The French method of genetic evaluation of dairy animals

Abstract

The main characteristics of the dairy traits evaluation system applied in France from 1990 are presented, with emphasis on the differences with respect to the previous system. The BLUP method, applied to- an animal model, takes into account all the available information, which is summarized for each animal into three synthetic components : its pedigree value (i.e. the average of its parents breeding values (BV)) ; twice the weighted average of the BV of its progeny, adjusted for its mate ; the weighted average of its own records, adjusted for environmental effects. The weight of each component is explained, justified and illustrated with some examples.