1. Designing Genetics and Selection for Seedstock Breeders, Commercial Cattlemen and Show Ring Enthusiasts ASA Fall Focus 2015: Confidence Builds Success Scott P. Greiner, Ph.D. Extension Animal Scientist Virginia Tech sgreiner@vt.edu 540-231-9159

2. Putting Genetics to Work What are your herd goals? How fast can you get there? What do you focus on?

3. Seedstock Cow-Calf Processor Feeder Consumer

4. Genetic Improvement∆G  Rate of genetic change influenced by: Accuracy of selection Selection intensity Generation interval

5. Accuracy and Possible Change BW EPD BIF Accuracy Possible Change “true” EPD Range Sire A+1.00.25±2.0-1.0 to +3.0 Sire B+1.00.90±0.3+0.7 to +1.3

6. Magnitude of Selection

7. Genetic Progress in Multiple Traits  Application of well-designed crossbreeding system Heterosis Breed Complementarity  Effective use of EPDs Within Breeds Across Breeds

8. Assumptions  Maximum profitability in cow-calf sector is associated with crossbreeding (primarily through maternal heterosis)  Angus, Red Angus, and Hereford are the British breeds of choice and compose primary base of US cow herd  Continental x British crosses are most desirable for optimizing goals of cow-calf, feeder, packer, and consumer

9. Breed Average EPDs: Across Breed Basis BWWWYWMilkMBREAFT Angus +1.4+50+88+23+0.46+0.41+0.01 Red Angus +1.8+30+56+21+0.09+0.11-0.02 Hereford +5.9+45+52+2-0.26+0.22-0.05 Simmental +5.5+58+82+25-0.25+1.20-0.19 Simm Hybrid +4.3+55+82+25-0.06+1.02-0.17 Simmental among Continental breeds: Higher CE, maternal CE, WW, YW, QG, and feed efficiency

10. 0 -25 25 100 75 50 1972197419761978198019821984198619881990199219941996199820002002200420062008 Diff = 61 lb Diff = 38 lb Diff = 0.4 lb AngusSimmental Kuehn, US MARC

11. Major Breed Differences Today Continental vs. British breeds  Continental breeds have dramatically reduced birth weights and improved calving ease over last 30 +years  Angus and Red Angus sire lightest BW calves with most calving ease  Daughters of Continental and British breeds similar in reproduction, calving ease, calf survival and similar in mature size  Breed differences in weaning weight and milk much smaller than 30+ years ago  British and Continental sired progeny do not differ significantly in postweaning growth or efficiency of live weight gain  Large differences exist between British and Continental breeds for carcass traits

12. Sire breed least squares means for height, condition score, and weight of F 1 cows (adjusted for condition score) at 4 years of age Four-yr-oldFour-yr-oldFour-year-old BreedHeightinConditionScore Weight / (Adj. Wt.) Lb Hereford 53.1 ab 6.47 a 1360 a (1348 a ) Angus 52.5 bc 6.54 a 1348 a (1342 ab ) Red Angus 52.2 c 6.63 a 1342 a (1321 ab ) Simmental53.6 a 6.40 ab 1357 a (1353 a ) Gelbvieh 52.9 abc 6.01 c 1273 b (1282 b ) Limousin53.5 a 6.13 bc 1320 ab (1330 ab ) Charolais LSD <0.05 53.3 ab 0.8 6.47 a.29 1344 a (1339 ab ) 54 (51) source: Cundiff et al., 2005, Germplasm Evaluation Program

13. Simmental  Complimentary traits to Angus Muscle/Red Meat Yield Growth Efficiency Maternal  Maintain Marbling/QG Calving ease Market acceptability (phenotype, color) Mature size

14. Commercial Breeding Programs  Merchandise pounds  Goal: Output per unit of input Optimize performance within resources while maintaining low cost  Tools Selection pressure (within and across breeds) Breed differences Mating system

15. Better Feeder Cattle…  Effectively Immunized  High Growth  Efficient Growth to Payweight  Meet Carcass Target Specifications  Properly Packaged  Right Price

16. Sire Profit Rankings: Feedyard TCSCF, Strohbehn & Busby, 2014

17. Post Weaning Trait Correlations with Lifetime Profitability  Final Wt.0.80  Feed:Gain-0.34  ADG0.67  Carcass Wt.0.85  RE0.51  YG0.15  MB score0.32  CH- and up0.35  Health cost-0.23  Cost of gain-0.41 TCSCF, Strohbehn & Busby, 2014

18. In Search of the Optimum Cow….  Calves successfully at 2 years, annually thereafter, with minimal calving difficulty  Weans valuable calf annually that fits demands of marketplace and satisfies consumers  Highly adapted to environment and managerial resources  Optimizes revenue vs. costs of production over long life  Returns a profit!

