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

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

Seedstock Cow-Calf Processor Feeder Consumer

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

Accuracy and Possible Change BW EPD BIF Accuracy Possible Change “true” EPD Range Sire A ± to +3.0 Sire B ± to +1.3

Magnitude of Selection

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

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

Breed Average EPDs: Across Breed Basis BWWWYWMilkMBREAFT Angus Red Angus Hereford Simmental Simm Hybrid Simmental among Continental breeds: Higher CE, maternal CE, WW, YW, QG, and feed efficiency

Diff = 61 lb Diff = 38 lb Diff = 0.4 lb AngusSimmental Kuehn, US MARC

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

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 < ab a a (1339 ab ) 54 (51) source: Cundiff et al., 2005, Germplasm Evaluation Program

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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%)

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

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

Benchmarks: PB Simm

Benchmarks: Simm Hybrid

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 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

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

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

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

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

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)

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 Low-Medium Accuracy High Accuracy Medium Accuracy Genomics

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)

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 genomics

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

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

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

Is Phenotype Economically Relevant?

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

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

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

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!

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

CEYWMCEMWWYGMB$API$TI Breed Avg. EPD National Classic Heifer Avg. EPD

CEYWMCEMWWYGMB$API$TI Breed Avg. EPD National Classic Heifer Avg. EPD

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

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%)

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