A Steak in Genomics™

 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!

  It has been a very busy fall for the Decker Computational Genomics Group ! This will be capped off by two PhD defenses the first week of December.  “Leveraging Large-scale Beef Cattle Genomic Data to Identify the Architecture of Polygenic Selection  and Local Adaptation” Presented by: Troy Rowan December 1st, 2020 at 1 pm CST Seminar will be presented on Zoom . In January, Troy will be starting as an assistant professor with a focus on beef genomics research and extension at University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture.  "Genomics of Seasonal Hair Shedding and Ecoregion-Specific Growth to Identify Environmentally-Adapted Beef Cattle" Presented by: Harly Durbin December 3rd, 2020 at 12 pm CST Seminar will be presented on Zoom .  In January, Harly will be continuing in my group as a postdoctoral researcher. We appreciate all of the support and collaboration from the beef industry that has made this research possible. Further, research would not have been pos...

 On October 27, 2020, Kelli Retallick and Duc Lu from Angus Genetics Inc. gave a seminar on AGI's research into haplotypes affecting fertility. The dairy industry has been reporting these haplotypes that cause pregnancy's losses for years.  I appreciate that Kelli and Duc emphasized that these should be treated like any other EPD, simply tools that help make selection and mating decisions. No scarlet letters needed! Jerry Taylor reported on USDA funded work on this topic at the 2019 BIF Symposium.  http://blog.steakgenomics.org/2019/06/bif-2019-developing-dna-tests-for.html   Let me know if you have questions about this research or these types of tools!

  Pre-registration is required for each session Nov 4th: go.beefrepro.org/Cow_Heifer Nov 5th: go.beefrepro.org/Bull Vet CE: go.beefrepro.org/VET_CE Following registration you will receive an email with session information and links Nov 4th – Cow & Heifer Session                   *All times are CST 1:00-1:45 PM: Dr. Phillipe Moriel, Univ. of Florida - Enhancing long-term growth and reproduction of heifers 2:00-2:45 PM: Dr. Reinaldo Cooke, Texas A&M - Nutritional strategies for pregnancy success  3:00-3:45 PM: Dr. Cliff Lamb, Texas A&M - Utilizing sexed semen in AI and ET programs 4:00-4:45 PM: Matt Perrier, Dalebanks Angus - Reproductive technologies that have changed the ranch   Nov 5th – Bull Session 1:00-1:45 PM: Dr. David Kenny, Teagasc - Bull development and its impacts on sperm 2:00-2:45 PM: Dr. Zach McFarlane, Cal. Poly - Bull nutrition for a successful herd sire 3:00-3:45 PM: Dr. Tom Geary, USDA-ARS - Bu...

Researchers seek Hereford and Red Angus heifers in include in the trials. By Heather Smith Thomas Reprinted with permission of BEEF Magazine. You can’t sell a calf that’s never born. That’s why fertility is the most important trait in beef cattle because it all has to start with a pregnancy. A heifer that settles early in the breeding season and continues to have a calf on time every year is much better than a heifer that does not breed, breeds late, or has only one calf and then comes up open and must be replaced by another heifer that is expensive to develop. There are a number of methods producers utilize in selecting heifers, but accurate tools to select heifers for fertility and early puberty have not been available—until now. The University of Missouri is doing a research project looking into the genetics of fertility and heifer puberty, led by Jared Decker, state beef genetics Extension specialist. He recently received a grant from USDA-NIFA (National Institute of Food and Agric...

Pre-breeding exam at Red Hill Farms  Heather Smith Thomas wrote a great article on our Heifer Puberty and Fertility Genomics Project. Check it out in the American Red Angus Magazine.  https://issuu.com/redangusassociation/docs/201382_red_angus_oct20_complete_lr/40 Find out how to participate: https://blog.steakgenomics.org/2020/02/HeiferRecruitment.html http://blog.steakgenomics.org/2020/07/heifer-puberty-and-fertility-project.html

A trio of researchers will purchase one GreenFeed Pasture System with the grant Written by Logan Jackson   A trio of researchers in the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) Division of Animal Sciences recently received a 2020 Research Equipment Grant from C-Lock Inc. to purchase one GreenFeed Pasture System, which measures the amount of methane, carbon dioxide, oxygen, hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide gases released by cattle. GreenFeed Pasture System, C-Lock Inc. Jared Decker, associate professor and state beef Extension specialist, Eric Bailey, assistant professor and state beef Extension specialist, and Derek Brake, assistant professor, are the trio leading the project for CAFNR. Their focus will be on using GreenFeed for the prediction of cow efficiency genetic merit (cow efficiency EPD) by combining gas production data, metabolic theory, and genomic and pedigree data. C-Lock Inc., founded in 2009, developed and patented GreenFeed. Thi...

