AAB Archives Animal Breeding AAB Arch. Anim. Breed. 2363-9822 FBN Dummerstorf Göttingen, Germany 10.7482/0003-9438-57-033 Genetic parameters for longevity measures in Brazilian Holstein cattle using linear and threshold models Kern Elisandra Lurdes 1 Cobuci Jaime Araujo 1 Costa Cláudio Napolis 2 Neto José Braccini 1 Campos Gabriel Soares 3 McManus Concepta Margaret 4 5 Departamento de Zootecnia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brasil Embrapa Gado de Leite, Juiz de Fora, Brasil Departamento de Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPEL), Pelotas, Brasil Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brasil Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia-Informação Genético-Sanitária da Pecuária Brasileira (MCT/CNPq/FAPEMIG), Belo Horizonte, Brasil 14 11 2014 57 1 33 Copyright: © 2014 Elisandra Lurdes Kern et al. 2014 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://aab.copernicus.org/articles/57/33/2014/aab-57-33-2014.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://aab.copernicus.org/articles/57/33/2014/aab-57-33-2014.pdf

The aim in this study was to estimate variance components and heritability of different longevity measures related to productive life and survival at a specified age, using linear and threshold models, to specify the more appropriate measure to express longevity in Brazilian Holstein cows. Production and reproduction records of Holstein cows were collected from 1991 to 2010, for cows born between 1987 and 2006. Variance components were obtained by restricted maximum likelihood (REML) for measures of productive life and a Bayesian analysis for survival measures. The heritability estimates for longevity measures ranged from 0.06 to 0.09, using the linear model and from 0.05 to 0.18 for traits using the threshold model. This suggests an inexpressive genetic gain using selection for these traits, whereas improvements in environmental factors which affect these animals may lead to greater phenotypic gains. Survival up to 48 months from first calving was the measureing point defined as the most appropriate to be included in future official genetic evaluations of Holstein cattle in Brazil.