Source: Hoard’s Dairyman
A new “milking speed” trait (MSPD) will be introduced in the August 2025 genetic evaluations for Holsteins, offering dairy producers a way to improve milking efficiency through selective breeding. Developed by the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB) and USDA’s AGIL, MSPD uses objective data from in-line milk meters, measuring pounds of milk produced per minute in conventional milking systems. Current Holstein bulls range from 6.2 to 8.1 pounds per minute, with an average of 7.
Analysis of over 131,000 lactations revealed MSPD has a heritability of 42%, making it the most heritable of more than 50 traits evaluated by CDCB. This high heritability means farmers can breed more effectively for faster-milking cows, helping reduce bottlenecks caused by slow milkers and improving parlor throughput. Once officially released, MSPD will provide a clear, numeric breeding value—expressed in milk flow rate—to guide herd improvement strategies.
Read the full story HERE: https://hoards.com/article-36728-novel-milking-speed-trait-is-highly-heritable.html