The fetus is the most susceptible to disease of any animal on the farm. The cow is basically a barrier for the fetus. Good biosecurity practices are more impactful (important) than a vaccine protocol. But, in reality, the two work together. Most disease problems are the results of purchasing practices. (Buying a BVD-PI cow for example.) Modified live vaccines are not 100% safe. MLV vaccines can only be in pregnant animals if she has previously been vaccinated with a MLV. For pre breeding, should be used 30 days, and preferably 45 days, before the breeding season. Killed vaccines are not 100% effective. Two doses in time (2 to 4 weeks apart based on label) is still the best. The memory B and T cells created from two doses are what provide long term, lasting immunity. Why do we use the same vaccines year after year? There is a new approach called Prime Boost. In this approach an animal receives two rounds of modified live vaccine. Then sometime in the future the animal recei...

Let's be frank. Reproductive technologies, like most other technology in agriculture, work. Key is using the technology properly, perhaps even relying on expert advice, to be more profitable. See this response by the Beef Reproduction Task Force. https://farmprogress.com/reproduction/readers-respond-blog-ai-and-sexed-semen p.s. Title should have been "Leaders respond..."

Beef Cattle Producer Survey – Cattle Lameness and Antimicrobial Usage in Missouri Researchers at the University of Missouri are conducting a survey of beef cattle producers in Missouri. The purpose of this research survey is to gather information regarding lameness in adult (greater than or equal to 18 months of age) cattle, including bulls, cows, and replacement heifers. The goals of this study are to determine the most common causes of lameness in beef cattle in Missouri and which antibiotics and treatments are most commonly used to treat these lamenesses. The survey is anticipated to take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. To take the survey, please follow this link.  https://missouri.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1BV2TqAhImIBzJb The University of Missouri researchers thank you for your time and interest in participating in this survey!  If you have any questions about this research study, please contact: Pamela Adkins, DVM, PhD, DACVIM and Kelsey Walker, DVM University o...

University of Missouri USDA Funded Heifer Puberty and Fertility Project Participation Overview Project Goals  Fertility is critically important to both commercial and seedstock breeders. This project aims to improve genetic/genomic predictions for puberty and fertility of heifers by collecting DNA samples and relevant phenotypes, specifically relating to pubertal status and date of conception within the breeding season. This project is funded by the USDA-NIFA Animal Reproduction Program . The project is recruiting 2,500 Hereford and 2,500 Red Angus heifers , to add to a data set of 6,000 Angus heifers. Participation  To inquire about participating in the project, please first contact one of the project coordinators by email or phone:  Erin Larimore Phone: 660-281-5518 Email: LarimoreE@missouri.edu  Dr. Jared Decker   Phone: 573-819-0837  Email: DeckerJE@missouri.edu  Dr. Jordan Thomas   Phone: 573-289-959...

My older son Jaden Decker competed in the Missouri Junior Hereford Association Illustrated Speech Contest.  The Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program has been very successful helping farmers and ranchers better manage beef heifers. We recently received USDA funding to use reproductive tract scores, pelvic measurements, and fetal age from ultrasound to better predict heifer reproduction EPDs. We are recruiting 2,500 Hereford and 2,500 Red Angus heifers for this project. Jaden discusses using these management practices and collecting this data in his herd.

One of the things I learned from my student Troy Rowan was that best part of breed association's junior national expos is the contests and activities.  So, when I saw the Junior National Hereford Expo Pee Wee Speech contest was online this year, we jumped at the opportunity.  Below is Jensen Decker's speech titled "Hazardous Hair Shedding".    Really excited about the growth this young man showed through this experience! Thanks for to the National Hereford Women for sponsoring the Pee Wee Speech contest.

Figure 1 from Durbin et al. 2020. We recently posted a preprint (a research publication that has not yet been peer reviewed) to the bioRxiv server. You can read the article here:  https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.21.109553   *Update: Peer-reviewed, published paper is available open-access here:  https://gsejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12711-020-00584-0  "Development of a genetic evaluation for hair shedding in American Angus cattle to improve thermotolerance" This manuscript describes our work with Angus breeders and Angus Genetics Inc. to create a hair shedding EPD for the American Angus Association. We learned a lot of cool things about hair shedding in this paper. Including how hair shedding is related to other traits and how hair shedding is related to the environment. 1) Negative Relationship Between Milk and Growth Something interesting to me was to learn more about the genetic correlation between weaning weight direct and weaning weight maternal...

