Optimising breeding of dairy cows: Leveraging genetics for more sustainable production

Part 1 Within and across-breed genetic diversity

• 1.Advances in understanding and improving genetic diversity in dairy cattle: Filippo Miglior, University of Guelph, Canada
• 2.Advances in strategies to promote selection whilst controlling inbreeding in dairy cattle breeding programmes: Christian Maltecca, North Carolina State University, USA;
• 3.Advances in dairy-breed crossbreeding and outbreeding in dairy cattle: Nicolas Lopez-Villalobos, Massey University, New Zealand;
• 4.Advances in beef-on-dairy crossbreeding: Luiz F. Brito, Purdue University, USA;
• 5.Challenges and opportunities in developing dual/multi-purpose dairy breeds: Lisa Rienesl, University of Göttingen, Germany;

Part 2 Advances in genomics and phenomics

• 6.Advances in phenomic technologies in dairy cattle: Gareth Difford, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Norway;
• 7.Advances in phenomics from milk to deliver genetic gain in difficult to measure traits in dairy cattle: Maria Frizzarin, Irish Cattle Breeders Foundation, Ireland;
• 8.Developments in statistical techniques for analysing multi-level omic data in dairy breeding: Daniela A. L. Lourenco, University of Georgia, USA;
• 9.Advances in genomic functional annotation techniques to improve genomic prediction in dairy cattle: Yansen Chen, University of Liège, Belgium;
• 10.Advances in understanding, detection and management of genetic defects in dairy cattle: Didier Boichard and Aurélien Capitan, Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, Jouy-en-Josas, France;
• 11.Advances in gene editing techniques for dairy cattle: Alison Van Eenennaam, University of California-Davis, USA;

Part 3 Leveraging 'omics' technologies

• 12.Advances in microbiome-driven approaches in dairy cattle: Oscar Gonzalez-Recio, INIA Madrid, Spain;
• 13.Advances in metabolomics in dairy cattle genetics: Luca Fontanesi, University of Bologna, Italy;
• 14.Advances in transcriptomics in dairy cattle genetics: Haja Kadarmideen, Aarhus University, Denmark;
• 15.Advances in nutrigenetics/nutrigenomics in dairy cattle genetics: Juan J. Loor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA;

Part 4 Applications

• 16.Advances in breeding indices for dairy cattle: John Cole, Council for Dairy Cattle Breeding, USA;
• 17.Advances in breeding for improved feed efficiency in dairy cattle: Mike Coffey, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), UK;
• 18.Advances in breeding for improved milk production/quality traits in dairy cattle: Giulio Visentin, University of Bologna, Italy;
• 19.Advances in breeding for improved heat/humidity tolerance in dairy cattle: Peter Hansen, University of Florida, USA;
• 20.Advances in breeding for improved health in dairy cattle: Georgios Oikonomou, University of Liverpool, UK;
• 21.Advances in breeding for reproductive efficiency in dairy cattle: Matthew Lucy, University of Missouri, USA;
• 22.Advances in breeding for calving performance in dairy cattle: Chad Dechow, The Pennsylvania State University, USA;
• 23.Advances in breeding for improved longevity in dairy cattle: Albert De Vries, University of Florida, USA;

Professor Donagh Berry is a Senior Principal Research Officer in quantitative genetics at Teagasc, Ireland as well as holding several (inter)national professorship appointments. He is strongly engaged in third-level education and extension to a wide range of different stakeholders. He was awarded a higher Doctorate in Science based on published works which included >400 peer reviewed scientific journal articles mostly relating to dairy cow breeding. Working across species, his research interests are in phenotyping strategies, breeding goal development and deployment, genetic evaluations and genomic predictions.

“As dairy breeding programs continue to evolve beyond a primary focus on production to encompass health, welfare, resilience and sustainability, access to authoritative and up-to-date scientific knowledge has never been more important. Edited by Professor Donagh Berry, this volume brings together leading international experts to provide a comprehensive overview of the latest advances in dairy cattle genetics, genomics and phenomics. Covering both methodological developments and practical applications, it will be a valuable resource for researchers, students, breeding organisations and industry professionals seeking to develop more sustainable and resilient dairy production systems.” (Professor Jennie Pryce, Agriculture Victoria and La Trobe University, Australia)