Weir R L, Haagen I W, Ambrozek C E, Dechow C D, Hadrich J C
Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108.
Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108.
J Dairy Sci. 2025 Jul;108(7):7224-7234. doi: 10.3168/jds.2024-25922. Epub 2025 May 9.
Lifetime net merit (NM) is a genetic selection index based on the weighted average of economically relevant traits to the dairy cow. It is measured in dollars as the expected lifetime profitability of a cow. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between average sire net merit management decisions and farm profitability for Minnesota dairy farms from 2012 to 2018 using a unique herd-year dataset (n = 227) containing production data for dairy cows, sire NM, and the respective financial information for the farm. We extended the net merit and profitability analysis by analyzing the individual net merit traits that might be driving profitability. Ordinary least squares models were estimated for 4 profitability measures: operating profit margin, rate of return on assets (RROA), net farm income (NFI), and NFI per cow. Results indicated that herd sire net merit has a positive and significant relationship with RROA, NFI, and NFI per cow. A $100 increase in the herd's sire net merit was associated with an 18% (0.6 percentage point) increase in RROA, $12,100 increase in NFI, and $87 increase in NFI per cow, all else equal. Although the genetic association was significant, it explained 3.62% or less variation, highlighting that herd genetics were not the primary factor driving profitability. A few of the individual net merit traits held a significant relationship with profit, but most of the individual net merit traits did not. We concluded that it is not individual traits that influenced profitability, but rather the collective group of traits. The results from this study suggested that decisions related to genetic selection are valuable for a farm's profit and confirmed that when selecting genetics, it was most effective to select sires based on an economic index, rather than specific traits.
终身净效益（NM）是一种基于奶牛经济相关性状加权平均值的遗传选择指数。它以美元为单位衡量，是一头奶牛预期的终身盈利能力。本研究的目的是利用一个独特的畜群年度数据集（n = 227），评估2012年至2018年明尼苏达州奶牛场平均父本净效益管理决策与农场盈利能力之间的关联，该数据集包含奶牛生产数据、父本NM以及农场的相应财务信息。我们通过分析可能推动盈利能力的个体净效益性状，扩展了净效益和盈利能力分析。针对4种盈利能力指标估计了普通最小二乘法模型：营业利润率、资产回报率（RROA）、农场净收入（NFI）和每头奶牛的NFI。结果表明，畜群父本净效益与RROA、NFI和每头奶牛的NFI呈正相关且显著。在其他条件相同的情况下，畜群父本净效益每增加100美元，RROA增加18%（0.6个百分点），NFI增加12100美元，每头奶牛的NFI增加87美元。虽然遗传关联显著，但它解释的变异不超过3.62%，这突出表明畜群遗传不是推动盈利能力的主要因素。一些个体净效益性状与利润有显著关系，但大多数个体净效益性状没有。我们得出结论，影响盈利能力的不是个体性状，而是性状的集合。本研究结果表明，与遗传选择相关的决策对农场利润很有价值，并证实了在选择遗传品种时，基于经济指数而不是特定性状选择父本是最有效的。
