摘要：This paper presents a quick, easy to implement and versatile way of using.stochastic simulations to investig.te the power and desig. of using.sing.e nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays for g.nome-wide association studies in farm animals. It illustrates the methodolog. by discussing.a small example where 6 experimental desig.s are considered to analyse the same resource consisting.of 6006 animals with pedig.ee and phenotypic records: (1) g.notyping.the 30 most widely used sires in the population and all of their prog.ny (515 animals in total), (2) g.notyping.the 100 most widely used sires in the population and all of their prog.ny (1102 animals in total), g.notyping.respectively (3) 515 and (4) 1102 animals selected randomly or g.notyping.respectively (5) 515 and (6) 1102 animals from the tails of the phenotypic distribution. g.ven the resource at hand, desig.s where the extreme animals are g.notyped perform the best, followed by desig.s selecting.animals at random. Desig.s where sires and their prog.ny are g.notyped perform the worst, as even g.notyping.the 100 most widely used sires and their prog.ny is not as powerful of g.notyping.515 extreme animals.