Browsing by Subject "traits"

Most of the organic dairy producers use conventional, non-organic animals to renew their breeding stock due to lack of breeding program for organic production. Milk production and food intake is usually lower amongst organic cows. Conventional production favour cows with great milk performance, which is a trait that is not as beneficial in organic production. Organic feed is often less energetic than the conventional, which easily leads to fertility and metabolic problems in organic cows with large genetic milk performance. The adaptation to different environments depends on the interaction between genotype and environment. Because of this, animals that thrive in one environment do not succeed as well in other environments. This research is based on organic dairy breeders’ opinions, experiences and future objectives. In this study I also draw conclusions on whether the Finnish organic dairy production would be in need of its own breeding program. The results of this paper are based on two questionnaires, which were sent to organic dairy producers in the end of year 2011. The first questionnaire was sent to 124 organic dairy producers and the other questionnaire to all who answered the first one. The first part consisted of basic questions about the producers’ opinions, goals and future plans, as well as a ranking of the most desirable traits in the breeding stock. In the second part the producers were asked, among other things, to rank the seven most desirable traits in a pairwise comparison using a scale of 1 – 9. The returned questionnaires were analysed by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process method (AHP) (Saaty and Vargas 2001). The consistencies of the answers were checked by calculating the matrixes consistency ratios using Microsoft Excel. The results of the AHP analysis showed that the organic producers favoured the following qualities, starting with the most favourable trait: udder health, milk production, temperament, fertility, milking abilities, leg health and body structure. Milk production was considered to be the most important trait amongst production qualities. Protein production came in second place and fat production in third and last place. The producers thought udder conformation to be more important than feet and legs and feet and legs to be more important than body size. The conclusion of the analysis is that organic dairy producers favour production traits differently than what is currently weighted in conventional production. According to organic preferences the organic producers should use local breeds. In practice, however, only 6,5% of the Finnish organic producers reported their herds to consist fully of Finn cattle, while 19,5% had a herd consisting of Finn cattle plus one other breed or several other breeds. This research shows that the majority of the Finnish organic dairy producers have similar breeding goals with the conventional production. Since the largest difference between organic and conventional dairy production is to be found in the environmental conditions, it would be beneficial to breed some of the conventional AI-bulls so that they would adapt better to organic conditions.