A Steak in Genomics™

Robert Wells, Noble Research Institute

What breeds should you consider?
Types
Heterosis
Complementarity effects


There are two species of cattle:
Bos taurus
British breeds (Angus, Hereford)
Continental breeds (Charolais, Simmental, Limousin, Gelbvieh, etc.)

Bos indicus (Zebu, humped cattle)
Brahman
Nelore
Gir


Angus (British)
Reputation is carcass and maternal. Also has a reputation for growth.
"They wanted to be everything to everybody," he said. The problem with this is the increased mature size in these growthier Angus cattle.

Red Angus
Reputation for carcass and maternal. Before the 1950s, all Angus were Angus, regardless of coat color. The Red Angus breed has not chased growth as much as black Angus.

Hereford (British)
Reputation for maternal, easy fleshing, and longevity. Hereford don't typically have a lot of maintenance requirements.

Shorthorn (British)
Reputation as maternal and carcass. Shorthorn was previously a dual purpose breed of meat and milk. This is why Shortho…

Moderator:
Tommy Perkins, International Brangus Breeders Association
Panelists:
Kelley Sullivan, Santa Rosa Ranch
Donnell Brown, RA Brown Ranch

What DNA tests do you require when you buy a bull? Parentage? Genetic Defects? Polled? Coat Color?
What trait is most important in bull selection?
Does genomic testing provide value?

Donnell Brown currently markets 4 different breeds (Angus, Red Angus, SimAngus and a 4-breed composite called Hotlander™). Brown has been involved with 17 different breeds. They DNA parentage test every animal born on their place. Five to ten percent of animals have the wrong parentage assigned. Cows swap calves. The wrong straw gets pulled out of the tank. A bull comes over from two pastures over and then goes home before we ever knew he was out. Would we prefer to use a bull with one calf crop or a bull with no calves? Most producers prefer the bull with more data. Genomic-enhanced EPDs provide the same amount of information as the first calf crop out of a bull. Don…

In January, Angus Genetics, Inc. (AGI) announced the release of research Claw Set and Foot Angle EPDs. The development of a research EPD is the second step towards a production EPD.

This followed research presented in the summer of 2017 which found heritabilities of 0.34 for foot angle and 0.21 for claw set. Estimating heritability (portion of the trait influenced by genetics) is the first step towards a production EPD. This research also found a genetic correlation of 0.22 between the two traits, indicating that both traits need to be reported and analyzed.

Stephen Miller, AGI Director of Genetic Research stated, "“Angus breeders have completed a tremendous amount of data reporting in such a short period of time; this is truly a testament to their commitment toward genetic progress. We are absolutely thrilled to begin the process of rolling this breakthrough out to the membership.”

Kelli Retallick, AGI Director of Genetic Services cautioned, “Though we are getting closer to a pr…

Written by Tamar Crum, Jared E. Decker, Robert D. Schnabel, and Jeremy F. Taylor

“My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates.You never know what you’re gonna get.” – Forrest Gump
You may be wondering how in the world does a box of chocolates relate to breed composition of livestock? Or, if you are anything like me, it’s where did I hide that Halloween chocolate, I need some! I think that there are two analogies between a box of chocolates and the breed composition of livestock.
First, we can pick out the white chocolates and may even be able to separate the milk chocolates from the dark chocolates.This is similar to our ability to visually evaluate breed characteristics and sort livestock into different breed or subspecies (Bos taurus or Bos indicus influenced) based on breed characteristics.However, such visual evaluation of breed composition is not terribly accurate.For example, biting into a piece of dark chocolate and finding a nut when you were expecting caramel.Crossbr…

Eric Bailey
University of Missouri Extension State Beef Nutrition Specialist
Presentation at Southwest Missouri Spring Forage Conference 

Here is the contrarian view. Compared to other drivers of profit,  mineral has an extremely small impact on profitability. Here is a quote to illustrate this view.

"Don't measure with a micrometer and cut with an ax!" -Dr. Tim Steffens.
We don't give a cow a half a teaspoon of mineral, watch her eat it, and go about our day. No, we put out mineral and cows will eat as little or as much as they want.

Bailey's philosophy: Mineral nutrition is an insurance policy. Minerals are not a cure or a key to improving production.

What is the issue? Marketing vs. Science. If we are feeding cows 3 year old hay that is mainly buck brush and sumac, we have much bigger nutritional issues than mineral. In many situations we have energy and protein deficiencies before we have mineral deficiencies. Minerals are high profit margin products for feed compan…