Polled Fleckvieh (Simmental) cattle – Current state of the breeding program

Abstract

Systematic breeding of polled Fleckvieh (Simmental) cattle in Bavaria dates back until 1974 when the first polled cow was purchased for breeding purposes. Until 1985 three polled bulls and two more polled dams were purchased and from 1984 on the first homozygous bulls were produced via embryo transfer. Until 1990 the polled allele was only common in beef strains of the Fleckvieh breed. At the beginning of the 1990s the first polled alleles were introduced into the dairy herd of the State Research Farm in Grub. This research farm acted as the nucleus for the introgression of the polled allele in the dual-purpose lines of the Fleckvieh breed. Since 2003 polled calves in all herds under milk recording were systematically recorded and the polled phenotype was regularly examined by employees of the Bavarian State Research Institute for Agriculture. At the same time a systematic cooperation with Bavarian herdbook organizations and AI-stations was established. Between 2000 and 2011 in total 193 polled bulls were raised at the Bavarian State Research Institute for Agriculture (LfL), of which 37 entered AI-stations. Currently the dual-purpose population of Fleckvieh comprises 7055 polled cows and 175 polled AI-sires. In 2013 and 2014 approximately 22,000 and 32,000 polled calves were born per year. The analysis of relationships showed that the polled bulls are less related to the horned population and that until now the introgression has caused negligible amounts of additional inbreeding. It is expected that in 2021 the proportion of polled cows in the Fleckvieh dual-purpose population will be at 10.5% of all cows if the progression of polledness continues linearly. However, it can be expected that the progression will accelerate due to the new possibilities offered by genomic preselection of polled AI-bulls. First experiences with genomically preselected polled bulls show a very good acceptance among breeders.