Vol. 5 0999): 491-501. Finnish embryo transfer breeding program “ASMO” description of the goals and a summary of the results of initial selection Esa A. Mäntysaari, Terhi Thuneberg-Selonen Agricultural Research Centre ofFinland, Institute ofAnimal Production, FIN-31600 Jokioinen, Finland, e-mail: esa.mantysaari@mtt.ft Kaija Hyppänen, Jarmo Juga Finnish Animal Breeding Association, PO Box 40, FIN-01301 Vantaa, Finland In 1990 the organizations responsible for Finnish dairy breeding established an open nucleus multi- ple ovulation and embryo transfer (MOET) breeding program called ASMO. The aim was, besides to test effectiveness of MOET, to improve the protein to fat ratio in milk produced by Finnish Ayrshires but without sacrificing the progress in protein yield. The relative weights of traits were such that equal importance was assigned to protein % and protein yield. Negative weight was assigned to fat % to ensure it remained unaltered. The MOET work continued until 1994 after which the performance of selected animals has been monitored. During the five years the scheme operated, 276 cows were flushed for embryos, and 2751 embryos were recovered, of which 1810 were transferable. More than 1600 embryos were transferred to recip- ients, and 813 calves were born. Eighty bull calves were sold for the artificial insemination test scheme. In December 1995 the first 125 ET daughters were evaluated with the national animal model program. Their mean estimated breeding values (EBVs) were +0.13 for protein % and -0.18 for fat % compared with the genetic base of progeny tested sires born in 1986-1988, and the protein yield EBVs were 12 kg above the genetic base. Despite the efficiency of selection, the program was dis- continued in 1994. Due to the difficulty of maintaining sufficient control over donor animals, there were fewer than expected embryos per flush and also too few flushes per donor. Key words: dairy cattle, MOET, nucleus breeding, protein %, fat % ntroduction and milk composition: the milk produced should fulfil requirements for microbiological and or- ganoleptic quality, and should contain a mini- mum of harmful residues. In the terms of com- position of milk, it is widely agreed that the pro- tein % should be increased; no such consensus exists regarding fat %. In the late 1980 s Finnish Milk composition as a breeding goal The dairy industry world wide is in relatively good agreement about the goals for milk quality © Agricultural and Food Science in Finland Manuscript received September 1996 491 AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SCIENCE IN FINLAND AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SCIENCE IN FINLAND Mäntysaari, E.A. et al. Finnish embryo transfer breeding program “ASMO” Table 1.Results from milk recording forFinnish Ayrshire and Finnish Flolstein-Friesian cows in 1988and 1995 (National Board of Agriculture 1989, Association of Rural Advisory Centres 1996). Ayrshire Holstein-Friesian 1988 1995 1988 1995 Cows.no 230 312 212 754 52 299 57 376 Milk, kg 5915 6880 6009 7161 Protein, kg 190 228 190 232 Protein % 3.21 3.31 3.15 3.24 Fat, kg 260 306 247 294 Fat % 4.40 4.44 4.12 4.11 Protein/fat ratio 0,73 0.75 0.76 0.79 animal breeders and the dairy processing indus- try decided that the desired goal under Finnish conditions would be milk with a high protein to fat ratio (P/F) accompanied by as low a fat % as possible. Three reasons were given: i) The con- sumption of dairy products was clearly shifting towards low-fat products rich in protein. The average fat % of retail milk liquids was 3.32 in 1984 (Consumption of milk and milk products in Finland 1985), but only 2.83 in 1994 (Con- sumption of milk and milk products in Finland 1995). Consumption of cheese had steadily in- creased while thatofbutter had declined. In 1988 the average total consumption of butter was 8.2 kg per capita, down from 12.2 kg in 1980 (Cen- tral Statistical Office of Finland 1989). ii) The Finnish dairy industry had adopted a strategy to sell the surplus production on the world market in high premium cheese products. Naturally but- ter was exported as well, but cheese was favored Table 2. Changes in weights of milk