Abstract: 【Objective】This experiment was conducted to quantify the effect of environmental factors on milk yield of first lactation Holsteins in Ningxia, and to estimate genetic parameters of test day milk yield using test-day model, to provide a theoretical foundation for genetic parameter and breeding value estimation of milk components and somatic cells, and provide basic parameters for optimal breeding scheme which is suited to the Holstein population in Ningxia.【Method】A total of 550 078 test-day milk yield records from Holstein in Ningxia were collected, and the standards of calving month between 22-36 mo, the milk days between 5-305 d, and test day milk yield between 5.9-53.3kg were used to edit data, and finally a total of 127478 test-day milk yield records from 14320 Holstein heifers distributed in 24 herds between 2009 and 2013 in Ningxia were used in lactation curve mimicking and genetic analysis. Pedigree information of three generations were collected (father, mother, grandfather and grandmother from both father side and mother side) to form the pedigree file consisting 24 272 individuals. Microsoft Excel 2013 was used to manage the data to derive average milk production for each test-day, and NLIN procedure of SAS 9.1 was used to fit the Wood model and used to mimic the lactation curve to derive the population characters of milk yield. A random regression test-day animal model was employed and DMU 5.2 software was used for parameter estimation. The model included general fixed effect and fixed regression, random regression. In the present study, herd-test-day was the fixed effects, and a fixed regression were fitted for calving year and calving month combination effects, direct additive genetic, permanent environment were the random effects. Regression curves were modeled using Legendre polynomials of order 4. Based on climate characteristics in Ningxia, four calving seasons were categorized, spring (Mar. 11th to May 20th), summer (May 21^st to Aug. 25^th), autumn (Aug. 26^th to Oct. 15^th) and winter (Oct.16^th to Mar. 10^th).【Result】 The results showed that the average of test-day milk yield in Ningxia was 29.66 kg, milk yield reached its peak at about 90 days and peak yield was 31.84 kg. Through fitting lactation curves to first lactation cows in different seasons, calving years, and farms, the effect of these factors on lactation curves were quantified. Furthermore, lactation curves should be fitted as sub-models in the model for genetic evaluation. The heritabilities of 5-305 day milk yield were from 0.08 to 0.29, and the overall heritability of daily milk yield was 0.16. 【Conclusion】The study mimicked lactation curves for first lactation Holstein cows in Ningxia using WOOD model, the proper model was defined for this population. Results of estimated heritability for daily milk yield was lower than the results in the literatures using similar models. To evaluate the performance of test-day model, the hypothesis for residual variance (e) and integrity of pedigree needs to pay attention. These estimates derived from current study will provide reference for evaluating milk components and somatic cell counts using random regression model, and further establishing breeding value estimation system for performance of Holstein in Ningxia.

Key words: test-day milk yield, genetic parameters, random regression model, Ningxia, Holstein