Featured Post

Hereford and Red Angus Heifers Recruited for Genomics Research

The University of Missouri is recruiting 2,500 Hereford heifers and 2,500 Red Angus heifers to participate in a heifer puberty and fertility genomic research project. Heifers should be registered Hereford, registered Red Angus, or commercial Hereford or Red Angus. Hereford x Red Angus crossbred heifers targeted for the Premium Red Baldy Program would also be a good fit for the research project. Producers must be willing to work with a trained veterinarian to collect the following data: ReproductiveTract Scores collected at a pre-breeding exam 30 to 45 days prior to the start of the breeding season. PelvicMeasurements (height and width) collected at the same pre-breeding exam 30 to 45 days prior to the start of the breeding season. Pregnancy Determination Using Ultrasound reporting fetal age in days. Ultrasound will need to occur no later than 90 days after the start of the breeding season. In addition, heifers must have known birth dates and have weights recorded eithe
64 comments

BIF 2016: Using genomic tools in commercial beef cattle: taking heifer selection to the next level

Tom Short
Zoetis

Can genetic information from a simple DNA sample allow us to reasonable accuracy of the females lifetime performance?

We know that our national cow herd inventory decreased to a very low level in 2014.

When we rebuilt the cow herd did we keep low quality heifers that should have never been cows?

What type of genomic prediction should we be using to select commercial heifers?

GeneMax Advantage was produced by a collaboration of Angus Genetics Inc, Certified Angus Beef, and Zoetis. It is applicable to beef females that are at least 75% Black Angus. These predictions are based on the Zoetis HD50K product for Angus. The correlations between the genomic predictions and the breeding value are all quite good, around 75%.

The individual traits are combined into three indexes. These are a Cow Advantage Score, Feeder Advantage Score, and Total Advantage Score. The correlation between Total Advantage and the Cow and Feeder indexes are about 70%, but the correlation between Cow Advantage and Feeder Advantage is about 50%. So, if in doubt about your breeding objective, use the Total Advantage Score.

The Cow Advantage is 13% Cow Cost, 66% number of calves, and 21% weight of calves. Carcass Advantage is a combination of feedlot and carcass traits.

Maximum genetic economic improvement is made by selecting on indexes.

Check out Bob Weaber's fact sheet on eBEEF.org for more information about indexes. http://articles.extension.org/pages/73372/beef-cattle-economic-selection-indices

By selecting on GeneMax Total Advantage, we see about 0.5 standard deviation improvement in Calving Ease Direct. We see about 0.9 SD improvement in weaning weight, 0.4 for marbling, calving ease maternal abour 0.6 SD. If we selected only on weaning weight, we would see unfavorable changes in mature weight, mature height, and decreased improvement for calving ease and other economically important traits.

In Short's model, value of the test is measured over a 10 year period based on the performance of the cow's progeny, grand progeny, and great grand progeny.

The heifers that you test and retain have to pay for the heifers that you test and cull. By 7 years, we see a net revenue of $300 per tested heifer. Break-even occurs between years 3 and 4. The value of the future generations is about 1.5X that of tested females. Keep in mind, investments in genetics is a long term investment!

146 heifers tested in SD herd.
By visual apprasial, the top 100 heifers averaged a 56 Total Advantage Score
By index rank, the top 100 heifers averaged a 65 Total Advantage Score.

A $39 test cost is approximately only $15 more than recommended health protocols to first calving for a first heifer.

Also consider other value considerations.
Value added marketing programs, the average of the heifers matches the average of the steers. Could use this information in marketing steers through TopDollar Angus or Reputation Feeder Cattle.

Also a great shout out to Missouri's Show-Me-Plus program!

This tool is also a unique value to commercial producers because historically they do not have access to genetics predictions for commercial heifers.

See bifconference.com for more information.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Show-Me-Select Board Approves Genomic Testing Requirement for Natural Service Sires

Image
All bulls purchased after February 1st, 2019 for use as natural service sires in the Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program ™  must be DNA tested to have genomic-enhanced EPDs. All bulls used as natural service sires after February 1st, 2020 must have genomic-enhanced EPDs, regardless of when they were purchased. Seedstock producers classifying bulls as Show-Me-Select qualified in sale books must have genomic-enhanced EPDs on those lots. Bulls purchased prior to February 1st, 2019 will be grandfathered into the program, as is the common practice with all natural service sires. However, this grandfather grace period will end February 1st, 2020. At that time for a bull to qualify for use in the program, it must have genomic-enhanced EPDs. Why the change? The Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program has the goal of producing premium heifers that perform predictably as 2 year olds. The program has a history of requiring Show-Me-Select producers to go beyond typical cat
Read more

Hereford and Red Angus Heifers Recruited for Genomics Research

The University of Missouri is recruiting 2,500 Hereford heifers and 2,500 Red Angus heifers to participate in a heifer puberty and fertility genomic research project. Heifers should be registered Hereford, registered Red Angus, or commercial Hereford or Red Angus. Hereford x Red Angus crossbred heifers targeted for the Premium Red Baldy Program would also be a good fit for the research project. Producers must be willing to work with a trained veterinarian to collect the following data: ReproductiveTract Scores collected at a pre-breeding exam 30 to 45 days prior to the start of the breeding season. PelvicMeasurements (height and width) collected at the same pre-breeding exam 30 to 45 days prior to the start of the breeding season. Pregnancy Determination Using Ultrasound reporting fetal age in days. Ultrasound will need to occur no later than 90 days after the start of the breeding season. In addition, heifers must have known birth dates and have weights recorded eithe
Read more