traits in total merit index of dairy bulls in Finland. Coefficients are relative to the standard deviations of the breeding value indices of corresponding traits. Year Protein, kg Protein % Fat % 1988-1990 1.0 1990 0,8 0.3 -0.3 1990- 0.8 0.3 -0.4 1991- 1.0 0.3 -0.4 1993-1996 1.0 0.5 -0.4 1996 1.0 0.3 because of the higher price, iii) Compared with milk produced in Europe, Finnish raw milk had a low P/F, being 0.73 in Ayrshires in 1988 (Ta- ble 1). Such a ratio forces both cheese manufac- tures and dairies packing consumption milk to buy 25% more milk fat from producers than they sell in their main products. In 1990 the breeding goal in the national ar- tificial insemination (AI) program was chosen to directly change the protein % and fat % in milk. The change was towards lowering the fat content and slightly increasing the protein con- tent of milk. The dry matter content of milk was thus expected to decline. The goal was imple- mented by including the milk composition traits in the total merit index (TMI) of bulls and cows. Table 2 lists the changes in weights of milk pro- duction traits in TMI of bulls since 1988. The weights are expressed relative to the standard deviations of the estimated breeding values (EBVs) of the traits. Concerned about predictions that the official breeding program would result in a lower dry matter content of milk led the organizations in- volved with dairy breeding and research (Agri- cultural Research Centre - MTT; Finnish Ani- mal Breeding Association - FABA) and milk marketing (Valio Co) in Finland to establish an open nucleus multiple ovulation and embryo transfer (MOET) breeding scheme (Nicholas and Smith 1983), which they called ASMO. The aim was, besides to study the effectiveness of MOET, to raise the P/F in milk by improving the pro- 492 Vol. 5 (1996): 491-501. tein %, and thus to preserve the dry matter con- tent. Relative weights were set for the traits, equal importance being given to protein % and protein yield. Negative weight was assigned to fat %, high enough, however, to keep the fat con- tent unaltered. Embryo transfer breeding schemes The MOET approach (Nicholas and Smith 1983) was introduced as an effective method for in- creasing the rate of genetic response. Compared with conventional AI breeding programs, MOET schemes operate on only a small number of ani- mals. The improved genetic progress is mainly based on a short generation interval and thus fast turnover of animals. Because of the generation interval, returns are obtained sooner than with a progeny-testing system. Two types of scheme were defined: a juvenile scheme with a selec- tion of animals in the age of 12to 13 months on the basis of pedigree information, and an adult scheme with a selection of the females after the first lactation and the males that are selected on the basis of sib and dam performance. Several refinements of nucleus breeding schemes, such as the open or closed nucleus, and the centralized or dispersed nucleus, have been suggested. The open nucleus utilizes outstand- ing females and AI bulls from the population outside the MOET scheme, whereas in the closed system, the donors are selected from nucleus herds exclusively. In the centralized operation, donors are housed in a testing station but in the dispersed scheme the donors remain housed on the private farms owning the cows (Colleau 1989). The additional returns expected from opening the nucleus have, however, been small, owing to the high genetic superiority of the nu- cleus, which leaves only little possibilities for elite recorded females to contribute back to the nucleus. Further, selection across the commer- cial population may be less accurate because of preferential treatment of favorite cows in the herds (Dekkers and Shook 1990, Meuwissen 1991a). Centralized nucleus schemes have certain advantages. Fewer animals are involved, and thus the females in the central herd can be used more effectively. Comparisons among contem- poraries are more reliable when made in the same environment and under the same management conditions and, moreover, the ET results may be better and less variable. Animals can be record- ed more often, and special traits, for