At the National Western Stock Show, I had a great discussion with the American Angus Association board and members. Angus Media put together a nice summary of that presentation.

Use Information Extracted from Data to Breed a Better Calf Crop and Cow Herd Here is a fun conversation starter on your next visit to the coffee shop or diner. What is the most important trait in cattle production? What trait do you think is most important? Another way to ask this question, how do you define a "good" cow? In a typical group of cattle producers, you will get a lot of different answers. One person will say weaning weight and another will say marbling. A third may say calving ease, "Gotta have a live calf." A fourth may say fertility. But, why are these different traits important? Because they affect the profitability of beef operations! Profit is the most important trait in beef production. The profitability of a bull's or cow's calves should be our number one criterion when selecting breeding stock.  How many beef producers go to a bull sale to buy a load of soil or a bag of feed? In other words, do we go to a bull sale to buy the environmen...

We will have a scientific article describing the hair shedding research soon. Work was completed by Harly Durbin during her time at Angus Genetics Inc. as an intern.

My group has posted a new preprint on bioRxiv .  You can check it out here:  https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.11.988121 Warning, it is written for a technical audience, not in cowboy terms. So- what are the take-home messages for farmers and ranchers? We can identify the DNA variants responding to your selection decisions. You tend to select cattle that have better immune systems. Hormone production in the ovaries is under selection in Red Angus. Makes sense based on the breed's focus on fertility. Muscle development is under selection in Gelbvieh.  We can identify the DNA variants that lead to cattle adapted to their environment Blood vessel tightening or loosening is under environmental selection. The brain and neuron signaling is an important part of environmental adaptation. We are losing local adaptation in beef cattle. Check out this Twitter thread to see figures from the paper. https://twitter.com/pop_gen_JED/status/1258786262149808131 Regarding the last point, we c...

Darrh Bullock University of Kentucky Precision agriculture has come to various industries. Luckily, there are already tools to do precision breeding in beef cattle. Let's talk about farm/ranch goals. For example, our goals may be to Support two families Keep workers safe Effectively use the resources we have Breeding objectives are genetically influenced objectives to help achieve farm and ranch goals. In Darrh's opinion, breeding objectives should impact the quality of life of the farm and ranch owners and workers. These objectives should improve economic, social, welfare and convenience factors of a farm. Certain traits in our breeding objective will allow us to be more efficient and have a smaller environmental impact. Other traits will be in our breeding objective simply because they make our life more convenient. Darrh pointed out that production efficiency is the key. The beef industry needs to reduce the amount of mature size and milk so that cows are mor...

Eric Bailey State Beef Nutrition Specialist, University of Missouri "Let's start with the pain point," Bailey said. In the last 20 years, we have more than doubled cow costs. However, outside of 2014, we have not seen feed calf prices keep up with cow costs. At $800 per year cow cost, we need to make $1.60 per pound on a 5 weight steer. Bailey will cover 3 topics: Match feed with need Supplementing based on limiting nutrient Cost effective supplement selection Matching Feed with Need A part of matching feed with need is having seasonally-appropriate calving. Bailey draws a distiction between winter calving (before February 1) and Spring calving. We often lump winter-calving with spring calving, but if you calve before February 1, you are likely not matching your calving to forage availability. With warm-season forages, until May, the nutritional requirements of the cow are much higher than supplied by grasses. This means we have to spend mon...

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...

Developing and maintaining a herd with the key profit driver By Rebecca Mettler Reprint from the Joplin Stockyards Cattlemen's News. Cow longevity is a key profit driver in cow-calf operations. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if a producer has purchased the perfect bull for their operation if the cows remain open because of poor cowherd fertility. Instead, developing and maintaining a herd with enhanced longevity should be a top item on producers’ minds when setting goals for the new year ahead. While proper nutrition and sound vaccination protocols for reproductive diseases are essential pieces of the puzzle, producers should also focus on making genetic improvements to fertility and other longevity related factors. Too often when producers looking at genetic predictions, e.g., expected progeny differences (EPDs) and indexes, they look at growth and carcass traits. But as an industry, we often don’t think about traits to improve our long-term employees—our co...

Head over to the January 2020 issue of the ANGUS BEEF BULLETIN to read a new article written by my graduate student Harly Durbin and me. Harly was an intern at Angus Genetics Inc. the summer of 2019, and through her work AGI will be releasing a Hair Shedding EPD in 2020. Article Available Here .