{"id":5103,"date":"2025-03-27T07:04:40","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T12:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.absglobal.com\/za\/?p=5103"},"modified":"2025-03-28T02:53:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T07:53:01","slug":"u-s-base-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.absglobal.com\/za\/u-s-base-change\/","title":{"rendered":"The Upcoming U.S. Base Change: What Does It Mean for You?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dairy producers are making faster genetic progress than ever before<\/strong>, meaning genetics are constantly improving. Thus, genetic evaluations must evolve to ensure their accuracy and relevance. <\/strong>They must also adapt to include new data, the latest research, and breeding advancements introduced to the dairy industry.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why it is important to understand the U.S. base change coming in April 2025. This blog will give you a high-level overview of what a base change is, why it occurs, and what its impact will be.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a Base Change?<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Understanding the meaning of each trait on a genetic evaluation or bull proof<\/a>, as well as the possible financial impacts they could have on your dairy, is crucial. In certain situations, a single-point movement\u2014whether favorable or unfavorable\u2014may not make much of a difference, but in others, the impact may be greater.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every dairy animal with a genetic evaluation or bull proof based on Council of Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB)<\/a> and Holstein USA data is compared to the breed population average, known as the base. As a reminder, traits are measured as predicted transmitting abilities (PTAs) relative to the base.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every five years, this base is recalibrated in the U.S. to account for genetic progress made within the population for key traits like milk production, fertility, and health. In other words, think of a base change as a report card of how much genetic progress has been made <\/strong>when compared to the previous generation. Updating the base every five years provides a constant comparison between your herd and the set average and allows you to see genetic progress. However, as we move further away from the base year, it is important to remember that you are estimating animals based on an average that is behind, genetically, what the current herd is.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current PTA base reflects dairy cows born in 2015, since the previous base revision was made in 2020. April 2025 is the next base change<\/a> and represents dairy cows born in 2020. It\u2019s important to keep these base change adjustments in mind, as they ensure that genetic evaluations remain relevant<\/a> by comparing today\u2019s animals against a more recent benchmark rather than historical averages.\u202f<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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