example feed intake, feed efficiency, milk protein vari- ants and milking speed, can be measured (Ni- cholas and Smith 1983, Huizinga 1993). New ET technologies can be incorporated more rapidly and more effectively. A disadvantage of the cen- tralized nucleus is the cost of establishing and running a nucleus herd. In addition, the disease risk of the nucleus may be greater, and in a se- lection based on testing station production, there is always a danger of genotype by environment interaction (Dekkers 1992). In nucleus schemes the genetic response may be limited by an increased rate of inbreeding. The annual inbreeding rate depends on the number of parents selected per generation, the generation interval and the genetic relationship between selected parents (Falconer 1989). High levels of inbreeding are detrimental because of the effects on production and reproduction per- formance. Although more effective in genetic progress, the juvenile scheme leads to higher rates of inbreeding than the adult scheme (Ni- cholas and Smith 1983, Woolliams 1989, Meu- wissen 1991b). This is mainly due to the shorter generation interval but also due to selection based on family indices. On the basis of stochastic simulations, Juga and Mäki-Tanila (1987) claimed that the origi- nal estimates of the effectiveness of MOET schemes were too optimistic when compared with AI breeding programs based on progeny testing. Their findings were confirmed by many others (e.g. Toro and Siliö 1989, Ruane and Thompson 1991). One theoretical reason for the reduction in response is the loss of genetic vari- ance due to linkage disequilibrium (Bulmer 1971). Ruane and Thompson (1991), however, questioned whether the reduction in genetic var- 493 AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SCIENCE IN FINLAND Mäntysaari, E.A. et al. Finnish embryo transfer breeding program “ASMO” iance due to selection presents such a problem in practice as has been observed in simulations. Moreover, the same loss of genetic variance can be shown to affect the response achieved in progeny testing schemes (e.g. Meyer and Smith 1990). We describe here ASMO, a Finnish MOET scheme that ran from 1990 to 1994. We docu- ment the aims of the program, the selection prac- ticed, and the genetic progress predicted and achieved. In the end, the scheme as such was carried on through the first generation selection only. The reasons for the discontinuation will be discussed. The technical outcome of ET perform- ance will be published later. Material and methods Selection of first generation animals The ASMO breeding scheme was designed to include some 100 donor cows per year. These would be selected using national animal model (AM) breeding value indices for protein yield, protein % and fat %. Selection of the first gen- eration bulls and donorcows started in fall 1990. The donors were selected from milk recorded cows, and the bulls from progeny tested AI bulls whose total merit index qualified them as elite sires. Selection was based on the ASMO index (I), which was calculated as follows: I - (protein-% index) - o.6x(fat-% index) + o.4x(protein yield index) and Ibu)| = 0.7 x (protein-% index) -0.4 x (fat-% in- dex) + 0.5 xTMI, where protein-%, protein yield and fat-% indi- ces are from the AM evaluations, and TMI is the total merit index of bulls. The weights in the in- dex were chosen to provide equal progress (rel- ative to genetic variance) in protein yield and the corresponding percentage while keeping the fat % constant or so that it decreased slightly. As all published EBVs are standardized by set- ting the standard deviation of active bulls to ten, the weights were comparable across the traits. In the evaluations made in December 1995, the corresponding standard deviations of EBVs for protein yield, protein % and fat % were 10 kg, 0.13% and 0.29% for Ayrshires and 10 kg, 0.12% and 0.28% for Holstein-Friesians, re- spectively. The TMI for bulls included the EBVs for percentages (Table 2, 1990-1994) and also some secondary traits. In 1993, for instance, these non-production indices were female fer- tility (weight 0.3) and udder health (weight 0.3). When the coefficients of production