Genetic analysis of longitudinal measurements of feed intake in Piétrain sire lines

in Journal of Animal Science (in press)

Genetic analysis of pig survival in a crossbred population

in Journal of Animal Science (in press)

La mortalité de l'abeille domestique : entre communication médiatique et scientifique

Conference given outside the academic context (2013)

A l’heure actuelle, plus personne n’ignore que nos populations d’abeilles domestiques subissent de lourdes pertes, chez nous comme dans de nombreux autres pays. Les médias ont axés leur communication sur ... [more ▼]

A l’heure actuelle, plus personne n’ignore que nos populations d’abeilles domestiques subissent de lourdes pertes, chez nous comme dans de nombreux autres pays. Les médias ont axés leur communication sur des messages très simples. On en retient surtout que les pesticides tuent nos abeilles. La conclusion au problème est dès lors évidente : il faut interdire les pesticides. Mais cette problématique est-elle si simple ? Ce message est-il le même que celui communiqué par les scientifiques ? Cette conférence permettra de faire le point sur les pertes en colonies d’abeilles domestiques. On s’intéressera plus particulièrement aux pertes de ces dernières années en Belgique, cartes et chiffres à l’appui. On y verra aussi comment chacun, qu’il soit citoyen, apiculteur, agriculteur,… peut aider à enrayer cette mortalité effrayante. [less ▲]

Evaluation of Heat Stress Effects on Production Traits and Somatic Cell Score of Holsteins in a Temperate Environment

in Journal of Dairy Science (2013), 96(3), 1844-1855

This study was aimed to evaluate the degree of thermal stress exhibited by Holsteins under a continental temperate climate. Milk, fat, protein, and somatic cell count test-day records collected between ... [more ▼]

This study was aimed to evaluate the degree of thermal stress exhibited by Holsteins under a continental temperate climate. Milk, fat, protein, and somatic cell count test-day records collected between 2000 and 2011 from 23,963 cows in 604 herds were combined with meteorological data from 14 public weather stations in Luxembourg. Daily values of six different thermal indices (TI) weighted in term of temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, and wind speed were calculated by averaging hourly TI over 24 hours. Heat stress thresholds were firstly identified by a broken-line regression model. Regression models were thereafter applied to quantify milk production losses due to heat stress. The tipping points at which milk and protein yields declined were effectively identified. For fat yield, no valid threshold was identified for any of the studied TI. Daily fat yields tended to decrease steadily with increasing values of TI. Daily somatic cell scores (SCS) pattern was marked by increased values at both lowest and highest TI ranges with a more pronounced reaction to cold stress for apparent temperature indices. Thresholds differed between TI and traits. For production traits, they ranged from 62 (TI1) to 80 (TI3) for temperature-humidity indices (THI) and from 16 (TI5) to 20 (TI6) for apparent temperature indices. Corresponding SCS thresholds were higher and ranged from 66 (TI1) to 82 (TI3) and from 20 (TI5) to 23 (TI6), respectively. The largest milk decline per unit of mild, moderate, and extreme heat stress levels of 0.164, 0.356, and 0.955 kg, respectively, was observed when using the conventional THI (TI1). The highest yearly milk, fat, and protein losses of 54, 5.7, and 4.2 kg respectively were detected by TI2, the THI index that is adjusted for wind speed and solar radiation. The latter index could be considered as the best indicator of heat stress to be used for forecast and herd management in a first step in temperate regions under anticipated climate changes. [less ▲]

Sur la voie de l’élevage laitier de précision en Wallonie - 2. ValLait, OptiVal et OptiVal+ : valoriser des données du contrôle des performances

in 18ème Carrefour des Productions agricoles: Nouvelles approches pour une optimisation de nos élevages laitiers (2013, February)

L'intérêt des races mixtes dans les systèmes laitiers : enseignements du projet BlueSel

in 18ième Carrefour des Productions animales : Nouvelles approches pour une optimisation de nos élevages laitiers (2013, February)

La « Bleue Mixte » (BM) est une race à petit effectif localisée de part et d’autre de la frontière franco-belge. Menacée de disparition, elle bénéficie d’un projet transfrontalier BlueSel soutenu par le ... [more ▼]

