Genetic selection can help producers advance their operation
Focusing on the improvement of cattle genetics, cow herds, animal welfare and generational transfers were focal points of the 113th Cattlemen’s Day, which was hosted on March 6 by Kansas State University’s Department of Animal Sciences and Industry.
Among several presentations geared towards advancing the cattle industry, one researcher presented the idea of using genomics to improve one’s herd.
Jamie Courter, an assistant professor and beef extension specialist at the University of Missouri, said that utilizing genomics can help producers formulate a business plan to continue to move ahead.
“There is no business that goes to the bank to ask for a loan without a plan,” Courter said. “Producers need a business plan for the future of their herd, whether they are selecting replacement heifers or bulls. Genomics is a way to help implement that plan.”
Genomics is the application of DNA analysis to evaluate an animal’s entire genetic makeup, allowing them to predict performance, health and profitability traits.
“By taking DNA samples from cattle, we can estimate how much marbling they will have and how big their rib eye will be,” Courter said. “It can also help us determine how big their calf will be at birth or at weaning.”
“Using genomics as a tool and combining it with previous records and an animal’s phenotype, will allow producers to better implement a plan of action when it comes to their breeding program.”
She said genomics allows producers to take a deeper look at an animal’s genetics, information that they can then use to help select sires that will benefit the cow’s genetic makeup and create a more profitable generation.
“Using expected progeny differences (EPD’s) as another resource for selection criteria can help producers make those sire selections on whether they have a more terminal or maternal breeding objective,” Courter said.
When discussing heritable traits, Courter highlighted that hair shedding is a phenotypic trait that can help producers determine whether a cow will wean a heavier calf or not.
“Cows that shed their coat earlier will wean an older, heavier calf,” Courter said.
Hair shedding is scored on a level of one to five, with one being completely slick and five being a full winter coat.
“Research from the University of Missouri showed that cows that had a hair shed score of one weaned a calf that was over 40 pounds heavier than a cow that had a hair shed score of five at weaning,” Courter said.
When thinking about hair coats, Courter said to think about it as wearing a coat during the summer months, which creates extra heat stress on the body. These extra stressors could also be linked to fertility issues.
“We haven’t proven this from a fertility standpoint, but what we think is happening is that cows that shed early are more likely to get pregnant earlier in the breeding season due to the lack of the extra stress,” Courter said.
These questions lead researchers to further investigate the relationship between hair shedding and temperature, as well as the length of the day.
“When they looked at the relationship between hair shedding and temperature, less than 20 SNPs showed up. But when they looked at the relationship between hair shed score and length of day, it was over 1000,” Courter said. “So, we think that cows are not shedding their hair in relation with temperature, but rather to length of day.”
Courter added: “Hair shedding is an important trait to select for as it is an indicator of the animal’s adaptability to sense and response to their environment.”
More information on understanding hair shedding and the impacts it has on cattle production is available online from the University of Missouri Extension.
