The Brown Bagger Beef Cattle Adaptability Current Tools of Assessment John L. Evans Oklahoma State University 1

Challenge l Production of profitable cattle –Higher revenue –Lower production cost l Sustainable and adaptable l Competitive –Domestic and international markets 2

l “A reasonable goal for the beef industry is to produce low-cost, high-profit cattle that yield competitively priced, highly palatable, lean products; while conserving and improving the resources utilized.” T. Field, BIF (2003) 3

Expected Progeny Differences l Typical trait categories –Growth and maternal l Birth weight, weaning weight, yearling weight l Milk –Reproduction l Scrotal circumference –End product l Ribeye area 4

How Many EPD Are There? l 23 breeds conducting a genetic evaluation l 21 different traits l Recent addition of several new traits and indexes Colorado State Univ., CGEL,

Adaptability--Example l Pulmonary arterial pressure EPD –Indicator trait for brisket disease in beef cattle –Symptoms of pulmonary edema –Observed at high altitude (>5000 ft) –EPD related to survival and specific to high mountain regions 6

Adaptability l Are producers able to identify and develop highly adaptable cattle with the current set of EPD? l Industry Segments –Commercial –Seedstock –Stocker/Feedlot –Packer –Retail 7

Adaptability l Current EPD –Difficult to assess adaptability –Effective at genetic change –Tools are limited or non-existent with respect to development of a producers breeding objectives 8

Economically Relevant Traits l Focus on profitability and sustainability –Expenses –Revenue l Achieve genetic improvement instead of genetic change 9 Garrick and Enns, BIF (2003)

Typical Current Genetic EPD Typical Current Genetic Evaluation EPD l Birth weight l Weaning weight l Milk l Total maternal l Yearling weight l Carcass l Calving ease 10

Potential Sire Summary of the Future l Birth direct l Birth maternal l Weaning direct l Weaning maternal l Total Maternal l Yearling direct l Calving direct l Calving maternal l Carcass wt l Rib fat l Rump fat l Ribeye area l Marbing score l Quality grade l Ultrasound Ribeye area l Ultrasound Rib fat l Ultrasound marbling l Fat percentage l Condition score l Gestation length l Days to calving l Calving interval l Stayability l Heifer Pregnancy l Scrotal Circumference l Pelvic area l Frame score l Muscle score l Udder score l Docility l Tick score l Parasite egg count l Mature weight l Maintenance energy l Feed efficiency l Gut weight l Type score B.L. Golden 11

Current Direction l Proliferation of EPD –EPD indirectly related to economic goals –Increasing list of traits l Producer frustration 12

Economically Relevant Trait- Goal l Producers should use EPDs objectively in the context of their business goals Profit = Income –Expense 13 Garrick and Enns, NBCEC Brown Bagger (2002)

Heifer Pregnancy l Indicators: –Scrotal circumference –Age at puberty –Pregnancy observations 14

Traits Economically Relevant Traits l Proposed list –Sale weight –Probability of calving ease –Cow maintenance energy requirements –Heifer pregnancy rate –Stayability –Days to finish (weight, fat, or marbling) 15 Golden, et al. (2000), BIF Wichita, KS

Mature Cow Maintenance Energy l An average of 70% of feed inputs are used for maintenance energy requirements l Cost of feed inputs represent 40 to 60% of the average annual cow cost NRC (1996), McGrann (1999), Hughes (1999) 16

Maintenance Energy EPD l Why develop a maintenance EPD over using mature weight? –Uses multiple indicator traits to generate one EPD l Mature weight l Milk (maternal weaning weight) l Body condition –Easier to determine the value of the prediction on profit 17

Maintenance Energy EPD Development l Apply current research –Maintenance energy genetic prediction –Milk production and milk EPD –Body condition related to weight change MEm = MEm*(MWT) *(MEp) 18

Maintenance Energy EPD-- Example Sire A EPD = 0 Mcal/yr Sire B EPD = 200 Mcal/yr Outcome Daughters from sire B would require 200 Mcal/yr more energy for maintenance requirements than daughters from Sire A 19

Benefits of Maintenance Energy EPD l Select animals that are more feed efficient l Lower annual cost of production l Improve selection of animals for production environment l Insurance against poor feed conditions 20

Breed Index l Charolais Association Terminal Sire Profitability Index l Angus Association –Grid market –Feedlot –Combination l Gelbvieh Association –Grid merit –Feedlot merit 21

Simulation l Decision Evaluator for the Cattle Industry- DECI –Bioeconomic simulation model (Bourdon, 1998) –Assist with management decisions – l Cornell Value Discovery System (Fox et al. 2002) –Determine feed requirements for animals fed in groups –Prediction of individual performance – 22

Systems Mating Systems l Crossbreeding –Terminal –Rotational –Combination –Composite 23

Heterosis / Hybrid Vigor An increase in the performance of hybrids over that of purebreds for measured traits, most noticeably in traits like fertility and survivability Bourdon,

Breed Complementarity An improvement in the overall performance of crossbred offspring resulting from crossing breeds of different but complementary biological types Bourdon,

Rotational System26

Useful & Tools Useful Information & Tools l USDA Meat Animal Research Center –Breed evaluation program –Across breed EPD l Genetic parameter estimates –Estimates of heritability and correlation –Assist management of antagonisms between traits l Multiple breed EPD l Financial records & Standardized Performance Analysis (SPA) 27

Producer Comments l Question 1. Are current Expected Progeny Differences (EPD) effective for the identification of adaptable cattle? l Question 2.What traits are important in your selection program? 28

Future Potential l Research and development of traits related to adaptability and profitability l Research and development of decision support software l Cooperation with other scientific disciplines l Evaluation and regular assessment of available tools 29

What Does the Future Hold? l Working group on cattle adaptability l Group focus: –Explore and develop ideas related to beef cattle adaptability –Develop guidelines and make recommendations to improve adaptability for genetic evaluations –Represents a cooperative effort between industry and the National Beef Cattle Evaluation Consortium –Stay Tuned! 30

Questions 31