Beef Cattle Evaluation and Selection Based on Genetics
Written by Josiah Piotrowski
Table of Contents
Purpose
Questions to ask within a livestock production management system
Beef Quality Assurance
Traits in the Beef Industry
Expected Progeny Difference (EPD’s)
Explanation of EPD categories:
Selecting sires, or bulls, based on EPD’s
Why is Growth Important?
Purpose
Animal Agriculture is a very large industry in the United States. Agriculture is the foundation of this Nation and it has advanced with new technologies and practices to become one of the top agriculture production countries in the world. When looking at the livestock industry, we are leading global exporters in beef, pork, and poultry. The American farmer is why the United States is successful. These farmers strive to raise animals with new practices to ensure efficiency and healthy practices while taking care of the animals and land. It is important to understand the benefits of efficient animals within production due to the influencing economy. Improving qualities such as: Functionality, Growth, Appeal, Muscle, and Femininity/Masculinity provide higher quality livestock within the production industry. With higher level genetics incorporated into breeding facilities, livestock production will gain the resources needed to produce quality goods for consumers. Pure bred beef cattle are valuable within the animal production industry due to high quality traits.
Questions to ask within a livestock production management system:
Determining questions like the ones below will help aid in choosing the right sire (bull) for your herd, carcass traits, and maternal qualities within the operation:
- What market are you selling to?
- What resources are available and affordable?
- Are your calves being sold at weaning?
- Which color/breed of cattle sells best at the feedlot?
- Will you be keeping heifers for replacement in the herd?
Why is Growth Important?
Cattle are sold on a per pound basis. Therefore, the fasters the cow gains weight and maintains an optimal frame size reduces costs for the producer.
Weight, length of body, length of cannon, and length of face are characteristics that are observed when choosing quality breeding heifers.
Proven genetics can be incorporated into a herd to gain the best qualities desired for breeding cattle to be sold at market.
Beef Quality Assurance
Within the beef production industry, the Beef Quality Assurance program provides guidelines for responsible cattle management. This producer driven program helps a cow-calf producer and feedlot producer responsibly grow and provide healthy, wholesome, and quality products. For over 30 years, this program has helped farmers ensure animal well-being, worker safety, and environmental stewardship towards producing quality beef products.
- Beef It’s What’s For Dinner slogan — Provides the knowledge that consumers who are unfamiliar with beef quality need to know.
- Producers can obtain BQA certification through online courses.
- Click here for more information on building production confidence Beef Quality Assurance — BQA
Traits in the beef cattle industry
Genetic traits should be evaluated with economic consideration. Traits that improve efficiency benefit the economic production of beef cattle. These traits include:
- Reproduction/ fertility traits- Producers look for lower birth weight of offspring, while obtaining optimal growth.
- Maternity- Maternal traits are sought for a cow that produces the qualities which achieve good care for the calf and sustainability.
- Structural Soundness- This trait impacts production through the quality of feet and leg soundness, along with body condition.
- Feed Efficiency- The ability for the cow can convert feed to energy and growth. Feed efficiency allows for lower feed costs for the producer, creating more opportunity to invest in improving other areas of the operation.
- Growth- The growth characteristics can be incorporated within production to increase body condition scores and obtain higher quality economic values.
- Carcass Quality- This trait is complex and has multiple aspects within livestock production. Consumer trends often determine the carcass quality desired. For example, leaner meat, higher marbling, higher fat, cutability, and size of meat are areas that the producer should be aware of and adjust towards based on their livestock management practices.
- Better carcass quality= more profitability!
Expected Progeny Difference (EPD’s)
The figure below show the traits evaluated within the cattle industry and classified as Expected Progeny Difference (EPD’s). EPD’s are extremely valuable when evaluating and selecting cattle based on performance and traits (see Summary of Beef Cattle EPDs).
- Click here to learn how to calculate EPD’s Effectively Using EPDs for Bull Selection — It’s All About Context | Panhandle Agriculture (ufl.edu)
Explanation of EPD categories:
Calving Ease Direct (CED)
Percent of unassisted births of a bull’s calves when he is used on heifers.
The higher the percentage= better calving ease.
Birth Weight (BW)
Expressed in pounds and indicates the trait for calving ease.
Low numbers are desired.
Weaning Weight (WW)
Reflects the pre-weaning growth of the calf
Yearling Weight (YW)
Indicates growth from birth to yearling.
Milk
Higher number in milk results in a higher weaning weight, which leads to a bigger calf and more profit.
Selecting sires, or bulls, based on EPD’s
When selecting a bull, there are many aspects to consider. New producers within the livestock industries and some which have not dealt with EPD’s may be overwhelmed when looking at the EPD charts. It takes time and research to be able to properly learn how to read each trait and understand the effect it will have on the producer’s herd. Despite the difficulty in understanding every aspect of EPD’s, through time and practice, all cattle producers can utilize this effective resource to better manage and grow their herd efficiently and sustainably.
For those who are considering using EPD’s as a guide to sire (bull) and dam (heifer/cow) selection, the following reasons are why EPD’s are beneficial.
- Can improve herd quality tremendously.
- This process should be highly considered and based on a profit-driven process.
- By selecting a sire with quality genetic traits (EPD’s), herd improvement and profitability are obtained quickest.
- There is a better understanding of your own herd genetic makeup.
Important- Not every sire will benefit your herd management plan. Each sire is bred to meet the desired traits across the livestock production industry; therefore, choose the sire that meets your resources and goals for the herd.
