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- 2025 Interbull Meeting

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The 2025 Interbull Meeting was held at the Marriott Downtown Louisville hotel in Louisville, KY, USA, from June 21 to June 22, in conjunction with the ADSA meeting. The Interbull Technical Committee (ITC) met already on Thursday prior to the meetings and again on the Sunday right after the last Interbull session, for their regular ITC meetings. The Interbull Steering Committee (SC) had their usual first meeting on the Friday and then on the Tuesday after the meeting. On Saturday and Sunday, the Interbull community gathered for the Interbull Open sessions on “Implementing New Traits ", "Experience with Single Step" (two sessions were allocated for this topic!), "Meta-analysis & Big Data", “Efficiency & Sustainability” (two sessions were allocated for this topic with one fully focusing towards methane evaluations!). Two Business Meetings were scheduled which took places on the same days. This year was also a special year for the Interbull Centre and its community as it marked the end of the term for few key people both in the ITC and SC committees: Our SC chair, Matthew Shaffer, stepped down as representative of Other regions. In the ITC, Raphael Mrode (SRUC, Great Britain) and Iola Croué (Geneval, France) both ended their terms. A tribute to Matthew and Raphael was presented during the first Business Meeting. They were both thanked for their expertise and contributions to the group and Interbull as a whole. Urs Schnyder (Qualitas, Switzerland) has been appointed as the new Steering Committee’s chair and Filippo Miglior (LACTANET, Canada) appointed as the new chair. For the ITC, an expression of interest for being an ITC member was issued in January, a pleasing number of applications were received: Attilio Rossoni (ANARB, Italy) and Ignacio Aguilar (INIA, Uruguay) were selected and appointed by the Interbull SC as ITC members for 3 and 4-years terms, respectively. We at the Interbull Centre would like once again to express our gratitude for the endless help, support and guidance that Matthew and Raphael have provided us over the years: we are going to miss you!!! At the same time, as life moves on, we are delighted to welcome Sebastian, Carolina, Attilio and Ignacio to the interbull community and are looking forward for what certainly will be a fruitful and productive collaboration: welcome to the Interbull Committees!!!
On Monday, it was time for the ADSA/Interbull sessions on “Management of Genetic Diversity for Future-Proofing Dairy Cattle Breeding” and “Creating Carbon-Friendly Cows and Leveraging Omics to Improve the Sustainability of Dairy Production.”
This year’s Interbull meeting has hosted 125 participants from 26 countries. Enjoy the pictures!
The 2025 Interbull Annual Meeting will be held in conjunction with ADSA in Louisville, KY, USA.
Interbull Business Meetings, Open Meetings and joint Sessions will be organised on Saturday 21, Sunday 22 and Monday 23 June 2025. The Interbull Dinner will take place on Saturday 21 June.
Participation to the meeting and dinner requires a separate paid registration fee. Information on how to register, costs and hotel booking are all available through the ADSA website
Specific information about the Interbull meeting will be made available on this page in due time.
First published 01 February 2025
Abstract submissions open:
31 January 2025
Abstract Submission closes:
08 April 2025
Final Scientific Program Available:
08 May 2025
Full presentation submission:
18 June 2025
Paper submission to Interbull Bulletin:
31 July 2025
Useful dates:
Interbull Open Meeting - Call for Abstracts
The Open Meeting aims to be an inclusive space to share ideas, and the latest advances, research and innovations in genetic and genomic evaluations for beef and dairy. We aim to accept manuscripts that clearly address the topics presented in the call for abstracts, and encourage work in progress presentations and/or cutting edge research in these areas.
The overall theme for the Interbull Open Meetings is: "Innovations in national and international genetic and genomic evaluations". Authors are invited to submit abstracts within this overarching theme that specifically address the following topics for dairy and beef:
Big data for the benefit of genetic and genomic evaluation
Meta-analytical methods in animal genetic and genomic evaluation.
Experience with single-step evaluation.
Implementing new traits in genetic and genomic evaluation systems.
Cross-breed genetic and genomic evaluations
Submit your abstract through the Interbull
online submission form
.
The meetings below are closed meetings by invitation only.
Thursday 19 June
08:30 to 16:30
Interbull Technical Committee
19.00- 22.00
Dinner: Proof on Main
Friday 20 June
10:30 to 16:30
Interbull Steering Committee
19.00-22.00
Dinner: TBC
Sunday 22 June
17:15 to 18:00
Interbull Technical Committee
Tuesday 24 June
08:00 to 10:00
Interbull Steering Committee
Technical and Steering Committees are administrative meetings restricted to the respective members. The Business Meeting is public and is dedicated to discuss operational and political decisions of the Steering Committee with participating organizations; Open Meetings are dedicated to scientific reports.
There are two Interbull Business Meetings.
Business Meeting 1 is scheduled for Saturday 21 June 11.00 - 12.30
Business Meeting 2 is scheduled for Sunday 22 June 13.30-15.00
Both will be held in the Kentucky Ballroom at the Marriott Downtown Hotel, Louisville
The Interbull Open Meeting will take place on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 June 2025. Registration is required to attend.
There will be an Interbull Dinner on Saturday 21 June at the Brown Hotel. This requires a separate registration to attend. All are welcome.
The programme for the Interbull Open Meeting is available on this page. The programme is separated by date, but you can download the full programme for both days in either section.
