Characterization of the dairy farm environment in Great Britain and the effect of the farm environment on cow life span.
Characterization of the dairy farm environment in Great Britain and the effect of the farm environment on cow life span.
复制标题
英国奶牛场环境的特征以及农场环境对奶牛寿命的影响。
DOI：
10.3168/jds.2006-865
复制
发表时间：
2007
影响因子：
3.5
通讯作者：
I. White
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
M. Haskell;S. Brotherstone;S. Brotherstone;Alistair Lawrence;I. White
奶牛场所使用的饲养和管理系统差异很大。这些差异会影响奶牛的生产性能，并且某些基因型可能比其他基因型受到的影响更大。如果这种基因型与环境相互作用（GxE）的影响很大，那么农民必须了解它们，以便做出明智的育种决策。为了研究 GxE，根据英国奶牛场的国家级和精细级数据开发了农场环境分类系统。国家数据包括牛群和产量特征以及当地天气信息。精细数据包括农场饲养和管理系统的信息，是从778个农场的调查结果中获得的。调查的主成分分析确定了表征数据的两个主要维度。第一个维度解释了 14.6% 的变异，与生产强度水平有关。第二个维度解释了 11.5% 的变化，与气候有关。然后从调查农场的国家数据库中提取有关产奶量、牛群特征和气候的信息。使用典型相关分析将调查数据与从国家数据集中提取的变量相关联，以确定最相关的变量。所选国家数据集和调查变量之间的典型相关性为 0.62。然后使用这种环境分类来确定农场环境如何影响奶牛的寿命。 1000个父亲的女儿的寿命与农场环境类型有关。大多数公牛的女儿表现出“可塑性”反应，在集约程度较低的农场中寿命更长。少数公牛的女儿表现出更普遍的反应，寿命受环境影响较小。该 GxE 表明，父亲的女儿对不同农场环境的敏感性有所不同。这种反应的变化可以让育种公司和农民将公牛与特定的农场环境相匹配。
Dairy farms vary a great deal in the feeding and management systems that are used. These differences affect the performance of the cows, and some genotypes may be affected more than others. If effects of such genotype-by-environment interactions (GxE) are large, then farmers must be made aware of them to make informed breeding decisions. To investigate GxE, a classification system for farm environments was developed based on national- and fine-level data from dairy herds across the United Kingdom. The national data included herd and yield characteristics and local weather information. The fine-level data included information on feeding and management systems on farms, and was obtained from survey results from 778 farms. A principal components analysis of the surveys identified 2 major dimensions characterizing the data. The first dimension explained 14.6% of the variation and was related to the level of production intensity. The second dimension explained 11.5% of the variation and was related to climate. Information on milk yield, herd characteristics, and climate was then extracted from national databases for the survey farms. A canonical correlation analysis was used to relate the survey data to the variables extracted from the national data set to determine the most relevant variables. The canonical correlation between the chosen sets of national data and survey variables was 0.62. This environmental classification was then used to determine how the farm environment affects the life span of dairy cows. The life span of the daughters of 1,000 sires was related to the type of farm environment. The daughters of a majority of sires showed a "plastic" response, with increased life span in less intensive farms. The daughters of a smaller number of sires showed a more generalized response, with life span being less affected by the environment. This GxE suggested that sires vary in the sensitivity of their daughters to different farm environments. This variation in response could allow breeding companies and farmers to match sires to particular farm environments.