The CDCB wishes to acknowledge the work of Paul VanRaden in providing most of the information contained in this page. The original version of this page is available in the USDA-ARS website.
Genetic evaluations evolution (USDA until 2015)
| Year | Eval changed | No./year | Release months | Traits included |
| 1936 | Bull (new) | 1 | Summer (exact month varied) | Milk, fat |
| 1940 | Bull | 12 | Each month (bulls with many additional daughters since last evaluation re-evaluated) | Milk, fat |
| 1960 | Bull | 4 | February, May, August, November | Milk, fat |
| 1964 | Cow | 2 | January, July | Milk, fat |
| 1967 | Bull/cow | 3 | January, May, September | Milk, fat |
| 1977 | Bull | 3 | January, May, September | Milk, fat, protein |
| 1978 | Bull/cow | 2 | January, July | Milk, fat, protein (bulls only), type1 |
| 1985 | Cow | 2 | January, July | Milk, fat, protein, type1 |
| 1994 | Bull | 2 | January, July | Milk, fat, protein, somatic cell score (SCS), productive life (PL), type1 |
| 1995 | Cow | 2 | January, July | Milk, fat, protein, SCS, PL, type1 |
| 1997 | Bull/cow | 4 | February, May, August, November | Milk, fat, protein, SCS, PL, type1 |
| 2002 | Bull | 4 | February, May, August, November | Milk, fat, protein, SCS, PL, calving ease (CE), type1 |
| 2003 | Bull/cow | 4 | February, May, August, November | Milk, fat, protein, SCS, PL, CE (bulls only), daughter pregnancy rate (DPR), type1 |
| 2006 | Bull | 4 | February, May, August, November | Milk, fat, protein, SCS, PL, CE (bulls only), stillbirth (SB), DPR, type1 |
| 2008 | Bull/cow | 3 | January, April, August | Milk, fat, protein, SCS, PL, CE (bulls only), SB (bulls only), DPR, type1 |
| 2010 | Bull/cow | 3 | April, August, December | Milk, fat, protein, SCS, PL, CE (bulls only), SB (bulls only), DPR, cow conception rate (CCR), heifer conception rate (HCR), type1 |
| 1 USDA then, now CDCB, calculates type evaluations for breeds other than Holstein; Holstein type evaluations calculated by Holstein Association USA. | ||||
Computing sites used for genetic evaluations
| Year | Owner | Location | Computer |
| 1959 | Commodity Credit branch, USDA | New Orleans, LA | IBM 705 |
| 1965 | Navy Bureau of Personnel | Arlington, VA | |
| 1968 | Computer Center, Statistical Reporting Service, USDA | Washington, DC | |
| 1970 | Sears and Roebuck, Inc. | Rockville, MD | IBM 360 |
| 1973 | National Agricultural Library, USDA | Beltsville, MD | IBM 360 |
| 1975 | Washington Computer Center, USDA | Washington, DC | IBM 370 |
| 1987 | USDA Computing Center | Kansas City, MO | IBM 370 |
| 1985 | Cornell University Database maintained at USDA Computing Center |
Ithaca, NY Kansas City, MO |
IBM 3090 IBM 370 |
| 1990 | Cornell University Database maintained at Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory (AIPL), USDA |
Ithaca, NY Beltsville, MD |
IBM 3090 IBM 9370 |
| 1993 | AIPL (evaluation processing and database) | Beltsville, MD | IBM RS6000 P series |
| 2002 | AIPL (evaluation processing and database) | Beltsville, MD | IBM X series servers |
| 2015 | CDCB (evaluation services and collaborator database) | Bowie, MD | HP Proliant Gen9 servers |
USDA dairy evaluation laboratory names
| Year | Laboratory name | Institute/Bureau Name |
| 1908 | Dairy Division | Bureau of Animal Industry |
| 1926 | Dairy Introduction Section | Bureau of Dairy Industry |
| 1929 | Dairy Herd Improvement Investigations | Bureau of Dairy Industry |
| 1954 | Dairy Herd Improvement Section | Dairy Cattle Research Branch |
| 1968 | Dairy Herd Improvement Investigations Unit | Animal Science Research Institute |
| 1972 | Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory (AIPL) | Animal and Physiology Institute |
| 1979 | AIPL | Animal Science Institute |
| 1986 | AIPL | Livestock and Poultry Science Institute |
