Connecting with Jay Weiker

This spring, the Chair position of the CDCB Board of Directors transitioned from Jay Weiker to Lindsey Worden. This month, Jay recaps the CDCB progress under his recent two-year tenure as CDCB Board Chair. Spoiler alert… the July CDCB Connection will feature a look-ahead with Lindsey.
 
Jay, looking back at the past 2 years, what do you see as the top few accomplishments?
Weiker: While companies involved in the genetic evaluation process understand the role CDCB performs, the function of CDCB is not widely understood outside of that group. The addition of Katie Schmitt as Outreach Specialist will help connect allied industry with the various CDCB programs and services. She will also be a key resource for breed associations that will benefit from more direct contact with CDCB. Genetic progress is important to all dairy breeds.
 
In August 2021, Residual Feed Intake (RFI) was included in the updated Net Merit $ index. Generating new phenotype data will be essential to keep this trait relevant. The industry will continue to study what RFI is telling us and if adjustments should be made.  
 
Commenced development of two new traits – milking speed and lameness – both require new models to be developed and phenotypic data to be analyzed to determine value to the evaluation. Developing these new traits takes more time since it also involves the collection and analysis of phenotypic data that is not readily available.
 
Board governance was enhanced by the implementation of a board self-evaluation process, and a long-term strategy session was conducted in April.
 
CDCB has launched a new website as well as WebConnect to facilitate faster and smoother data exchange. A task force is also evaluating changes that could be made to the genetic evaluation reporting format to simplify and streamline the process.

 
Previously you’ve described CDCB strategic investments “behind-the-scenes” to develop new traits and collect new and more data. Please tell us more.
Weiker: The dairy industry continues to change and modernize at a rapid pace. The tools built decades ago to collect phenotype data are quickly being replaced by modern technology. More data is being generated, but not in the traditional way. CDCB must develop new pipelines so new and accurate data can flow and be available for inclusion in the genetic evaluations.  
 
Additionally, most new traits do not have clean data readily available, and that will require the development of new data streams and data sources. The low-hanging fruit has been picked, and we are now working on data collection for new economically important traits.
   
A significant investment is being made in research and data collection that can lead to the reduction in methane and greenhouse gases. While genetic progress will take many generations, improving efficiency and reducing the carbon footprint for dairy producers is expected by consumers and the general public.   
 
The Dairy Breed Improvement Collaboration is a newer initiative involving CDCB, NAAB and others. How and why did this come about?
Weiker: During conversations with associations and bull owners in the Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Guernsey and Milking Shorthorn breeds, there was a consistent message that “one size fits all” was not helping those breeds make genomic progress. The A.I. Service fee structure was cost prohibitive, making it less appealing to use genomic evaluations for marketing. 
 
The collaboration was developed to make it more cost effective for bull owners to participate in the genomic evaluations that will help the entire breed make more genetic progress. A key to improving the accuracy and reliability of genomic evaluations is to have more animals in the reference population and increased participation of genomic testing of females.

Not all breed associations have the same technical support for genetic improvement programs. One key aspect of the collaboration was the creation of the Outreach Specialist role as a resource for breed associations and a more direct link to CDCB. Ultimately, this collaboration is intended to make the genomic evaluation system work for the improvement of all breeds. 
 
What does your crystal ball forecast for U.S. dairy genetics?
Weiker: Genetic progress will continue at the speed of technological developments. The evaluation system must evolve and account for changes to management, technology, equipment and reproduction strategies as they develop.
 
Steady genetic progress will be made so dairy cattle in the future will be more efficient in converting feed to milk with reduced methane emissions and with better health and fertility. 
 
Expect continued growth in international markets for U.S. dairy genetics. 
 
An increased emphasis on measuring and selecting for heat tolerance and consistently improving reproductive performance will help U.S. genetics perform in hotter climates.  
 
How do you describe the core purpose and value of CDCB?
Weiker: CDCB assembles data from multiple sources and turns this into genetic evaluations that can be used by U.S. and international producers. Since CDCB does not market genetic material, they are the industry’s independent, third-party entity that produces unbiased genetic evaluations for producers to make data-driven breeding and management decisions. CDCB is governed by a board of directors representing the different sectors that contribute to the national cooperator database, and thereby facilitates collaboration in areas that benefit all.