indices in TMI and in I are combined the relative weights are 0.5 for protein, 0.95 for protein %, and -0.6 for fat %. The final selection was made by breeding advisers of the FABA, only cows fulfilling the criteria for udder and leg conformation were approved for the scheme. The cows selected were superovulated, inseminatedby selected bulls and flushed for embryos. Each donor was intended to produce eight offspring. On the basis of ex- pected ET results, this was thought to be achieved with an average of threeflushings. The scheme was planned to continue after the first generations as an open dispersed nucleus with adult cows. In the first generations a large pro- portion of the animals were expected to come from the AI population, but later the donor cows would automatically be selected from the nucleus. The initial selection covered Ayrshire cows only. However, during the operation the Finnish Holstein-Friesian breeders expressed a wish to participate in the scheme and to obtain the same genetic change in milk composition as was foreseen for theAyrshire breed. In 1993,then Holstein-Friesian donors were admitted to the scheme. Besides flushing own Finnish Holstein- Friesian cows, Holstein-embryos were also im- ported from the Netherlands. All Holstein em- bryos were transferred at a quarantine station because of animal health regulations, and the purchased material was distributed to commer- cial farms as pregnant heifers. 494 AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SCIENCE IN FINLAND Vol. 5 (1996): 491-501. Arrangements for ET work quired that only cows reaching the average na- tional production level qualified for selection. This rule, and a strict selection on AM indices, resulted in a group of donorcows with life time annual average production of 8206 kg, a pro- tein % of 3.52 and a fat % of 4.21. The P/F of the cows selected was 0.84. The number of lac- tations of the cows ranged from one to eight, but the majority of donors were in third or fourth parity. Table 3 presents the mean lifetime annual average production records ofAyrshire and Hol- stein-Friesian donors in Finland. As selection was mainly based on AM indices the selection differential achieved is best verified using the means of the donors' AM indices. These are pre- sented for the Ayrshire donors selected in dif- ferent years in Table 4 and for Finnish Holstein- Friesians in Table 5. In 1994, there were only three Ayrshire and six Holstein-Friesian donors. The mean of published indices of all Ayrshire donors, compared with the genetic base of prog- eny tested sires born in 1986-88, was 111 for both protein yield and protein % (Table 4). The best Ayrshires had a protein yield index of up to 143 and the best Holstein-Friesians of 139 (Ta- bles 4 and 5). The mean protein-% and fat-% EBVs for Ayrshire cows born in the 1980 s were generally slightly below 100 (Fig. la and Tables 4 and 5). For protein production the mean of EBV indices of candidate cows was 92 in 1990, increasing to 98 in 1993-1994 (Tables 4 and 5). The minimum index for protein yield at the mo- ment of selection was generally 110-120, but over the years some of the EBVs have declined as the cows have got more lactations and other As part of the decentralized strategy, the flush- ing and embryo transfers ofAyrshires were car- ried out on private farms. Superovulation treat- ments were arranged through local veterinarians, after which the cows were inseminated by se- lected bulls. Mating plans for chosen animals were coordinated centrally. The farmer chose which bull to use in insemination from a list of three recommended for each donor. The donors were flushed and the embryos transferred by four veterinarians of the Embryo Centre Co. (Van- taa, Finland). Fresh embryos were transferred to recipients on the same or neighbouring farms, and frozen embryos were passed to other farm- ers in the scheme at a nominal price. Farmers buying embryos had to agree that any offspring would be used in ASMO program. Direct cost of flushing and compensation for flushing were paid to the farmer by the project. Results By 1995, 293 (268 Ayrshire and 25 Holstein- Friesian) cows had been selected for the