January 2015

Genomic Selection Drives Martin Dairy’s Milk
Production for Tillamook CheeseMartin Dairy uses Infinium® BovineSNP50 BeadChip technology to improve breeding decisions
and build one of the most productive Jersey herds in the United States.
Introduction
Norman Martin comes from a long line of dairy farmers who
made their way from Portugal to California, finally settling in thePacific Northwest. His farm is on land purchased in Tillamook,
Oregon in 1995 to raise and breed Holstein and Jersey cattle.
Eventually converting to a 100% Jersey herd in 1998, the herd
has grown from 80 to about 2200 cows. Today, Martin Dairy
is one of about 100 milk providers to the farmer-owned dairy
co-operative, Tillamook County Creamery Association1, homeof world renowned Tillamook cheese.
Working hand-in-hand with the American Jersey Cattle
Association2, Martin Dairy was an early adopter of genomic
technologies to improve dairy selection decisions. Norman
first used the BovineSNP50 BeadChip to genotype two
cows in March 2009. To stay ahead of the curve and expand
its use of the technology for dairy cattle breeding, MartinDairy continued incorporating new technology and currently
uses low-density arrays based on the original BovineSNP50
BeadChip. To date, the dairy has accumulated data on over
90% of its herd. Moreover, the Martin Dairy Jersey herd is thefourth highest genetically ranked herd in the United States,and sells seedstock, semen, and embryos internationallyfor artificial insemination (AI). Norman attributes his farm’s
success to the efficiency of the Jersey breed, and theadvantages genomic selection provides in accelerating thegenetic progress of his herd above breed averages for theeconomically important traits that are accelerating popularityof the breed globally.
iCommunity spoke with Norman to learn about the intricaciesof the Jersey breed and how he has used genomics tomaximize profits through increased productivity.
Q: What’s the history behind Martin Dairy?
Norman Martin (NM): We moved from California to Oregon
in 1995 when we bought 160 acres, but we’ve added 140
since then. I only brought up 80 cows. At the time, I thoughtthat milking a herd that was half Holsteins and half Jerseys
would be the right thing to do, given the milk market here.
But after a couple of years I found that I was wrong. Now
we are 100% Jersey.

Norman Martin (right) is owner of Martin Dairy in Tillamook, Oregon.
He and his son Chad manage a herd of more than 2000 Jersey cows.

Q: How did you begin providing milk to Tillamook Cheese?
NM: We’ve provided milk to Tillamook since we moved thefarm up here. All you have to do to become a member of theco-op is own a farm in Tillamook County and then become
approved by the board. There’s a lot of history that goes
into Tillamook. At one time, there were 27 cheese plants
in Tillamook County and 800 dairy farms. Now, everybody
in the County ships their milk to the co-op, so all the dairy
farmers are the owners of Tillamook Cheese. We have one
plant and about 100 members. Becoming a member is easy.
If you don’t meet the quality standards, you’ll be out of theco-op just as quickly.
Q: What was it about Jersey cows that made you switch
to a 100% Jersey operation?
NM: I kept hearing a buzz about Jerseys while I served aschair of the Holstein Sire Committee for probably about adozen years. I’d always sit in on the Jersey meetings aftermine because I was curious.
Fundamentally, it came down to yield and efficiency.
Approximately 80% of all the milk produced in the UnitedStates goes into manufacturing—cheese, butter, yogurt, andthe like. In order to manufacture these products, you need ahigh yield of the right milk components.

January 2015
For Tillamook Cheese, our vats are 50,000 pounds. If you fillthem with Jersey versus Holstein milk, you end up with 1000
pounds more cheese. When you’re processing 28 vats a day,that’s 28,000 pounds more cheese at the end of 24 hours forthe same amount of time and money. Because they offer ahigher yield of the right components, Jersey cows enable us tohave a more efficient operation.

