In February 2014, genomic evaluation was recognised as official in Poland. This revolutionary tool for the genetic improvement of the population can be used for both bulls and heifers and cows. This is extremely important because so far the accuracy of the selection of bulls has been incomparably greater than that of females. Genomic breeding value for male and female is determined with the same accuracy, also for health, fertility and longevity traits.

By using selection based on genomic breeding values, the breeder can make decisions on:

• selection of heifers for herd replacement,
• Selecting the most appropriate bull to cover a heifer or a cow,
• Selling surplus breeding material,
• Acceleration of the development of a genetically valuable cow family by the use of for example embryo transplantation.

This allows for a significant acceleration of breeding progress and for the improvement of the economic efficiency of breeding.

Breeders using the female genomisation service are provided with advisory including the interpretation of the results and assistance in their practical use in breeding work in the herd.

Perfectly trained personnel and the state-of-the-art research equipment as well as cooperation with Illumina, the world leader in the production of microarrays, guarantee the highest quality of results.

Genomic evaluation results

In Poland, the genomic breeding value is estimated 6 times a year (three official and three additional seasons).

Breeders genotyping Polish Holstein-Friesian females at the PFHBiPM Cattle Genetics Laboratory are informed about the results after each evaluation season, according to the schedule presented below.