scheme. A few cows (18) were accepted twice in con- secutive years. Early in the study no special at- tention was paid to the phenotypic production level of the donor cows. This, however, lead to problems with the further marketing of frozen embryos. Therefore, after 1991 it was further re- Table 3. Lifetime annual average production of 293 cows in ASMO project. Ayrshire (n = 268) Holstein-Friesian (n=25) mean min max mean min max Milk, kg Protein, kg Protein % Fat, kg Fat% Protein/Pat ratio 8122 5668 13 087 286 210 449 3.523.10 4.00 346 234 535 4.262.70 5.70 0.830.63 1.37 9106 7190 11541 314 240 393 3.443.20 3.80 335 258 400 3.693.10 4.70 0.930.77 1.07 495 AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SCIENCE IN FINLAND Mäntysaari, E.A. et al. Finnish embryo transfer breeding program “ASMO ” Table 4. Animal model indices of 268 Ayrshire cows for milk traits in ASMO project (Base = Ayrshire bulls bom 1986- 1988) averaged by year of selection. Estimated superiority of selected donors over available cow population given in parentheses. 1990(n = 14) 1991 (n=l22) 1992(n=75) 1993-1994 (n =57) units' index2 min max units index min max units index min max units index min max Milk, kg +7l 102 88 127 +35 101 81 129 +176 105 81 138 +212 106 88 126 (+8) (+5) (+8) (+6)superiority 3 Protein, kg superiority 3 Protein % superiority 3 Fat % +l4 114 98 143 +9 109 83 133 +l3 113 92 142 +l4 114 94 140 (+22) (+l5) (+l7) (+l6) +.21 116 107 130 +.15 111 91 128 +.ll 110 95 130 +.12 109 89 123 (+l6) (+l6) (+10) (+9) +.06 102 91 115 -.09 97 74 119 -.15 95 73 117 -.21 93 77 108 (+5) (-1) (-3) (-3)superiority 3 1 Index in original units. 2 Finnish animal model indices are standardized for a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 10 for the base bulls. 3 (Mean of selected animals) - (Mean of all Ayrshire cows in lactation 1-3). Table 5. Average animal model indices of 25 Holstein-Friesian cows for milk traits inASMO project 1993- 1994 (Base =Holstein-Friesian bulls born 1986-88). Estimated superiority of selected donors over avail- able cow population given in parentheses. units' index2 min max Milk, kg +285 108 96 128 superiority 3 (+10) Protein, kg +l7 116 100 139 superiority 3 (+18) Protein % +.15 112 94 133 superiority 3 (+10) Fat % -.25 91 82 107 superiority 3 (-8) 1 Index in original units. 2 Finnish animal model indices are standardized for a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 10 for the base bulls. 3 (Mean of selected animals) - (Mean of all Holstein Friesian cows in lactation 1-3). data have become available. The same holds for protein-% EBVs, even though very low indices were also found in animals that had an excep- tionally low fat-% index. In the first two years of selection the emphasis was clearly on protein %; later, selection shifted more towards high protein yield and a low fat %. Although no clear pressure downwardwas planned for the fat %, it did in fact decline slightly (the mean fat-% in- dex of selected cows was 96, Table 4). The change in fat % was particularly marked among the Holstein-Friesians (index 91, Table 5), where the selected animals were more clearly of the conventional bull dam type. Of the 293 cows selected for the scheme, 17 did not respond to superovulation at all and 276 were superovulated and flushed a total of 454 times; 64% were first flushings, 28% second flushings and only 8% third flushings. The total number of embryos recovered was 2751. On average, 66% (1810) of the embryos recovered were transferable, thus yielding an average of 496 AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SCIENCE IN FINLAND Vol. 5 (1996): 491-501. 