“Because they offer a higher yieldof the right components, Jersey
cows enable us to have a more
efficient operation.”
Q: When did you begin using genomic selection tools inyour breeding program?
NM: Whenever new technologies come along, I usually getright on them within a short period. It’s part my personality, andpart surviving in the business world. If you want to stay aheadof the game, you better get on the train quickly.
We did some of the initial genotyping work in late 2007 using
some of the first tools, such as microsatellite analysis. Then
we took the whole-genome approach and did preliminary
testing with the 3K chip. Our first official genomic evaluations
for Jerseys were in January 2009 and the first 2 females
were genotyped from hair samples in March 2009 using theBovineSNP50 BeadChip. Their first genomic evaluations wereproduced in April 2009. These 2 cows now have more than
50 combined progeny, 9 sons in AI, and more than 1300
combined grandchildren.
We currently use low-density array systems with content
based on the original BovineSNP50 BeadChip. To date, 1991
Jersey males have been genotyped by Martin Dairy, including
85 fourth generation- and 13 fifth generation-bulls. Ninety-fourof our bulls have gone to national studs and entered into AI
service, with over 10,455 registered Jerseys being sired bya bull originating from our herd.

“We currently use low-densityarray systems with content
based on the original
BovineSNP50 BeadChip.”
Q: How do genomics tools integrate with the new
reproductive technologies that you are using to enhance
the genetic value of your herd?
NM: We have been using embryo transfer in our cows withthe highest genetic value for several years, so we have higher
genomic level calves coming through. We genotype all ofour heifers and use a genetic merit measurement called aP-Level to select which will enter our sex-sorted AI breeding.
We breed about 60 heifers each month, with those havinga P > 7 (on a 0–9 scale) bred with sex-sorted semen. Theseheifers rank in the top 20% of the Jersey breed. Breedingwith sex-sorted semen means that we try to breed more
females out of the high-level heifers, creating cows with evenhigher genetic values. With genotyping, we’re now able toidentify young sires that have higher genetic levels and use
those in our next generation with even more confidence
than before.
Q: What traits are you selecting for with genomics tools?
NM: Money is the main trait. I select for cows that will wear
well and produce many pounds of liquid cheese that I can ship
to the plant. We have many cows that stay around here until
they’re 8 or 9 years of age and then all of a sudden they getto where they can’t compete anymore.
Also, feed efficiency is important to everybody in the dairy
business. Feed is our biggest operating cost, and the Jersey
breed is the smallest breed. So if you want to look at it as
food per pound of cow versus how many pounds of cheese
produced, Jerseys are number one in the world.

“With genotyping, we’re now
able to identify young sires thathave higher genetic levels anduse those in our next generation
with even more confidence
than before.”
Q: Who does the data analysis and how is it integrated
with the phenotype information?
NM: The American Jersey Cattle Association, which I’m soproud to be a part of, provides us with all these tools. I’ll go
through the different AI studs when new bulls come through.
I look at their genotypes and pedigrees, make decisions on
which ones I want to use, and then I’ll send a list of heifers
that I’m breeding every month to the Jersey Association andthe 15 or 20 bulls that I plan on using. They send me a listback with three different choices, and I make the final decision
among the three. Because I run two different groups at a time,
I end up with six choices.
It’s the genotype that gives me all the information to makebreeding decisions and manage inbreeding, which is always
an issue. My system gives me all these choices. If I use bull
#1, I get this, if I use bull #2 I get that, and if I use bull #3 I getsomething else entirely, and I make decisions from there. The
resulting genetic evaluation uses phenotypic data along withJanuary 2015
the genomic information. So it’s an integrated product in theend when you get a breeding value.
Q: What is the value for you in comparing your herdwith other herds or the entire US Jersey population?
NM: Like anything else, everybody wants the gold medal.
I’ve always been that way. If someone has a car that can go
200 mph, I want mine to be able to do 202 mph. That’s what
it’s like in the dairy business—production and stayability ofcows is where money comes from and that’s the reason we’rein business.

