Genetic analysis on infrared-predicted milk minerals for Danish dairy cattle
R.M. Zaalberg, Nina Aagaard Poulsen, Henk Bovenhuis, Jakob Sehested, Lotte Bach Larsen, Bart Buitenhuis
Abstract
of 0.63, and a relative error of 18.8%. Prediction accuracies of milk minerals based on infrared-predicted fat, protein, and lactose content were considerably lower than those based on the infrared milk spectra. This shows that the milk infrared spectrum contains valuable information on milk minerals, which is currently not used. Heritability for infrared-predicted Ca, Na, and P varied from low (0.13) to moderate (0.36). Several QTL for infrared-predicted milk minerals were observed that have been associated with gold standard milk minerals previously. In conclusion, this study has shown infrared milk spectra were good at predicting Ca, Na, and P in milk. Infrared-predicted Ca, Na, and P had low to moderate heritability estimates.