Genotype by Environment Interaction for Milk Production Traits Between Organic and Conventional Dairy Cattle Production in The Netherlands

Estimates of genetic parameters for organic dairy farming have not been published previously, and neither is information available on the magnitude of genotype by environment interaction (G×E) between organic and conventional farming. However, organic farming is growing worldwide and basic information about genetic parameters is needed for future breeding strategies for organic dairy farming. The goal of this study was to estimate heritabilities of milk production traits under organic farming conditions and to estimate the magnitude of G×E between organic and conventional dairy farming. For this purpose, production records of first-parity Holstein heifers were used. Heritabilities of milk, fat and protein yield, and somatic cell score (SCS) were higher under organic farming conditions. For percentages of fat and protein, heritabilities of organic and conventional production were very similar. Genetic correlations between preorganic and organic, and organic and conventional milk production were 0.79 and 0.80, respectively. For fat yield, these correlations were 0.86 and 0.88, and for protein yield, these were 0.78 and 0.71, respectively. Our findings indicate that moderate G×E was present for yield traits. For percentage of fat and protein and SCS, genetic correlations between organic and conventional and preorganic production were close to unity, indicating that there was no G×E for these traits.