By Jared E. Decker Many of you have probably noticed that things have been a lot less active on the A Steak in Genomics™ blog, but you probably haven't known why. In January 2021, I was named the Wurdack Chair in Animal Genomics at Mizzou, and I now focus on research, with a little bit of teaching. I no longer have an extension appointment. But, with exciting news, the blog is about to become a lot more active! Jamie Courter began as the new MU Extension state beef genetics specialist in the Division of Animal Sciences on September 1, 2023. I have known Jamie for several years, meeting her at BIF when she was a Masters student. I have been impressed by Jamie in my interactions with her since that time. Dr. Courter and I have been working closely together the last 6 weeks, and I am excited to work together to serve the beef industry for years to come! Jamie holds a bachelor’s degree in animal science from North Carolina State University and earned a master's degree in animal
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BIF 2021: Increase Adaptability Through Use of Hair Shedding EPDs
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Decker explains the importance of utilizing hair shedding EPDs to increase animal adaptability.
“Hair shedding is linked to milk production, reproduction and possibly animal welfare. Hair shedding is easy to collect and predict so it may play a role in selecting genetics with an improved adaptability to heat stresses,” said Jared Decker, University of Missouri associate professor. He gave his presentation “A Piece of the Adaptability Puzzle: Multi-breed Hair Shedding Genetic Effects and EPD” during the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) Symposium June 23 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Cow efficiency and adaptability is a multi-pronged and complicated puzzle. Researchers have pursued the identification of local adaptation and region-specific genomic predictions in beef cattle using hair shedding scores as an indicator of tolerance to heat stress. Hair shedding scores measure how early the winter hair is shed off in the spring and summer. Cattle tend to shed their winter hair from front to back and top to bottom. Ideally cattle should be scored late spring or early in the summer where there is a bell-shaped curve of the scores.
Researchers have collected nearly 37,000 scores on just more than 13,000 cattle through a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded project. Dams with lower hair shedding scores tend to wean heavier calves. Hair shedding is a moderately heritable trait with heritability estimates ranging from 0.32 to 0.41. The repeatability for the trait was not much higher than the heritability. There were differences when comparing breeds, but within a breed there was more variability than between breeds and the bell curve across the breeds overlaps.
“Within each breed, we have some animals that are breed improvers and some animals that will be problems relative to shedding,” Decker explained.
Decker used a genotype by environment wide association study and found several regions of the genome that were significant when they looked at day length as a trigger for shedding, while no regions were significant when looking at temperature differences. The research suggests that the genetic control of shedding may be linked to day length rather than temperature. Age also influences hair shedding, where younger cows have higher scores than older cows.
“Nutrition may play a role in shedding, particularly in the younger cows, and body condition scores should be collected at the time of hair shedding scores,” Decker recommended.
To watch Decker’s full presentation, visit https://youtu.be/NHaShbwYmgA. For more information about this year’s Symposium and the Beef Improvement Federation, including additional presentations and award winners, visit BIFSymposium.com.
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
At the January 4th Show-Me-Select Board of Directors meeting, new service sire EPD requirements were approved. All sires, artificial insemination and natural service, must meet minimum Calving Ease Direct (CED) EPD requirements. In addition to yearly updates, two changes were made. First, no Birth Weight EPD requirement will be published. All commonly used breeds now have CED EPDs available. Second, all breeds in the International Genetic Solutions (IGS) genetic evaluation are now set to a common requirement. In the summer of 2018, breeds within the International Genetic Solutions switched to a single-step BOLT multi-breed genetic evaluation. The EPDs for animals in the IGS genetic evaluation are directly comparable across breeds. In 2017, the Red Angus requirement for CED was a CED of 8, which represents the 30th percentile. Less than 5% percent of heifers breed to a bull with a CED EPD of 8 or larger had calving difficulty. We feel that this require is meeting the need to re
On December 3rd, Harly Durbin, a PhD student in my group, successfully defended her PhD dissertation. You can watch a video of her public seminar, in which she discusses hair shedding and genotype-by-environment interactions for growth. Congratulations Harly!
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