EFFECT OF BREEDING LENGTH ON GENETIC IMPROVEMENT IN JAPANESE HOLSTEIN POPULATION

The effect of breeding length of sire on genetic progress was examined in the Holstein dairy cattle population in Japan. Genetic progress was extimated by gene flow method. Breeding length of sires directly influences the replacement rates of sires and the selection intensity of sires because there are a fixed number of progeny tested young bulls per year. As breeding length of sires increased, rate of gene flow decreased and average proportions of genes deriving from selected animals had lower asymptotic values. When breeding length was short, average proportions of genes required a longer period to converge to asymptotic values. Changes of Rcow-sire's(sire to breed recorded cows) and Ncow-sire's(sire to breed non recorded cows) breeding length influenced not only transmission of their genes but also that of genes derived from all other selected animals. Irrespective of whether the discount rate was assumed to be 0 or 6%, longer term (${\geq}$ 20 years) expected total genetic improvement was maximized by a sire breeding length of five years. For shorter term assessment(10 years), genetic improvement was maximized by a sire breeding length of three years. There was a linear increase in the contribution of the sire to bulls pathway to the total genetic improvement, with increase in the term of assessment.