PARSIPPANY, N.J., April 7, 2026 — Zoetis further strengthens its commitment to working with dairy producers to help improve profitability, animal well-being and environmental stewardship with the launch of additional traits with CLARIFIDE® Plus and updates available in the Dairy Wellness Proft Index® (DWP$®). These new traits include predicting environmental stewardship and heat resistance. Additionally, these new elements of CLARIFIDE Plus reinforce the strategic partnership between Zoetis and Danone, a collaboration formed in 2024 to advance innovations toward sustainable production.
“The 2026 updates to DWP$ and CLARIFIDE Plus provide dairy producers with additional precision in breeding for cows that are profitable, efficient and sustainable,” said Nick Randle, Sr. Marketing Manager, U.S. Dairy Productivity and Milk Quality, Zoetis. “Through Dairy Wellness Profit 2026, producers can gain access to predictive insights for individualized animal care that can inform management decisions and support environmental and economic goals for their herds both now and for the future.”
Driving Measurable Genetic Progress
The DWP$ 2026 genetic progress delivers genetic advancement across underlying traits and measurable improvement in lifetime profit. Improving $100 in DWP$ 2026 is expected to result in an increase in lifetime profit of:
- $61 for Quality Production traits1
- $19 for Antibiotic Stewardship traits1
- $8 for Animal Welfare traits1
- $6 for Fertility traits1
- $6 for Precision Nutrition traits1
These results reflect Zoetis’ continued focus on balancing income and expense drivers within a single, economically weighted index.
Advancing Environmental Stewardship and Feed Efficiency
To address evolving consumer and market expectations around sustainability while maintaining strong economic performance, DWP$ 2026 strengthens its environmental stewardship focus through the inclusion of both Zoetis Residual Feed Intake (Z_RFI) and RUMiN.
Z_RFI measures dry matter intake not accounted for by milk production, body weight, stage of lactation and age. Lower values are more desirable, indicating greater feed efficiency. In validation analyses, the best 25% of animals ranked by Z_RFI consumed 2.2 pounds less dry matter intake per day than expected compared with the worst 25% group — without sacrificing performance.2 Meanwhile, RUMiN predicts the genetic potential for enteric methane production.
In terms of improving profitability and sustainability together, milk methane intensity is an important metric, as it provides dairy producers two avenues they can use to improve milk methane intensity: lower methane production and increase milk production. The Milk Methane Intensity (Z_MI) trait of CLARIFIDE Plus predicts the amount of methane — expressed in carbon dioxide equivalents — that cows are expected to produce per kilogram of milk in a 305-day lactation. Capturing milk methane intensity on dairies is important because it measures how much methane is emitted relative to the amount of milk produced. Cows that are healthier, more feed-efficient and more productive typically produce less methane per unit of milk. This metric helps producers, and the dairy industry as a whole, track emissions over time and helps demonstrate the environmental efficiency of milk production.
“By integrating Z_RFI and RUMiN alongside wellness and production traits, DWP$ 2026 empowers producers to advance both environmental stewardship and overall herd profitability within a single, comprehensive index,” said Brett Bristol, Head of Precision Animal Health, Zoetis.
Advancing On-farm Sustainability Practices
Solving complex sustainability challenges requires innovation and collaboration. Since 2024, Zoetis and Danone have partnered to drive sustainable practices on dairy farms through the power of genetics for healthier, more-productive cows. Combining Danone’s commitment to environmental stewardship with Zoetis’ expertise in animal genetics, the partnership focuses on integrating sustainable practices into dairy genetics and selection, emphasizing animal well-being, reducing environmental impact and promoting long-term resilience in dairy farming.
“Genomic testing of our farmers’ herds plays an important role in our global methane reduction strategy,” said Anco van Schaik, Global Director of Procurement, Danone. “By integrating genomic testing into our breeding decisions, we can select animals with higher productivity, greater resilience and improved feed efficiency, which can directly reduce methane intensity.”
Regarding Danone’s partnership with Zoetis, van Schaik continued, “As we advance toward our ambition of cutting methane emissions by 30% by 2030, integrating CLARIFIDE Plus strengthens our ability to deliver lower carbon milk at scale. Our partnership with Zoetis provides the scientific expertise and genomic capabilities needed to accelerate this transition from our farm partners.”
Real Herd Data Demonstrating Sustainable Herd Selection With DWP$
Producers are already selecting for more-sustainable herds with DWP$. In a recent publication in the Journal of Dairy Science, it projected the next generation of heifers tested through Zoetis will average 2.5% lower lifetime methane intensity per year.3 The speed of this improvement is driven by the DWP$ genetic progress of all heifers tested with CLARIFIDE Plus from Zoetis.
Advancing Heat Resilience
For regions where significant heat and humidity challenge dairy productivity, well-being and herd sustainability, Dairy Wellness Profit Heat (DWP$ Heat) is a tool for producers to select for overall herd profitability while incorporating heat resilience in their breeding programs. DWP$ Heat includes two new traits designed to improve resilience under elevated Temperature Humidity Index (THI) conditions:
- Fertility Heat Resilience (Z_FR) is the change in probability of first service conception rate per unit increase in THI.
- Milk Heat Resilience (Z_MR) is the change in daily milk production in pounds per unit increase in THI.
Incorporating DWP$ Heat, Z_FR and Z_MR into breeding and culling decisions will help dairy producers create future generations of animals that have the capability for higher lifetime profit along with heat resilience when combined with best management practices. Zoetis recommends DWP$ Heat for herds experiencing heat stress for 20% of the year.
“Genetic progress of $100 in DWP$ Heat is also expected to deliver the same distribution of lifetime profit gains across quality production, stewardship, welfare, fertility and precision nutrition traits,” said Brenda Fessenden, Technical Services lead, Precision Animal Health, Zoetis. “This reinforces that heat resilience and profitability go hand in hand.”
Advancing the Future of Genetic Innovation
The 2026 update to DWP$ and CLARIFIDE Plus reflects Zoetis’ continued growth in leading innovative solutions in precision animal health that deliver practical, measurable value for dairy producers.
“By combining wellness, performance, resilience, efficiency and sustainability into a single profit-driven index, Zoetis continues to provide dairy producers with the tools needed to meet today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities,” Randle added. “Together, we are strengthening industry connections that leverage genetic selection to deliver predictive insights and more-individualized animal care — helping shape the future of dairy production while supporting healthier animals and more-sustainable livestock production globally.”
For more information about the comprehensive portfolio of dairy genetic solutions from Zoetis, contact your local Zoetis representative or go to ClarifidePlus.com.
About Zoetis
Zoetis is the world’s leading animal health company, driven by a singular purpose: to nurture our world and humankind by advancing care for animals. With a legacy of nearly 75 years, Zoetis continues to pioneer ways to predict, prevent, detect, and treat animal illness, supporting veterinarians, livestock producers, and pet owners in over 100 countries. We integrate deep scientific expertise, data-driven R&D, advanced manufacturing, and commercial excellence to deliver meaningful innovation across medicines, vaccines, diagnostics, biopharmaceuticals, and digital solutions. Guided by our vision to be the most trusted and valued animal health company, Zoetis is committed to setting new standards for the future of animal care through innovation, customer obsession, and purpose-driven colleagues. To learn more, visit Zoetis.com.