4.0 transferable embryos per flush. The average number of transferable embryos per superovu- lated cow was 6.6. Transfer results are available on 746 fresh embryos and 868 frozen embryos with success rates of 60.3% and 43.0%, respec- tively. In the embryo transfers, 31 different sires were used for Ayrshire donors and eight differ- ent sires for Holstein-Friesian donors. Pedigree indices were calculated for the recovered em- bryos using the EBVs for both the parents (Ta- ble 6). In terms of standardized indices, the em- bryos were on average comparable in protein yield and protein %. A certain trend towards the former national breeding goal can be seen, i.e. protein yield and a low fat % were emphasized more than in donor selection, indicating that cows of the conventional bull dam -type were used to produce more embryos than were the al- ternative breeding goal -type donors. Another reason is that the use of bulls was not as well balanced as planned, sires with a high TMI pro- ducing more progeny. The information collected show that 424 bull Table 6. Comparison of animal model indices' of Ayrshire ASMO embryos, ASMO first parity cows, daughters of bull dams and all first parity cows calved in 1994. ASMO ASMO first Bull dam First parity embryos parity cows daughters cows Number 1574 125 101 68698 Milk index 104 104 112 102 Protein index 111 112 116 101 Protein-% index 110 110 102 100 Fat-% index 97 94 90 95 TMI 2 19.6 19.8 21.7 2.6 Max TMI 40 48 41 Finnish animal model indices are standardized for a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 10 for the base bulls bom in 1986-1988. 2 TMI= 1 .Ox (protein yield index) + 0.5x (protein-% index) - 0.4 x (fat-% index) + 0.2 x (somatic cell count index) + 0.3 x (udder conformation index) Fig. 1. Breeding value estimates of Ayrshire cows (la) and bulls (lb) for protein production (■—), protein % (|—), and fat % (x—) displayed by birth year. Estimates are based on evaluations made in 1996 and standardized by setting the mean and standard deviation of bulls bom in 1986-1988at 100 and 10,respectively. 497 AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SCIENCE IN FINLAND Mäntysaari, E.A. et al. Finnish embryo transfer breeding program “ASMO” calves and 389 heifer calves were born alive. During the scheme, AI cooperatives bought 80 ASMO bull calves; of the 75 that completed the growth test at the performance test station, 42 were accepted for AI usage, and 33 were re- moved due to either poor growth capacity or bad conformation. The daughters of the bulls born from the first transfers, made in 1990, were in their first lactation in 1995 and will give an ac- curacy of prediction high enough that their EBVs are to be published in 1996. Production information is now available on 125 of the daughters from the first embryos trans- ferred in 1990 and 1991.Their AM indices agree well with the expectations (Table 6). The aver- age protein yield index was 112 and the protein- % index 110. For comparison, Table 6 also lists the averages of indices for all the first calvers and for daughters of official bull dams that have calved first time in 1994. In terms of index points, the genetic superiority of the first ASMO daughters to all first calvers was 11 points for protein yield, 10 points for protein %, and -1 point for fat %. These can be transferred to their original units using the standard deviations giv- en earlier.The index values correspond to 11 kg, +0.12 %-units, and -0.03 %-units in protein yield, protein %, and fat %, respectively. Com- pared with the genetic base of active AI bulls, the selection differences were +l2 kg for pro- tein yield and +0.13% for protein %. However, for fat % the shift was downwards, -0.18 %- units, as compared with base bulls. Thus, for fat % the national breeding policy and the former TMI for bulls have clearly resulted in a larger decreasing trend in EBVs of all primiparous cows, thus leaving ASMO animals above the current female population. The distinction in bull dam daughters and ASMO daughters is clear in the protein-% EBVs, which are lower in daugh- ters of bull dams. Interestingly, the ASMO daughters are comparable to the bull dam daugh- ters in the cow TMI. The average for the first generation ASMO cows was +2O but for bull dam daughters +22. The best animal in the ASMO daughter group had a TMI as high as +4B. The TMI for cows in 1995 gave a weight of 1.0 for protein yield, 0.5 for protein %, -0.4 for fat %, 0.2 for somatic cell count and 0.3 for udder con- formation EBVs. Discussion One of the main purposes of the ASMO project was to investigate the feasibility ofchanging the P/F in milk by increasing the protein content. The results showed that it is indeed possible. In the Ayrshire