-9	X	0.1886	0.148510 		
Rear Udder Width, ruw	scale 1-9	-	0.1975	0.156443 		
Udder Support, usu	scale 1-9	X	0.1786	0.134334		
Distance Udder-Floor	cm	-	0.358	4.953		
Udder Depth, ude	scale 1-9	X	0.3724	0.277448		
Distance between front teats	cm		0.254	3.311 		
Front Teat Placement, ftp	scale 1-9	X	0.3325	0.246349 		
(Front)Teat Length, ftl	scale 1-9	X	0.4653	0.386091		
Teat Thickness, tth	scale 1-9	-	0.3396	0.270224			
Rear Teat Placement, rtp	scale 1-9	X	0.3326	0.235893 		
Udder Type	scale 1-9	-	0.077	0.062		
Udder Balance, udb	scale 1-9	-	0.2081	0.149080		
Supernumerary Teats	No.	-	0.3082	0.017655		
Conformation Score, OLD	scale 1-10	-	0.0859	0.029462		
Conformation Score, ocs	scale 0-10	X	0.0885	0.040114		
Bone Quality, boq	scale 1-9	-	0.3239	0.272159		
Hock Quality, hoq	scale 1-9	-	0.1584	0.125133		
Top Line, tpl	scale 1-9	-	0.1713	0.137977		
Overall Udder Score, ous	index	X	0.2889			
Overall Feet & Legs, ofl	index	X	0.1635			
Claw health 	index	-	0059			
Hoof Quality	Scale 1-9	-	0.0951	0.062098		
Laminitis related claw disorders	0/1	-	0.023	0.001		
Infectious claw disorders	0/1	-	0.029	0.001		
Corkscrew claw	0/1	-	0.057	0.004		
a	Indicate, with X, traits that are submitted to Interbull for international genetic evaluations.
b	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.
c	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.

Table 1. Conformation traits recorded
Trait	Scoring	Preferred score	Recorded	
Stature, sta	cm	135 - 145	2000-	
Heart Girth	cm	High	1987-2010	
Chest Width, cwi	scale 1-9	5.5	2014-	
Body Depth, bde	scale 1-9	6	2010-	
Top Line, tpl	scale 1-9	6.5 - 7	2014-	
Angularity, ang	scale 1-9	5.5	2014-	
Rump Width, rwi	scale 1-9	5	2014-	
Rump Angle, ran	scale 1-9	5	1987-	
Rear Leg Set, rls	scale 1-9	5	1987-	
Rear Leg Rear Wiew, rlr	scale 1-9	8	1987-	
Hock Quality, hoq	scale 1-9	9	1996-	
Bone Quality, boq	scale 1-9	7.5	2014-	
Foot Angle, fan	scale 1-9	7	1987-	
Fore Udder Attachment, fua	scale 1-9	9	1987-	
Rear Udder Height, ruh	scale 1-9	9	2010-	
Rear Udder Width, ruw	scale 1-9	9	2010-	
Rear Udder Attachment, OLD	scale 1-9		1987-2010	
Udder Support, usu	scale 1-9	9	2001-	
Distance Udder-Floor	cm	High	1987-2014	
Udder Depth, ude	scale 1-9	9	2010-	
Front Teat Placement, ftp	scale 1-9	8	2010-	
Distance between Front Teats	cm		1987-2010	
(Front)Teat Length, ftl	scale 1-9	6	1996-	
Teat Thickness, tth	scale 1-9	6	1996-	
Rear Teat Placement	scale 1-9	4	2001-	
Udder Type	scale 1-9	1	1987-2014	
Udder Balance, udb	scale 1-9	5	1987-	
Supernumerary Teats	No.	None	1987-	
Overall Conformation Score, OLD	scale 1-10	10	1987-2014	
Overall Conformation Score, ocs	scale 0-10	10	2014-	
Overall Udder Score, ous	Index	High	1987-	
Overall Feet & Leg Score, ofl	Index	High	2014-	
Claw health index	Index	High	2004-	
Hoof quality	scale 1-9	9	1987-	
Laminitis related claw disorders	0/1	0	2004-	
Infectious claw disorders	0/1	0	2004-	
Corkscrew claw	0/1	0	2004-	

Correlation tables, genetic above and residual below diagonal

Table 2. Trait group 1.
Trait	usu	ftp	rtp	
Udder Support, usu		0.108	 -.525	
Front Teat Placement, ftp	0.143		-.558	
Rear Teat Placement, rtp	-.226	-.338		

Table 3. Trait group 2.
Trait	sta	bde	fua	ruh	ruw	udb	ude	
Stature, sta		0.199	0.097	0.083	-.014	-.017	0.413	
Body Depth, bde	0.102 		0.050	-.060	0.087	-.150	-.361	
Fore Udder Attachment, fua	-.028	0.040		0.279	0.255	-.094	0.542	
Rear Udder Height, ruh	0.032	0.044	0.157		0.782	-.238	0.263	
Rear Udder Width, ruw	0.037	0.075	0.172	0.413		-.136	0.040	
Udder Balance, udb	0.021	-.039	-.039	-.060	-.041		-.299	
Udder Depth, ude	0.046	-.094	0.148	0.044	-.005	-.073		

