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Animal Recording Centre ESTONIAN ANIMAL RECORDING CENTRE

Animal Recording Centre (ARC) is a government institution under the administration of the Ministry of Agriculture. The main task of ARC is the improvement of the efficiency of animal husbandry by performing animal recording and independent testing of the quality of raw milk.

ARC records the performance of dairy cattle, beef animals, pigs and goats; performs genetic evaluation of livestock and independent testing of the quality of raw milk. The Milk Analysis Laboratory of Animal Recording Centre analyses the animal recording milk samples for it fat, protein and urea content and the somatic cell count. The laboratory also analyses the raw milk samples from the dairies for fat, protein and lactose content and freezing point, but also for somatic cell count.

Animal Recording Centre sells the ear tags for cattle, goats, pigs and sheep and also issues replacement tags for lost or damages ones.

Dairy animals

In Estonia, the first performance tests of dairy cattle were conducted in 1899 following the example of the Scandinavian countries in connection with consideration of production in breeding. 1909, the year when a cattle testing department was opened at the Vändra Farmers Association, is considered the beginning of performance testing.

In Estonia, performance testing is conducted pursuant to the B-method: test milking is performed and the data are registered by the keeper of animals or its representative. In the Animal Recording Centre the fat, protein and urea content and the number of somatic cells is determined. On the basis of the received data the performance recordings of each animal and the entire herd are calculated. In addition to the data the Animal Recording Centre gathers and records the data concerning the parentage of the monitored dairy animals.

Precisely registered performance and parentage recordings serve as the basis for genetic assessment of the animals. As of November 1999, the BLUP Test Day Model is used for assessment of the performance features of the animals.

Beef animals

The Animal Recording Centre began performance testing of beef animals in September 2000. The aim is to identify the performance of beef animals bred for the purpose of production of beef, improve the quality of beef and increase the profitability of production.

The performance testing of beef animals is conducted in herds that are comprised of meat breeds and hybrids of dairy and milk breeds for the purpose of meat production. The data registered for conducting performance tests include inseminations, mating, purchases of animals, calving, weighing, measuring and expenses. The performance testing is conducted using the B-methods, i.e. the keeper of animals or its representative registers the data.

In Estonia, nine breeds of beef animals are bred: Aberdeen Angus, Blonde d'Aquitaine, Hereford, Limousin, Piedmontese, Simmental, Charolais, Belgian Blue and Highland Cattle.

Porcine animals

The performance testing of pigs is systematic and based on cooperation involving the owner of the animals and the Animal Recording Centre.

There are several important stages in conducting performance testing:
1. Collection of performance recordings from farms;
2. Insertion of the recordings into the database of the ARC;
3. Preparation of various analyses and calculation of the average Estonian indicators on the basis of the ARC database;
4. Genetic assessment of the animals recorded in the ARC database;
5. Issuance of information.

The Possu software program is used for making initial performance recordings of pigs. The program allows for receiving topical and broad information about the management results of the farm at any point of time. Possu is a PC based program which is developed in Animal Recording Centre.

In addition to the aforementioned the Animal Recording Centre provides diverse information about the fertility and breeding value of the boars of the semen collection centre. A program for selection pairs, which prevents blood relationship mating and regards the relative breeding value of the boar and the sow.

Goats

As of the second half of 2001, the Animal Recording Centre provides the performance resting opportunity for goat farmers. Now it is possible to receive data about the fat, protein and urea content and the number of somatic cells of the goat milk.

In addition, the data about the parentage, reproduction and production of goats are gathered to the database. During the performance testing the goat farmer will start receiving monthly and annual reports that allow for making the right breeding decisions.

Laboratory

The Analyses Department has emerged from the laboratory of milk analyses that was founded in 1971 by the former Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine with the aim of automating the analysis of the milk samples of performance testing of the herd.

At present, two System-4000 and one CombiFoss-6000 devices are used in the department for identification of milk components with respective capacities of 300 and 500 samples per hour. The number of general bacteria is identified using two BactoScan FC 100 and Bactoscan FC 50 devices (capacity respecitively 100 and 50 samples per hour).

The employees of the department have long-term experience in the analysers of the given company, their calibration and technical service, which provides good preconditions for achieving the quality of analysis and the necessary precision.

The laboratory was accredited in January 1999 by the Estonian Standards Board and its conformity with the EN 45001:1995 standard was acknowledged. In connection with the amendment of the accreditation standard the Estonian Accreditation Centre issued to the department an accreditation certificate in February 2002, which certifies its competence for analysing milk samples in conformity with the requirements of EVS-EN ISO/IEC 17025. At present laboratory has competence according to EN ISO/IEC 17025:2005 to conduct test in the field of milk analyses.

At the international level the laboratory participates in the BactoScan Collaborative Study, Germany. As of 1998, the laboratory of analyses participates once or twice a year in international collaborative studies for identification of milk components organised by CECA LAIT and ICAR, France. Thus, the Analyses Department conducts international comparative tests with regard to all milk components identified in its laboratory using internationally recognised methods or analysers. In analysis results the deviation of identification of milk components and standard deviation are determined. The comparative tests conducted within the international collaborative study of 2006 with regard to all milk components identified in the Analyses Department showed that the precision is within the limits established for international tests, which shows that the results given by the Analysis Department are acceptable at the international level as well.

At the beginning of 2009 about 1200 clients using performance testing of cows and 20 dairies or milk processors are services by the department. Milk consumers can also have milk components and quality indicators identified using the analysers.