Milk yield records that are shorter than the standard lactation should also be used to reduce the bias in estimating breeding values of sires owing to differences in the culling rates among the progeny groups. Early estimates of the sire's breeding value by extending lactations in progress can help to reduce the generation interval, as well as increase the intensity of selection, and thus create greater genetic progress. This early information can allow the farmer to decide whether cows should be kept for breeding. Furthermore, it helps in allocating resources such as feed, both for an individual cow and for a herd (Khan et al., 2005). Lacroix et al. (1995) reported that artificial neural networks (ANNs) allowed for an earlier and a more accurate prediction of milk production in cows. Such improvement is particularly important early in lactation, when a 305-d milk yield can be difficult to predict, and where such a prediction can have serious implications for the choice of future bull-dams. Early detection of low-producing animals is also important for timely culling decisions, with their associated economic benefits (Kominakis et al., 2002). In dairy production, prediction of milk yield is important, in that much of the selection of genetically superior bulls is based on their ability to produce high-yielding daughters. Therefore, the sooner these bulls can be identified, the sooner the collection of semen can commence and insemination of cows can proceed (Sharma et al., 2007).