The Net Merit selection indices will be updated with the triannual evaluations on August 10, 2021, per decision of the CDCB Board at its April 21-22 meeting.
The CDCB Board considered input from several groups, including a joint session with the Producer Advisory Committee (PAC) and Genetic Evaluation Methods (GEM) working group.
The Net Merit formula update will include the newer traits of Feed Saved, Heifer Livability and Early First Calving, along with updated economic values. The goal is to use the most current research so CDCB indices are a premier predictor of dairy animal profit potential on modern dairy farms.
Hot-off-the-press is a comprehensive paper, “Net Merit as measure of lifetime profit: 2021 revision,” which details the revised Net Merit formula, expected genetic progress, derivation of economic values and reference papers. This report is authored by Paul VanRaden, John Cole, Mahesh Neupane and Sajjad Toghiani of USDA AGIL, along with Kristen Gaddis of CDCB and Rob Tempelman of Michigan State.
A large communication campaign has been in place since the CDCB Board of Directors approved its implementation. Resources include:
- Main document including all technical details (AGIL)
- Net Merit 2021 FAQ document
- Videos
- Webinar recordings
- Including more information on Feed Saved and Residual Feed Intake
- June 2021 webinar slides
Source: CDCB
