One of the most important traits for cattle in a cow/calf operation is the rate of average daily gain – and its importance is borne out in the efforts that have been made to boost it.
“It’s unbelievable how much improvement has been made over the years on average daily gain,” Dr. Hayden Brown, professor of animal science at the University of Arkansas, told Ozarks Farm & Neighbor. “Here in Arkansas, back in the early days when they first began to evaluate average daily gain, you’d see calves gaining 1.5-1.7 lbs/day. Now, most of these calves are gaining well above that.” The trait is particularly important in the Natural State, because most of the calves in Arkansas are marketed at weaning for further development by a lot of producers; many of them go to wheat pastures in Oklahoma and then to the feedyard.
Brown said other valuable traits are the genetics that affect long bone growth and degree of muscling possessed by the calf, because frame size and muscling are part of the grading system. Some of the breeds, he said, have an EPD (expected progeny difference) for long bone growth. But he said producers aren’t rewarded as much as they should be for delivering calves with favorable traits. “To the extent that the grading system reflects those, then they get paid for it, but to have identified a set of calves on the farm that has the potential to have (a high) average daily gain, we haven’t developed to that extent yet,” he said. Buyers go to the source of the calves and use how they graded as the basis of their evaluation for purchase, and not genetic information.
American Angus Association Genetic Service Director Tonya Amen in St. Joseph, Mo., told OFN genetics are playing a bigger role in EPDs themselves. The Association receives DNA data on registered Angus cattle from two commercial companies and incorporates them into its “High Density 50K” test, which gives producers as much information on untested breeding animals as if they already had 10-30 calves on the ground. “It’s helping to take some of the ‘surprise’ factor out,” she said.
Amen said producers who retain ownership in their calves are likely to take an interest in performance EPDs like yearling weights and feed efficiency. Angus producers can also get an idea of the animal’s performance potential with a single number via the Association’s “$B” index (Beef Value), which takes into account a number of post-weaning characteristics.
Amen cautioned against producers letting the record cattle prices this past winter influence their selection of desirable traits. “Breeders need to have goals for their operation, and what they want to accomplish,” she said. “A smart producer will not change those just based on the current winds of the situation. The time it takes to bring up a new generation in the cattle business is so long that you really need to know what you want to accomplish, set your breeding goals and stick with it.” She did note that with the record prices have come all time highs in quality grade premiums for Prime and upper two-thirds Choice cattle. “I think people are starting to pay a bit more attention to that particular piece than perhaps they have in history,” she said.
“Since most of the selection pressure in cattle is placed on the male side because the male can produce so many more offspring, the EPD has worked extremely well in terms of managing the genetics in most breeding programs,” said Brown.