breed, the expected genetic superi- ority of the first generation ASMO calves will be +ll kg in protein yield, +0.13 units in pro- tein %, and -0.09 units in fat %, when calculat- ed as the mean of all 1574 embryos collected and compared with current mean ofprogeny test- ed sires. On the basis of these projected changes in milk yield and fat %, production of butter fat per cow in the selected material shouldbe slight- ly below the population average. Thus, the new P/F would be expected to reach 0.79, which is a clear improvement on the 0.75 found in the milk recorded Ayrshire population. Extrapolated to Finland’s total milk production, such a change would mean that, at a fixed milk protein pro- duction, about 4.5 millionkg less milk fat would be produced. Some of this change will be dis- seminatedto the commercial population through AI sires. The first daughters of ASMO young bulls calved in the latter half of 1995. The im- pact of the program becomes even larger if some of the ASMO bulls are selected to be used as elite sires. Published results on realized MOET schemes are sparse, and the majority of them concern the Holstein breed. Lohuis et al. (1993) reported the results of a dispersed hybrid nucleus program. Bulls originating from this Canadian TEAM (To- tal Evaluation of Animals with MOET) project provided approximately one-third of the young bulls entering Canadian progeny testing pro- grams. The Genus project in the UK and the Delta project in the Netherlands have more com- mercial ambitions. Genus seeks to maximize the 498 AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SCIENCE IN FINLAND Vol. 5 (1996): 491-501. level of genetic merit for overall economic effi- ciency (Christie et al. 1992), and Delta, which has been running since the late 1980s, was found- ed to a large extent to rationalize the optimal use of genetic material from different sources. North American, Dutch or other European (Huizinga 1993), but has since become a leading provider of international Holstein breeding material. Li- boriussen and Christensen (1990) provided data on an experimental MOET scheme in Denmark concerning all four Danish dairy breeds: Red Danish, Danish Black and White, Danish Jersey and Danish Red and White. The nucleus herd was established to test the utilization of new tech- nologies and to improve traits difficult to meas- ure under field conditions. The ASMO study showed that the manage- ment of an open nucleus MOET program is prob- lematic because of insufficient control over the animals selected. In the original plan, the target was eight pregnancies per selected donor, but an average of only 3.0 was achieved. This resulted from the lack of interest shown by farmers in allowing their cows to be flushed more than once. Only 35 of 276 participating cows were flushed three times. The reluctance to permit embryo transfer was caused by concern over the possi- ble decrease in milk yield, prolonged calving interval, risks for reproductive health, cost of the superovulation, etc. These fears, compounded by the possibility that superovulation would not result in any transferable embryos, seemed to generate too great a risk for the small scale pro- ducer. These suspicions were confirmed by a survey conducted among the owners of donor cows (Nousiainen et al. 1993). In the original strategy, the selection of first generation donors was planned to continue until the offspring of animals selected in 1990 would have their first lactation records, and the second generation animals could be selected. However, selection of the future generations was also to be based on national breeding value indices, and the cows with high I could have been selected° COW irrespective of whether they were offspring of ASMO or commercial cows. The scheme as such was discontinued in 1994, because of the high cost of ET work compared with the results achieved. It had nevertheless shown that, with a special program, a new breeding goal, e.g. milk composition, can be effectively selected for. On the other hand, it also suggested that the effi- ciency of superovulation based on ET is not yet in the level of practical applicability. The latter interacts with