Register for the Interbull Open Meeting and Dinner on the ADSA Event Pages
Download Full Programme (.pdf)
Saturday 21 June
08.30-10.30
Kentucky Ballroom E
Session 1- Implementing New Traits
Chair: Filippo Miglior
0
8:30
Welcome
Dr Matthew Shaffer, Interbull Steering Committee Chair, and ADSA President Dr. Mike VandeHaar
1
8:40
A. Nazari
2
8:55
A.Fleming
3
9:10
M. Axford
4
9:25
X. Wu
Reliability Assessment of Single-Milking Fat and Protein Percentages in Dairy Cattle
5
9:40
A. Kudinov
6
9:55
F. Galluzzo
7
10:10
B. Cuyabano
10.30-11.00
Coffee break
11.00 – 12.30
Business Meeting I
(All Welcome)
Kentucky Ballroom E
12.30 - 13.30
Lunch
Kentucky Ballroom
A-D
13.30- 15.00
Session II - Experience with Single Step I
Chair: Urs Schnyder
Kentucky Ballroom E
1
13:30
K. Stachowicz
Implementation of single-step genetic evaluation in Poland
2
13:45
K. Wijnrocx
Implementation of a single-step genomic evaluation system for dairy cattle in Wallonia, Belgium
3
14:00
J. Heise
Introduction of Single Step genomic evaluations in German Holsteins
4
14:15
S. Id-Lahoucine
5
14:30
I. Ampofo
6
14:45
K. Byskov
Implementation of single-step genomic BLUP in the Nordic evaluation for beef cattle
15.00 - 15.30
Coffee Break
15.30-17.00
Session III - Experience with Single Step II
Chair: Ezequiel Nicolazzi
Kentucky Ballroom E
1
15:30
S. Widmer
Single-step genetic evaluation for claw health traits in Switzerland
2
15:45
Z. Liu
Optimisation of the German single-step SNP BLUP model for calf fitness in Holstein
3
16:00
D. Słomian
4
16:15
H. Eding
Integration of single step DGV in conventional genetic evaluations using DGV-PBLUP
5
16:30
A. Legarra
6
16:45
H. Gao
Comparing methods for approximating reliabilities in large-scale single-step genomic evaluations
19.00 - 22.00
Interbull Dinner
The Brown Hotel, Gallery Ballroom- 16th Floor.
(Registration required)
Download Full Programme (.pdf)
Sunday 22 June
08.30-10.30
Session IV - Meta-analysis & Big Data
Chair: Daniele Vicario
Kentucky Ballroom E
1
8:30
M. Axford
2
8:45
P. Stratz
Integration of MACE breeding values into Swiss multi-trait test-day model evaluation
3
9:00
B. Makanjuola
4
9:15
A. Rossoni
Improve of Stability of Test-Day Repeatability Model for Production Traits in Italian Brown Swiss
5
9:30
T. McWhorter
Foundational Review of U.S. Female Fertility Trait Evaluations
6
9:45
H. Zhang
Genetic analysis provides insight into estrus expression in Holstein cows
7
10:15
J. Mugambe
10.30-11.00
Coffee Break
11.00-12.30
Session V
Efficiency & Sustainability I : Methane Evaluations
Chair: Jan-Thijs van Kaam
Kentucky Ballroom E
1
11:00
Raphael Mrode
2
11:15
J. Vandenplas
3
11:30
R.Stephansen
4
11:45
G. de Jong
Sustainable dairy breeding: reducing methane emissions in the Netherlands and Flanders
5
12:00
N. Gengler
6
12:15
Y. Wang
12.30-13.30
Lunch
Kentucky Ballroom A-D
13.30-15.00 Business Meeting II (All Welcome)
Kentucky Ballroom E
15.00-15.30
Coffee Break
15.30-17.00
Session VI
Efficiency & Sustainability II
Chair: Marija Klopcic
1
15:30
M. van Pelt
Genetic evaluation for longevity of dairy cattle in the Netherlands
2
15:45
B. Van Doormaal
3
16:00
J. Graham
Quantifying the use of and the genetic progress from advanced mating strategies in US dairy herds
4
16:15
J.T. van Kaam
Expanded Genetic Evaluation of Heat Tolerance in Italian Holsteins
5
16:30
R. Stephansen
6
16:45
R. Bonifazi
17:00
M. Shaffer
Close
There are two joint Interbull-ADSA sessions scheduled for Monday 23 June:
Speakers:
Genetic resilience and the dynamics of inbreeding and diversity in dairy breeding
Genomic-versus pedigree-based inbreeding: Two sides of the same coin
Managing genetic diversity: Strategies for sustainable livestock improvement
Sustainable breeding for feed-efficient cows with lower methane emissions
Development of a greenhouse gas index to reduce enteric emissions in Holsteins
More information on ADSA programming can be found on the ADSA 2025 website
The
Interbull Bulletin
has become a well known reference for genetic evaluation of bovine cattle worldwide. It contains the state-of-the-art in genetic evaluation methods, as well as the most recent information on national and international implementations.
Participants in the Open Meeting are expected to submit paper (up to 10 pages), based on their presentation to the Interbull Bulletin by
31 July 2025
, for publication in November 2025.
Papers presented at the joint ADSA Interbull sessions are not submitted to the Interbull Bulletin.
Breeding and Genetics Symposium: Joint ADSA-Interbull Session—Management of Genetic Diversity for Future-Proofing Dairy Cattle Breeding
Christian Maltecca, North Carolina State University
Heather Huson, Cornell University
Nicolo Macciotta, Universita Di Sassari
Christine Baes, University of Guelph
Olivia Mapholi, University of South Africa
Breeding and Genetics Symposium: Joint ADSA-Interbull Session—Creating Carbon-Friendly Cows and Leveraging Omics to Improve the Sustainability of Dairy Production.
Francisco Peñagaricano, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Bjorg Heringstad, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Francesca Malchiodi, Semex
Jocelyn Johnson, STgenetics
Interbull Bulletin