Martin-Collado D, Byrne T J, Amer P R, Santos B F S, Axford M, Pryce J E
AbacusBio Limited, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
AbacusBio Limited, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
J Dairy Sci. 2015 Jun;98(6):4148-61. doi: 10.3168/jds.2014-9194. Epub 2015 Apr 8.
Giving consideration to farmers' preferences for improvements in animal traits when designing genetic selection tools such as selection indexes might increase the uptake of these tools. The increase in use of genetic selection tools will, in turn, assist in the realization of genetic gain in breeding programs. However, the determination of farmers' preferences is not trivial because of its large heterogeneity. The aim of this study was to quantify Australian dairy farmers' preferences for cow trait improvements to inform and ultimately direct the choice of traits and selection indexes in the 2014 review of the National Breeding Objective. A specific aim was to analyze the heterogeneity of preferences for cow trait improvements by determining whether there are farmer types that can be identified with specific patterns of preferences. We analyzed whether farmer types differed in farming system, socioeconomic profile, and attitudes toward breeding and genetic evaluation tools. An online survey was developed to explore farmers' preferences for improvement in 13 cow traits. The pairwise comparisons method was used to derive a ranking of the traits for each respondent. A total of 551 farmers fully completed the survey. A principal component analysis followed by a Ward hierarchical cluster analysis was used to group farmers according to their preferences. Three types of farmers were determined: (1) production-focused farmers, who gave the highest preference of all for improvements in protein yield, lactation persistency, feed efficiency, cow live weight, and milking speed; (2) functionality-focused farmers with the highest preferences of all for improvements in mastitis, lameness, and calving difficulty; and (3) type-focused farmers with the highest preferences of all for mammary system and type. Farmer types differed in their age, their attitudes toward genetic selection, and in the selection criteria they use. Surprisingly, farmer types did not differ for herd size, calving, feeding system, or breed. These results support the idea that preferences for cow trait improvements are intrinsic to farmers and not to production systems or breeds. As a result of this study, and some bioeconomic modeling (not included in this study), the Australian dairy industry has implemented a main index and 2 alternative indexes targeting the different farmer types described here.
在设计诸如选择指数等遗传选择工具时，考虑农民对动物性状改良的偏好可能会提高这些工具的采用率。遗传选择工具使用的增加反过来将有助于在育种计划中实现遗传进展。然而，由于农民偏好存在很大的异质性，确定他们的偏好并非易事。本研究的目的是量化澳大利亚奶农对奶牛性状改良的偏好，以便为2014年国家育种目标评估中的性状选择和选择指数提供信息并最终进行指导。一个具体目标是通过确定是否存在可与特定偏好模式相识别的农民类型，来分析奶牛性状改良偏好的异质性。我们分析了不同农民类型在养殖系统、社会经济概况以及对育种和遗传评估工具的态度方面是否存在差异。开展了一项在线调查，以探究农民对13种奶牛性状改良的偏好。采用成对比较法得出每位受访者对性状的排序。共有551名农民完整地完成了调查。使用主成分分析，随后进行沃德层次聚类分析，根据农民的偏好对他们进行分组。确定了三种类型的农民：（1）以生产为重点的农民，他们对提高蛋白质产量、泌乳持续性、饲料效率、奶牛活重和挤奶速度的偏好最高；（2）以功能为重点的农民，他们对改善乳腺炎、跛足和产犊困难的偏好最高；（3）以类型为重点的农民，他们对乳腺系统和体型的偏好最高。不同类型的农民在年龄、对遗传选择的态度以及使用的选择标准方面存在差异。令人惊讶的是，不同类型的农民在畜群规模、产犊、饲养系统或品种方面没有差异。这些结果支持了这样一种观点，即对奶牛性状改良的偏好是农民内在的，而非生产系统或品种所固有。由于本研究以及一些生物经济模型（本研究未包括），澳大利亚乳制品行业已经实施了一个主要指数和两个针对此处所述不同类型农民的替代指数。