Table 4. Trait group 3.
Trait	boq	xsp	ftl	tth	
Bone Quality, boq		0.010	-.162	-.318	
Supernumerary teats, xsp	0.015		0.115	0.037	
(Front)Teat Length, ftl	-.020	0.006		0.460	
Teat Thickness, tth	-.034	0.013	0.404		

Table 5. Trait group 4.
Trait	boq	sta	ang	bde	cwi	hoq	rwi	
Bone Quality, boq		-.371	-.128	-.452	-.634	0.727	-.476	
Stature, sta	-.063 		0.526 	0.198	0.175	-.261	0.474	
Angularity, ang	-.004	0.076 		0.371 	0.046	0.030	0.264	
Body Depth, bde	-.085	0.102	0.171 		0.581 	-.319	0.316	
Chest Width, cwi	-.085	0.118	0.135	0.254 		-.529 	0.362	
Hock Quality, hoq	0.155	-.007	0.024	-.013	0.003 		-.362	
Rump Width, rwi	-.088	0.107	0.098	0.119	0.132	-.011		

Table 6. Trait group 5.
Trait	fua	ran	tpl	
Fore Udder Attachment, fua		-.233	-.040	
Rump Angle, ran	-.064		0.378	
Top Line, tpl	-.022	0.155		

Table 7. Trait group 6.
Trait	sta	fan	hfq	rlr	rls	
Stature, sta		0.293 	0.046	-.019	0.133	
Foot Angle, fan	0.036 		0.178 	0.118	0.515	
Hoof Quality	-.017	0.073 		-.017 	0.216	
Rear Leg Rear View, rlr	0.032	0.088	0.014 		0.212	
Rear Leg Set, rls	0.120	0.146	0.037	0.131		

Table 8. Trait group 7.
Trait	ocs	sta	ran	ocO	hgt	
Overall Conformation Score, ocs		0.5577	-0.1996	0.8131	0.4026	
Stature, sta	0.1712		0.1301	0.7679	0.4963	
Rump Angle, ran	-0.0116	0.0156		-0.2329	-0.1371	
Overall Conformation Score Old, ocO	0.0000	0.2296	-0.0460		0.5064	
Harth Girth, hgt	0.0000	0.2296	-0.0743	0.1969		

Table 9. Trait group 8.
Trait	HQ	LRCD	ICD	CC	
Hoof quality		-0.3028	-0.1230	-0.8094	
Laminitis related claw disorders	-0.0259		0.1205	0.2803	
Infectious claw disorders	0.0135	0.0026		0.0945	
Corkscrew claw	-0.2291	-0.0017	-0.0295		

Table 10. Composition of udder index, ous
Trait	Weight	
Udder Depth, ude	20.2	
Rear Udder Width, ruw	3.1	
Rear Udder Height, ruh	7.2	
Fore Udder Attachment, fua	14.0	
Udder Support, usu	15.6	
Rear Teat Placement, rtp	13.8	
Front Teat Placement, ftp	12.0	
(Front)Teat Length, ftl	8.3	
Teat Thickness, tth	0	
Udder Balance, udb	5.8	

Table 11. Composition of feet and leg index, ofl
Trait	Weight	
Foot Angle, fan	53.0	
Rear Leg Rear View, rlr	47.0	

Table 12. Composition of claw health index
Trait	Weight	
Corkscrew claw	44.9	
Infectious claw disorders	24.7	
Laminitis related claw disorders	30.4	

 
Form GE	Appendix CO

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

Country (or countries):	Norway	
Main trait group:	Conformation	
Breed(s):	RDC (Norwegian Red)	

Trait	Definition	h2a	genetic
variancea	official proof
standardisation formulab	
Stature, sta	cm	0.6791	0.507748		
Chest Width, cwi	scale 1-9	0.1646	0.136522		
Body Depth, bde	scale 1-9	0.2184	0.174763		
Angularity, ang	scale 1-9	0.0907	0.075227		
Rump Angle, ran	scale 1-9	0.3298	0.251757		
Rump Width, rwi	scale 1-9	0.3333	0.273238		
Rear Leg Set, rls	scale 1-9	0.1959	0.161075		
Rear Leg Rear View, rlr	scale 1-9	0.1586	0.129629		
Foot Angle, fan	scale 1-9	0.1609	0.116911		
Fore Udder Attachment, fua	scale 1-9	0.2077	0,162194		
Rear Udder Height, ruh	scale 1-9	0.1886	0.148510 		
Udder Support, usu	scale 1-9	0.1786	0.134334		
Udder Depth, ude	scale 1-9	0.3724	0.277448		
Front Teat Placement, ftp	scale 1-9	0.3325	0.246349 		
(Front)Teat Length, ftl	scale 1-9	0.4653	0.386091		
Rear Teat Placement, rtp	scale 1-9	0.3326	0.235893		
Overall Conformation Score, ocs	scale 0-10	0.0855			
Overall Udder Score, ous	index	0.2889			
Overall Feet & Leg Score, ofl	index	0.1635			
Locomotion, loc					
Body Condition Score, bcs					
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.