An Estimate of the Economic Gain from Selection to Reduce BRDC Incidence in Dairy Calves

Abstract Text: Bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in cattle. The general research objective of this coordinated agriculture  project (CAP) is to use genomic approaches to identify chromosome regions and genes associated with susceptibility to BRDC. The cost of BRDC losses in pre-weaned dairy calves varies depending on market conditions, individual farm operating costs and incidence rates across farms and time.  This study estimates the economic value of the rate of genetic gain using two reported incidence rates.  The economic estimates identify that up to a 16% improvement in net margin can be obtained by reducing BRDC incidence using the economic costs from a BRDC CAP study site.  The value of the rate of genetic gain is $0.13 and $0.20 per head per year for incidence rates of 0.09 and 0.25 respectively, using phenotypic selection assumptions.

Keywords: dairy, genomics, economics