Clasen J B, Bengtsson C, Källström H N, Strandberg E, Fikse W F, Rydhmer L
Dept. of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7023, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
Dept. of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7023, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden; VikingGenetics, VikingGenetics Sweden AB, 53294 Skara, Sweden.
Animal. 2021 Dec;15(12):100409. doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2021.100409. Epub 2021 Nov 25.
Breeding technologies play a significant role in improving dairy cattle production. Scientifically proven tools for improved management and genetic gain in dairy herds, such as sexed semen, beef semen, genomic testing, dairy crossbreeding, and multiple ovulation embryo transfer (MOET), are readily available to dairy farmers. However, despite good accessibility, decreasing costs, and continuous development of these tools, their use in Sweden is limited. This study investigated Swedish dairy farmers' preferences for breeding tools through a survey including a discrete choice experiment. The survey was distributed online to 1 521 Swedish farmers and by an open link published through a farming magazine. In total, the study included 204 completed responses. The discrete choice experiment consisted of 10 questions with two alternative combinations, which gave 48 combinations in total. Utility values and part-worth values were computed using a conditional logit model based on the responses in the discrete choice experiment for nine groups of respondents: one group with all respondents, two groups based on respondents using dairy crossbreeding or not within the past 12 months, two based on herd size, two based on respondent age, and two based on whether respondents had used breeding advisory services or not. The strongest preferences in all groups were for using sexed semen and beef semen. Genomic testing was also significantly preferred by all groups of respondents. Except in large herds, MOET on own animals was significantly and relatively strongly disfavoured by all groups. Buying embryos had no significant utility value to any group. Dairy crossbreeding had low and insignificant utility values in the group of all respondents, but it was strongly favoured by the group that had used dairy crossbreeding within the past 12 months, and it was disfavoured by the group that had not. Part-worth values of combined breeding tools showed that combinations of sexed and beef semen, alone or with genomic testing without dairy crossbreeding, were the most preferred tools. Compared with the most common combinations of breeding tools used in the past 12 months, the part-worth values indicated that Swedish dairy farmers may prefer to use breeding tools more than they do today. Statements on the different breeding tools indicated that the respondents agreed with the benefits attributed to the breeding tools, but these benefits may not be worth the cost of genomic testing and the time consumption of MOET. These valuable insights can be used for further development of breeding tools.
育种技术在提高奶牛产量方面发挥着重要作用。一些经过科学验证的工具可用于改善奶牛群的管理并实现遗传增益，如性别分选精液、肉牛精液、基因组检测、奶牛杂交育种以及多次排卵胚胎移植（MOET），这些工具已为奶农广泛使用。然而，尽管这些工具易于获取、成本不断降低且持续发展，但它们在瑞典的应用却很有限。本研究通过一项包含离散选择实验的调查，探究了瑞典奶农对育种工具的偏好。该调查通过在线方式分发给1521名瑞典奶农，并通过一份农业杂志发布的公开链接进行。本研究总共收到了204份完整回复。离散选择实验由10个问题组成，每个问题有两种备选组合，总共产生48种组合。基于离散选择实验中九组受访者的回答，使用条件logit模型计算效用值和部分价值。这九组受访者分别是：一组为所有受访者，两组分别基于受访者在过去12个月内是否使用奶牛杂交育种，两组基于牛群规模，两组基于受访者年龄，两组基于受访者是否使用过育种咨询服务。所有组中最强烈的偏好是使用性别分选精液和肉牛精液。基因组检测也受到所有受访者组的显著青睐。除了大群奶牛外，所有组对在自己的奶牛上进行多次排卵胚胎移植均持显著且相对强烈的反对态度。购买胚胎对任何组都没有显著的效用价值。在所有受访者组中，奶牛杂交育种的效用值较低且不显著，但在过去12个月内使用过奶牛杂交育种的组中受到强烈青睐，而未使用过的组则持反对态度。组合育种工具的部分价值表明，性别分选精液和肉牛精液单独使用或与基因组检测结合使用（不进行奶牛杂交育种）是最受青睐的工具。与过去12个月内使用的最常见育种工具组合相比，部分价值表明瑞典奶农可能比现在更倾向于使用育种工具。关于不同育种工具的陈述表明，受访者认同这些育种工具所带来的益处，但这些益处可能不值得基因组检测的成本和多次排卵胚胎移植所耗费的时间。这些有价值的见解可用于育种工具的进一步开发。
