Wading through the confusion of EPDs and genomics

Addressing Industry Trends & Profit Drivers Through Genetic Selection

Breeding a experience for everyone... BECAUSE WE CAN!

What are the trends that matter? Consumers – Humane animal treatment What if we can genetically dehorn all cattle? What if we can genetically design cattle to eliminate diseases (BVD, Leucosis, Johne’s), improve heat tolerance?

What are the trends that matter? Consumers – Sustainability/Carbon Footprint The little brown cow phenomena! Cow size Feed efficiency

U.S. Genetic Trends - Beef Cattle

U.S. Genetic Trends - Beef Cattle

What are the trends that matter? Consumers – Beef Demand/Eating Quality

What are the trends that matter? Cow Calf Producers – Calving Ease, Docility, Longevity, Health, Convenience traits Just make them less work and easier to live with - LABOR is one of our biggest issues!

What are the trends that matter? Feeders & Packers – Growth, Feed Efficiency, Quality & Yield, Health YG 1, Prime, 5 to 1 conversion, no treatments, premium qualifications

We Have Genetic Tools to Address Every One of Those Needs/Trends Genetics will ONLY become more important in the future because we can alter management practices and address consumer preferences

20 That’s how many EPDs we have available today on a single animal. How do we weight all those traits?

15 That’s how many INDEXES we have available today! Which ones do I use? I thought indexes was supposed to simplify selection?

They are GENOMICALLY ENHANCED . . .Do genomics really work? SKEPTICAL?

It’s about making the most ACCURATE decisions

Genomic Selection Production traits Type traits Reliability increase Holstein 40% 74% Jersey 40% 70% Type traits Holstein 37% 73% Jersey 37% 68% Health and Fitness Traits Holstein 35% 69% Jersey 35% 60%

Daughter Equivalents Trait Pedigree SNP’s Total Milk 8 25 33 Fat Protein Type 5 20 26 Productive Life 24 56 80 Daughter Pregnancy Rate 46 102 148

Genomic Evaluation Reference Population Holstein: 2,269,800 Versus Angus: 673,000 (30%)

Added 20 to 25% accuracy to our prediction

New Tools for Angus Breeders – it includes 15 EPDs www.angus.org/index

$Maternal – Huge improvement to $Weaning, includes Heifer Pregnancy, Feet, Maternal Calving Ease and Mature Size

And the speed of change is increasing

Who will be offering genetic evaluations in the future? Breed associations Private entities Breeders Other genetic companies Will it look more like the pork and poultry industries?

Likely your genetic information will be tied to the production/marketing system that you are participating in

What does the future look like? Significant advancements in - Molecular genetics Embryo technology Phenotypes for novel traits Big data Computing, including technologies like artificial intelligence Collectively, we will have better genetic tools

Beef on Dairy 3 to 4 million units of beef semen will be installed in dairy cows this year It take 3 to 4 units of semen to create a pregnancy Canadian Dairy Network

The Crystal Ball Producers will USE fewer, more specialized indexes (specific to environments and production systems/supply chains), but there will be more of them The technology to generate those indexes will be more sophisticated, more accurate, and allow for quicker genetic progress We will see an increase in coordination (information sharing, efficiency of production, targeted end points) – maintain independence while working together more closely.

Three Kinds of People - Drivers Passengers Road Kill -Dr. Harlan Ritchie