managemental problems with open nucleus MOET, if the final decision regarding use of the donorcow remains to be made by the owner. Practical experience of the Genus MOET breeding scheme also shows that the failure to produce large numbers of embryos per donor will pose particular challenges. Only 11% of the do- nors achieved the target of 16 freezable embry- os after the first flush and 25% after the third flush (Christie et al. 1992). Clearly the alternative breeding material pro- duced cannot be sufficiently utilized either na- tionally or internationally if the top nucleus cows are not used more effectively. Developments in reproductive technology such as in vitro embryo production (IVP), cloning, embryo sexing, and splitting will improve the technical efficiency of ET (Gordon 1994). Control over the use of se- lected donors also needs to be improved. Judg- ing by the problems encountered in the manage- ment of the dispersed nucleus it would seem that a centralized MOET herd would result in better efficiency in the use of selected animals. The centralized scheme would also permit new re- productive techniques to be exploited. Acknowledgements.The ASMO program was administered by Agricultural Research Centre of Finland, Finnish Ani- mal Breeding Association - FABA and Valio Co. 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SELOSTUS Alkionsiirtojalostusohjelma ”ASMO”, sen tavoitteet ja yhteenveto alkuvalinnan tuloksista Esa A. Mäntysaari, Terhi Thuneberg-Selonen, Kaija Hyppänen ja Jarmo Juga Maatalouden tutkimuskeskus ja Osuuskunta Kotieläinjalostuskeskus FABA Vuonna 1990käynnistyneessä ASMO-projektissa (al- kionsiirtojalostusohjelma maidon koostumuksen op- timoimiseksi) oli tavoitteena tutkia avoimeen ydin- karjaan perustuvan alkionsiirto-ohjelman soveltu- vuutta maidon koostumuksen muuttamiseen. Lisäksi oli tarkoitus nostaa maidon valkuaispitoisuutta muut- tamatta rasvapitoisuutta. Ohjelman toteuttivat Maa- talouden tutkimuskeskus, Kotieläinjalostuskeskus- FABA ja Valio Oy. Maa- ja metsätalousministeriö ra- hoitti osan ohjelman kustannuksista. Viisivuotisessa projektissa oli nk. alkuvalintavai- he eli perussukupolven vanhempien valinta. Valinta tehtiin karjantarkkailulehmien jakeinosiemennysson- nien joukosta valkuaissuhdevalintaindeksin (VSI) pe- rusteella. Lehmien VSLssä painotettiin valkuaispitoi- suus-, rasvapitoisuus- ja valkuaistuotosindeksien poikkeamia rotukeskiarvosta painokertoimilla 1,0, - 0,6 ja 0,4. Sonnien VSLssä olivat mukana valkuais- jarasvapitoisuusindeksit ja kokonaisjalostusarvo pai- nokertoimilla 0,7, -0,4 ja 0,5. Valkuaissuhdevalin- taindeksien avulla projektiin valittiin 293 lehmää ja 39 sonnia. Alkuvalinnassa onnistuttiin hyvin, sillä ASMO-lehmien maitotuotos oli 106 kg, valkuaistuo- tos 11 kg ja valkuaispitoisuus 0,15 prosenttiyksikköä parempi kuin ayrshirelehmillä keskimäärin. Kaikkiaan ASMO-projektissa tehtiin 454 huuhte- lua 276 lehmälle. Huuhteluiden alkiosaalis kohosi 2751 alkioon (6,1/huuhtelu), joista oli siirtokelpoisia 1810 (4,0/huuhtelu). Tammikuuhun 1996 mennessä on syntynyt 389 lehmävasikkaa ja 424 sonnivasikkaa, joista 80 ostettiin keinosiemennyskäyttöön. Joulu- kuun 1995 eläinmalliarvostelussa ensimmäiset 125 ASMO-hiehoa saivat omat jalostusarvot: ASMO-tyt- tärien maidon valkuaispitoisuus on 0,13 prosenttiyk- sikköä rotukeskiarvon yläpuolella ja rasvapitoisuus 0,18 prosenttiyksikköä rotukeskiarvon alapuolella. Alkuperäisen suunnitelman mukaan tavoitteena oli huuhdella luovuttajalehmiä kolme kertaa tuottaen niille vähintään 8 jälkeläistä. Tämä tavoite jäi saa- vuttamatta: siirtokelpoisten alkioiden määrä lehmää kohti oli 6,6. Peläten maitotuotosten mahdollista ale- nemista, poikimavälin pidentymistä, hedelmällisyys- häiriöitä ja alkionsiirrosta aiheutuvia kustannuksia karjanomistajat olivat haluttomia luovuttamaan leh- mänsä huuhdeltavaksi riittävän monta kertaa. Koko- naisuudessaan ASMO-projekti osoitti, että alkionsiir- tojalostusohjelmalla voidaan päästä tehokkaasti jalos- tustavoitteisiin, mutta alkionsiirtojen tuloksellisuus ja valittujen eläinten tehokas käyttö ns. hajautetussa ydinkarjamallissa on heikko. 501 AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SCIENCE IN FINLAND