Birgit Fuerst-Waltl

TL;DR: Temperature, either on day of semen collection or during epididymal maturation or spermatogenesis, had important but inconsistent effects on semen production and sperm quality, however, ambient temperatures in the range of 5-15 degrees C were found to be optimal for semen production.

TL;DR: Practical experience gained in Austria in setting up a health registration system, focusing mainly on the availability of direct health data for breeding purposes with its successes and difficulties, is described.

TL;DR: Investigation of genetic associations between clinical mastitis (CM) and different somatic cell count traits, and their relationships, in terms of estimated breeding values, with other traits that are routinely evaluated in Austrian Fleckvieh dual-purpose cows, revealed that especially the udder conformation trait u dder depth may be useful as additional information to reduce both CM and somaticcell count.

TL;DR: The results showed that data from the Austrian health monitoring project can be used for genetic selection against reproductive disorders in Fleckvieh cattle, and noticeable favorable relationships to longevity, calving ease maternal, and stillbirth maternal were revealed.

TL;DR: Correlations betweenbreeding values for semen quality traits and routinely estimated breeding values for male fertility were low and ranged from 0.08 to 0.17 indicating that semen production traits are rather poor predictors of male fertility.