1. Wading through the confusion of EPDs and genomics

2. Addressing Industry Trends & Profit Drivers Through Genetic Selection

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

4. 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?

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

6. U.S. Genetic Trends - Beef Cattle

7. U.S. Genetic Trends - Beef Cattle

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

9. 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!

10. 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

11. 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

12. 20
That’s how many EPDs we have available today on a single animal. How do we weight all those traits?

13. 15
That’s how many INDEXES we have available today! Which ones do I use? I thought indexes was supposed to simplify selection?

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

15. It’s about making the most ACCURATE decisions

16. 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%

17. 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

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

20. Added 20 to 25% accuracy to our prediction

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

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

23. And the speed of change is increasing

24. 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?

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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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.

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