La « Bleue Mixte » (BM) est une race à petit effectif localisée de part et d’autre de la frontière franco-belge. Menacée de disparition, elle bénéficie d’un projet transfrontalier BlueSel soutenu par le programme européen INTERREG IV et les autorités françaises et wallonnes. L’objectif de ce projet est d’assurer la conservation, la sélection et la promotion de la BM. L’un des volets du programme a consisté à étudier la rentabilité économique des troupeaux BM. Il s’est appuyé sur un réseau de 16 fermes de références mis en place fin 2008 jusque mi 2012. La collecte des données techniques et économiques sur les 4 années comptables de 2007 à 2010 a reposé sur la méthodologie mise en oeuvre au sein du dispositif français des Réseaux d’élevage. Les exploitations BM ont été regroupées selon deux systèmes, herbivore et polyculture-élevage, et comparées aux exploitations laitières Prim’Holstein (PH) du Réseau d’élevage de Nord-Picardie. Les résultats démontrent la capacité des éleveurs de vaches BM à obtenir de bonnes performances économiques malgré de plus faibles productivité laitière (4225 l/VL) et taux (3,70 % de MG et 3,22 % de protéines), et un moindre prix du lait, grâce notamment à une conduite de troupeaux bien maîtrisée, des surfaces fourragères très bien valorisées, et la mixité lait-viande très affirmée de la race qui atténue les fluctuations du prix du lait. En système herbivore, les exploitations BM s’avèrent économes et autonomes avec une excellente valorisation des prairies. En système de polyculture-élevage, les troupeaux sont conduits de façon à peine plus intensive qu’en système herbivore, contrairement aux troupeaux PH. [less ▲]

Genetic variability of the mid-infrared prediction of lactoferrin content in milk for Walloon Holstein first-parity cows

in Livestock Science (2013), 151(2-3), 158-162

The objective of this study was to assess the genetic variability of the mid-infrared prediction of lactoferrin content in milk (pLF) in Holstein first-parity cows. Variance components were estimated by ... [more ▼]

The objective of this study was to assess the genetic variability of the mid-infrared prediction of lactoferrin content in milk (pLF) in Holstein first-parity cows. Variance components were estimated by Average Information Restricted Maximum Likelihood using a single-trait test-day random regression animal model. The dataset included 395,287 test-day records from 67,178 cows in 1190 herds from the Walloon Region of Belgium. Average pLF was 164.89. mg/L and the standard deviation was 76.07. mg/L. Frequency distribution for pLF was slightly asymmetrical, and pLF seemed to increase almost linearly all along the first lactation after a sharp decrease in early lactation. Genetic variance of pLF increased with days in milk within lactation while the permanent environmental variance was the highest in early lactation, then decreased to become lower than genetic variance at 50 days in milk, and finally increased in the last lactation stages. The pLF was a moderately heritable trait. Daily heritability of pLF was the lowest at 5 days in milk (0.19), then increased to reach a maximum at 260 days in milk (0.44), and finally decreased for the last stages of lactation (0.35 at 365 days in milk). Results from this study indicated that pLF is variable and heritable over the lactation and therefore it could be changed by genetic selection. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. [less ▲]

Integration/blending of external information into genetic/genomic evaluations

Diverse speeche and writing (2012)

Diversité de l’abeille & sélection de souches tolérantes à Varroa destructor

Conference given outside the academic context (2012)

Présentation des 2 volets de recherche du projet "Selapis" (D31-1280) : la diversité de l'abeille et la sélection de souches tolérantes au Varroa

Estimation of genetic parameters for longitudinal measurements of feed intake in Piétrain sire lines

Conference (2012, August 30)

The aim of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters for longitudinal measurements of feed intake (FI) in a crossbred population of pigs to develop a genetic evaluation model for the estimation of ... [more ▼]

The aim of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters for longitudinal measurements of feed intake (FI) in a crossbred population of pigs to develop a genetic evaluation model for the estimation of breeding values for FI of Piétrain boars. Data were collected on crossbred pigs in test station in the context of the genetic evaluation system of Piétrain boars in the Walloon Region of Belgium. Trait analyzed was daily FI (DFI). Because there were no facilities to record individual DFI in the Walloon test station, individual DFI were assumed to be the total pen FI divided by the number of pigs per pen. The edited dataset consisted of 3,902 measurements of DFI recorded on 1,975 crossbred pigs from 75 purebred Piétrain sires and 150 Landrace dams from the hyperprolific Landrace K+ line. A random regression animal model with fixed effects of sex and pen, and random effects of additive genetic, permanent environment and residual was developed in this study. Random additive genetic and permanent environment effects were modeled with linear splines with knots located at 75, 100, 175 and 210 d. The mean DFI was 1.979 kg/d with a SD of 0.479 kg/d. Estimated heritability for DFI increased with age from 0.02 at 75 d to 0.30 at 210 d. Estimated genetic correlation between age decreased when age interval increased. These preliminary results are consistent with literature. However, additional research are ongoing to test alternative random regression models that should be better than using splines for longitudinal performance of DFI. Furthermore, genetic relationship between DFI and other production traits, like growth and carcass traits, must be analyzed. [less ▲]