19. Maternal Heterosis Advantage of the Crossbred Cow  Advantage of crossbred cow vs. straightbred Reproductive efficiency Maternal ability Longevity  Increased lifetime productivity  Maternal heterosis accounts for largest portion of total heterosis advantage (60%)

20. Heritability and Heterosis of Various Traits and Their Impact on Components of Cow-Calf Profitability TraitHeritabilityHeterosis Impact on Production Costs Impact on Production Output ReproductionLowHighFavorablePositive Calf SurvivalLowHighFavorablePositive LongevityLowHighFavorablePositive Milk20%Mod.VariablePositive Calving Difficulty 15%Mod.UnfavorableNegative Mature Size50%Mod.VariablePositive Calf Weight40%Mod.VariablePositive

21. Genetic Targets  OPTIMIZING PRODUCTIVTY  Reproduction  Calving Ease/Survival  Growth  Maternal Ability  Carcass Merit  MANAGE COSTS OF PRODUCTION Reproduction Mature Size Milk Production Stayability

22. Benchmarks: PB Simm

23. Benchmarks: Simm Hybrid

24. Key Traits: Cow-Calf  Calving Ease Direct  Growth (weaning, post weaning)  Carcass merit- RE, MB  Maternal Calving Ease  Milk  Reproduction, Longevity, Stayability  Mature size/frame  Coat color  Udder quality  Phenotype TSI API

25. Seedstock Programs  Merchandise breeding value (genetics)  Goal: Provide superior genetics for use by commercial producers Optimize investments in technology and costs of production with revenue  Tools Selection pressure Technologies

26. Seedstock: Keys  Focus on the profitablity of their customers  Base decisions on data and customer feedback  Participate in total herd enrollment  Utilize genetic technologies  Engaged in the success and challenges of their customers

27. Genetic Positioning for the Future  Where have we been?  Where are we now?  Where are we going?  How do we get there?

28. Beef Operations, Inventory, and Herd Size Small Herds 90% operations 44% inventory Large Herds 10% operations 56% inventory NASS, USDA

29. Basic Principle of Genetic Improvement: Any trait(s) of relevance must be measured and recorded to provide a benchmark and basis for moving forward!

30. Importance of THE  EPDs for economically relevant traits which are particularly important to cow-calf producers Reproduction Stayability  Enhanced accuracy of selection for all reported traits (ie. better EPDs)

31. SireDam WW EPD +40WW EPD +30 WW EPD +40 WW EPD +35 Individual Performance Few Progeny WW EPD +45 WW EPD +47 Many Progeny Pedigree Estimate Low Accuracy 0.05-0.20 Low-Medium Accuracy 0.20-0.35 High Accuracy 0.80-0.99 Medium Accuracy 0.60-.80 Genomics

32. Genomic Influence on ACC  Genomic results incorporated into EPDs as correlated trait  Impact on ACC dependent on proportion of additive genetic variance explained by genomic result Most traits 36-49%  Similar to 8-20 progeny records (trait dependent)

33. Influence of Information on EPDs and Accuracy Yearling Bull- pedigree + own CE, BW, WW, YW (smaller amount of data) CED EPD BW EPD WW EPD YW EPD Milk EPD +7 0.05 +1.9 0.05 +57 0.05 +101 0.05 +22 0.05 + genomics+7 0.35 +1.0 0.35 +61 0.29 +107 0.32 +23 0.24

34. Genomics  Genetic predictors for hard to measure traits Tenderness Carcass Heifer pregnancy Intake/efficiency  Enhanced API

35. What about genetic diversity?  Genetic variation within breed is important to minimize inbreeding while allowing continued genetic progress  Pedigree diversity without compromising genetic merit

36. Key Traits: Cow-Calf  Calving Ease Direct  Growth (weaning, post weaning)  Carcass merit- RE, MB  Maternal Calving Ease  Milk  Reproduction, Longevity, Stayability  Mature size/frame  Coat color  Udder quality  Phenotype TSI API Seedstock

38. Is Phenotype Economically Relevant?

39. Heritabilities of Phenotypic Traits  Stature (height).60  Body length.39  Muscling.42  Capacity.44  Femininity.32  Rear legs (hock set).12  Foot/pastern angle.13  Udder attachment.23  Udder depth.35  Teat size.39 Kirschten, 2002

40. History of Showing Livestock  Historically to Promote Ideals  Estimate Animal Value  Encourage Quality and Genetic Change  Promotion of Livestock and Meat Industry  Promotion of Individual Programs  Youth Education and Development

41. Today?  Promotion of Individuals and Programs  Youth Development and Education  Promote Phenotypic Ideals  Add Value…..  Promote Positive Genetic Change?

42. History of Performance Shows  Several Breeds Have Experience  Simmental and Red Angus  Substantial Cost…..Substantial Value?  Created vs. Mitigated Controversy?  Variation in the Priority and Application of Genetic Info have been Substantial.  Variation in the Priority of Phenotypic Traits have been Substantial.  It’s Still Judging……..Bottom Line!

44. ASA Progress Through Performance (PTP) Shows  Encourage the incorporation of performance data in the showring  Educate breeders regarding EPDs and their use in the industry

48. CEYWMCEMWWYGMB$API$TI Breed Avg. EPD 7.55610.319-0.040.1710562 National Classic Heifer Avg. EPD 7.7549.417-0.040.2110963

49. CEYWMCEMWWYGMB$API$TI Breed Avg. EPD8.6528150.050.3710762 National Classic Heifer Avg. EPD 7.4496130.020.3210062

50. Blending Shows and EPDs  Use of EPDs enhances relevance to other segments of industry  Effects reputation/impression of breed  Adds level of objectivity to showring  Junior exhibitors- education, industry application  Shows continue to be forum for socialization, gathering of breeders and discussion  Phenotype is economically relevant, however not in leu of documented genetic merit

51. CE+7.1 (55%) YW+83 (2%) MB+0.21 (40%) API+113 (30%) TI+73 (3%) CE+9.7 (40%) YW+99 (1%) MB+0.56 (20%) API+134 (15%) TI+95 (1%)

52. Summary  Simmental is well positioned to be the complimentary breed of choice to British genetics  Breeding programs should focus on complimentary traits relevant to all sectors of the industry  Technology (THE, DNA, etc.) are critical for assessing genetic merit and designing genetics  Phenotype is economically important, but not in leu of objective predictors of genetic merit