Evaluating the ability of a lifetime nutrient-partitioning model for simulating the performance of Australian Holstein dairy cows

Abstract

The present study determined the ability of a lifetime nutrient-partitioning model to simulate individual genetic potentials of Australian Holstein cows. The model was initially developed in France and has been shown to be able to accurately simulate performance of individual cows from various breeds. Generally, it assumes that the curves of cow performance differ only in terms of scaling, but the dynamic shape is universal. In other words, simulations of genetic variability in performance between cow genotypes can be performed using scaling parameters to simply scale the performance curves up or down. Validation of the model used performance data from 63 lactations of Australian Holstein co..