| This study was aimed at defining profitability measures designed for prediction of breeding values (EBV) in dairy cows. Performance and economic data recorded in herds enrolled in the DHIA (Dairy Herd Improvement Association) program in Kentucky, USA, were used to evaluate economic functions which included the following profitability measures: lifetime net income (LNI), efficiency (EF), milk income over feed costs (IOFC), net income per day of productive life (NIPL), net income at the end of the first lactation (NI1), and milk income over feed costs at the end of the first lactation (IOFC1). The estimated averages for LNI, EF, IOFC, NIPL, NI1 and IOFC1 were respectively US$ 532.13, 1.04, US$ 3038.19, US$ -0.16, US$ -69.34 and US$ 1293.77. The heritability... |