| 2000 | AIPL | Animal and Natural Resources Institute |
| 2012 | AIPL | Beltsville Agricultural Research Center |
History of US dairy evaluations (USDA until 2015)
| Year | Event |
|
1862 |
A Department of Agriculture is introduced by Lincoln and established by the 1865 Morrill Act. |
|
1895 |
USDA begins collecting milk and fat production records of individual cows. |
|
1908 |
USDA hires Helmer Rabild (photo) to organize a national milk-recording program after his success in organizing the first State program in Michigan (photo). |
|
1912 |
An inbreeding experiment begins with repeated sire-daughter matings (photo). |
|
1918 |
USDA leases many of its young bulls to farmers to develop proven sires; a total of 1,200 bulls were leased over the next 40 years (photo). |
|
1922 |
USDA’s Bureau of Animal Industry (Sewall Wright) defines relationships among animals and inbreeding coefficients (photo). |
|
1925 |
Sorting and tabulating of cow records is done on electric machines (photo). |
|
1925 |
Dairy breeds are described and yields compared (photo). |
|
1935 |
A uniform series of eartags was developed to allow unique identification of all cows tested by DHIA (photo 1, photo 2,photo 3). |
|
1935 |
Milk records are available for only about 2% of dairy cows (photo 1, photo 2). |
|
1936 |
The first national sire evaluations are calculated from daughter-dam comparisons (photo 1, photo 2). |
|
1947 |
A crossbreeding trial of Holsteins, Jerseys, and Red Danes is completed (photo). |
|
1949 |
The research herd includes Holstein cows with 75% inbreeding, the highest ever recorded (photo). |
|
1959 |
An IBM 705 computer replaces more than 100 employees and 100 individual adding machines. |
|
1961 |
Laboratory moves from Washington, DC, to Beltsville, MD. |
|
1962 |
Sire evaluations are computed using herdmate comparisons, which better account for differences in management (photo). |
|
1964 |
National cow evaluations replace the regional evaluations of processing centers (photo). |
|
1974 |
The modified contemporary comparison, which better accounted for genetic trend, is used in computing genetic evaluations (photo). |
|
1976 |
Mexican Holstein milk yield is evaluated by USDA for the next 20 years. |
|
1977 |
Protein and solid-not-fat evaluations are computed (photo). |
|
1978 |
Type evaluations for breeds other than Holstein are calculated at USDA. |
|
1981 |
Maternal ancestors are incorporated in cow evaluation. |
|
1989 |
Animal model evaluations use the relationships among all cows and bulls (photo). |
|
1997 |
A website replaces computer tapes for distribution of genetic evaluations. |
|
1999 |
Laboratory moves (within Beltsville) from building 263 to building 005. |
|
1999 |
National Dairy Shrine survey ranks genetic evaluations the 2nd most positive and significant change in the last 50 years (AI is 1st). |
|
2001 |
Laboratory survives a direct hit by a tornado. |
|
2008 |
USDA Laboratory celebrates 100 years (research leaders) |
|
2013 |
A 5 year Non-Funded Cooperative Agreement (NFCA) is signed between CDCB and USDA-ARS. CDCB to provide the services, AGIL does the research and development |
|
2015 |
Transition of services from USDA to the CDCB completed |
|
Current |
For recent changes in genetic evaluations (1989–present), see changes in evaluations |
References
- Hodgson, R. 1956. Dairy production research in the United States Department of Agriculture. J. Dairy Sci. 39:674.
- Hodgson, R. 1986. Dairy production research by the United States Department of Agriculture 1895–1980: A historical review. USDA Misc. Publ. No. 1447, 64 pp.
- King, G. 1973. The National Cooperative Dairy Herd Improvement Program: History, purpose, and organization. Dairy Herd Improvement Letter 49(4).
Compiled by Paul VanRaden