Files

Abstract

An economic model was used to evaluate the profitability of genetic improvement investment of dairy cattle, under five productive conditions typical of Chile. To this effect an index that estimates the net present value (NPV) of a semen dose was elaborated. This index considers the prices of semen, milk, fat and protein, real interest rate, genetic merit with regard to milking and conformation features, production costs and reproductive parameters. The model was employed to (1) measure the effect of genotype-environment interaction on the profitability of the investment in semen, (2) the relationship between the NPV, price of semen and the genetic merit indicators, and (3) the sensitivity of the NPV with regard to changes in herd fertility. Results show that the NPV is highly determined by the price of semen and that the predicted transmitting ability (PTA) for milk is the best profitability estimator. The improvement in milk solid contents and the investment on high price semen resulted profitable only for those production levels where the coefficients of response to selection are the highest.

Details

PDF

Statistics

from
to
Export
Download Full History