The index includes two new proprietary traits.
With the December sire summary, GENEX releases the Ideal Commercial Cow (ICC$) index for Jersey cattle along with two new proprietary traits. The data-driven ICC$ index focuses on areas Jersey cattle producers rank as most important to their operations.“Development of this ICC$ index for Jerseys was driven by our members and customers demanding a comprehensive index that specifically looked at genetic selection for their commercial operations,” explains Huub te Plate, GENEX Chief Operating Officer.
GENEX formulated the index utilizing data points from multiple sources; the data sources mirror those of the ICC$ index for Holsteins, which was released in 2014. Data sources include the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding, the Canadian Dairy Network and the Cooperative Resources International (CRI) dairy research database, which consists of GENEX and AgSource Dairy data. The index was collaboratively calculated with the CRI International Center for Biotechnology.
The ICC$ index for Jerseys is comprised of three sub-indexes: Cheese Maximizer, Sustainability and Fertility. Producers can easily customize their genetic selection by first selecting for the ICC$ index and then narrowing their emphasis to a specific sub-index.
Also released are two proprietary traits for Jersey cattle: Age at First Calving (AAFC) and Calf Survivability (CSRV). These traits, calculated by GENEX, are the first of their kind in the industry and are included in the ICC$ index for Jerseys. AAFC highlights the importance of daughter fertility within the breed; heifers calving in early equals bottom-line profit. CSRV brings awareness to genetics that breed hardiness and survivability into newborn calves.
“It was listening to our customers’ needs and wants that inspired us to develop an index and traits that would help them better their herds,” states te Plate. “These developments are further illustrations of our commitment to providing customers with innovative excellence and science-based cattle genetics.”
The ICC$ index, AAFC and CSRV values are available on all GENEX Jersey sires and included in the sire catalog.
