• Project Title: Selection across farms, use of auktion and feeding data, and the selection of breeding animals before end feeding

• Funded by: The Fur Levy Foundation (Pelsdyrafgiftsfonden)
• Head of project: Professor Mogens Sandø Lund, Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics
• Industry partner: Kopenhagen Fur
• Project period: 1 January 2018 - 31 December 2020
• Amount granted: 3.510.000 DKK

Project description:​

The purpose of the project is to examine how the creation of genetic links and breeding value assessments across farms, as well as the inclusion of new traits based on auction data and data for feed efficiency in a multi trait model will affect the genetic progress and subsequently lead to increased income. The project will also provide knowledge of which consequences a selection of breeding animals before fattening will have on the genetic progress. 

The project is divided in four parts:

1. Joint breeding value assessment of several farms which exchange breeding animals.
2. Development of a model for the involvement of auction data in the form of size and quality parameters directly in the breeding value assessment, instead of using the traits from the live animal grading, where the correlation to auction data is below 1.
3. Development of a model for feed efficiency.
4. Examination of the consequences for the genetic progress at early selection and missing fattening of the breeding animals, including the effect on the fur traits at fattening/no fattening, as well as the interaction between genes and environment (GxE) and consequences for the reproduction.