“Now, because of the genetic
information that I have, my son
Chad and I can confidently
determine that a highly rated
genomic young sire is equivalent
to a proven sire and we don’thave to wait.”
Q: As a past board member of the Jersey Association,
can you talk about the Association’s leadership role in theimplementation of genomics to Jersey genetic evaluation?
NM: The Association has always been on the cutting edge.
But if you’d asked me some of these same questions 40 years
ago, I’d have told you that the Jersey breed would likely not
be here now. Best I can tell, it’s probably without a doubt thefastest growing dairy breed in the world.
A lot of people in the right places have made good decisions
about where the breed should go. We’ve seen other breeds,
for instance Guernsey dairy cattle, go from being one of theleading breeds in the United States in the 1940s to now
being on the “watch” list of The Livestock Conservancy3.
Q: How much is the genomic data on these young bulls
driving the process of selling them into AI now?
NM: Genomic data influences AI decisions more every day. I
really believe that. There’s always some hesitation when these
new things come along, but I’m full bore into it. When mostpeople buy their semen, they are looking at the genomic levelof that bull. Everybody has different ways of mating cows;
some are more concerned about udders while some might beconcerned about feet and legs so selection processes differ aswell. About 95% of the bulls that are even being considered forsampling at this point are genotyped. So it’s a major driver.

In the early days of genomic testing, I would only use sires thatwere ‘proven sires’ based on the production performance of
their offspring. That was true even though the genetics weregiving me a clear indication of their value. Now, because of
the genetic information that I have, my son Chad and I canconfidently determine that a highly rated genomic young sireis equivalent to a proven sire and we don’t have to wait.
Q: How do you keep track of the mating pairs and progeny?
NM: Every day, every cow that is bred or served on thatday gets entered into the computer. If someone from an AI
organization asked me right now how many cows I haveconfirmed pregnant to a specific bull, within about 15 seconds
I can tell them exactly how many. How many of those arecarrying heifers? Again, same answer. The system I use isDairy Comp 3054.
The Jersey Association that maintains all this data and theirservices are outstanding. I’m always waiting to see what’s
coming up next. We used to wait a year to get evaluations
on cattle, then we got to where we evaluated them every six
months, then it was every quarter. When we got down to oncea month, I thought ‘wow, it isn’t going to get any better than
this.’ Yet, now we’re performing evaluations once a week. I
don’t think we need to go to performing them daily, but I could
be wrong.
Q: What types of reports do you provide when you sell bulls
into AI?
NM: We provide the pedigree and everything else there is toknow about the animal, and then they run their own genomic
tests. It does make us a little money, but it’s not a driving force
behind our business. We’re a commercial dairy operation
selling milk to a high profile co-op and cheese label, and that’s
the first thing we need to be concerned about—providing ahigh-quality product to our creamery.

“It doesn’t take much for amechanic to get a car to go from
45 mph up to 70 mph, but it takes
a fine-tuned, savvy individual to geta car to go from 137 to 141 mph
and win the Indy 500. The same istrue for genomics and cows.”

January 2015
Q: How do you see genomics playing into the future atMartin Dairy?
NM: We’ll continue to do what we’re doing—pairing the very
best with the very best, over and over. It doesn’t take much fora mechanic to get a car to go from 45 mph up to 70 mph, but
it takes a fine-tuned, savvy individual to get a car to go from
137 to 141 mph and win the Indy 500. The same is true forgenomics and cows. As we move farther up the ladder andour genomic scores become higher, our amount of gain eachtime will be slightly less. So you have to strive a little harder tomake each improvement.
I don’t see anything negative in shortening generational
intervals and speeding up genetic progress. But there is no“ultimate goal,” because there is always the next step to take.
It never ends. The selection of dairy cattle has been goingon as long as there have been dairy cows on Earth, and thefaster it goes, the more information you have to make it goeven faster.
Q: What would be your advice to young people today
wanting to enter the dairy business?
NM: The most important thing is to be a commercial dairymanfirst and make your money selling milk. Next, use the best bulls
you can afford to use and continue to do that over and over.
That’s what I’ve been doing basically all my life.

References
1.

Tillamook Dairy, www.tillamook.com/

2.

American Jersey Cattle Association, www.usjersey.com/

3.

The Livestock Conservancy cattle conservation priority list,
www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/conservationpriority-list#Cattle.

4.

VAS DairyComp 305, www.vas.com/dairycomp.jsp

Learn more about the Illumina product mentioned
in this article:• Infinium BovineSNP50 BeadChip, www.illumina.com/products/bovine_snp50_whole-genome_genotyping_kits.
html

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