Prospectives for Genetic Improvement in the Economic Efficiency of Dairy Cattle

Decision methods affecting genetic composition of a herd become more practical as the objective function summarizes outputs at higher levels of organization. Incorporation of utility concepts beyond those strictly economic would lead also to practical decision methods by satisfying a spectrum of value considerations. Utility should include economic value and risk philosophy. Measurements of the net effect of performance derived from cows bred and producing in a herd over time lead to complex decision methods. A selection index or a best linear unbiased prediction technique by itself does not accommodate resource constraints, for example. Results from the literature are used to illustrate applications of animal indexing and mathematical programming that reflect differences in improvement programs differing in level of organization and concept of utility.