Designing Breeding ProgramsDepartment/deptdocs.nsf/all/aet...Genetic Selection Tools and Designing Breeding Programs Kajal Devani MSc Director of Breed Development Stephen Scott MSc
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Genetic Selection Tools and Designing Breeding Programs Kajal Devani MSc Director of Breed Development Stephen Scott MSc Executive Director
Genetic Selection Tools and Designing Breeding Programs
Kajal Devani MSc Director of Breed Development
Stephen Scott MSc Executive Director
Presenter
Presentation Notes
On behalf of the Angus and Hereford Association I would like to thank the organizers for having us out to give a presentation on the Genetic Selection tools that purebred breeders and commercial cattleman can access as we’ll be giving a brief over view of designing a breeding program for you operation
An Invitation To
Angus Central
Officially opened December 11, 2013
Just East of Balzac, AB in Rocky View County
Convention : June 5 - 7, 2015 Commercial Day : Friday 5, 2015
Presenter
Presentation Notes
The Canadian Angus Association welcomes everyone to come and visit Angus Central, the new Angus headquarters just east of Balzac. Angus Convention begins with a Commercial day on Friday June 5th, followed by a conference in Sat June 6th consisting of keynote speakers, workshops and a banquet. Saturday Afternoon is the CAA AGM. The convention will wrap up on Sunday with scheduled farms tours
An Invitation To
Bonanza 2015 Fredericton, NB
Bonanza : July 28 – Aug 1, 2015 CHA AGM: Friday July 31, 2015 Fredericton, NB
Presenter
Presentation Notes
The Canadian Hereford Association invites you to Bonanza 2015 being held in Fredericton, NB Come celebrate the 125th Anniversary of the Canadian Hereford Association during Hereford Week in Canada
Red Angus 17,598 (33%) Black Angus 35,563 (67%) Total 53,162
2013 Registrations
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Percentages stayed in the same in 2013
Total: 12,787 Registrations 81% of Reg. animals recorded on Performance Program (THE)
2013 Registrations
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Total Herd Enrolment is voluntary in Herefords – but there is great uptake in the breed
There is a big opportunity for all food producers as we need to fill a growing void in the amount of food produced world wide to support this growing population. Other animal protein sources have the benefit of shorter generation intervals so the beef industry must be that much more prepared to capitalize on this opportunity In Canada we have a great opportunity to produce more, high quality beef. We have access to feed sources, clean water, natural foraging areas that can’t be turned into crop production and space - But will the Canadian Beef Industry step forward and fill this demand
Increased Production
(Havenstein et al., 2003)
1957
Today
Day 43 Day 57 Day 71 Day 85
2003
1957
Presenter
Presentation Notes
1957 – 2003 Day 43, 57, 71, and 85 Since the 1920’s Increase in milk production 300% Hog finish time down 50% Egg production per hen up 90% Beef Cattle weaning weights up 35% Beef Cattle yearling weights up 25% The beef cattle industry has competition that has become organized in its efforts to become more productive. We as an industry need to organize and create common goals that will ensure our competitiveness for the future.
Canadian Angus Performance Program
Presenter
Presentation Notes
-Many of the topics in the seminar today are about measuring… You can’t manage until you measure. -Until you measure your cattle they aren’t compared to anything – therefore they can be perceived as great or poor or somewhere in the middle. -Once you measure you have a frame of reference and a starting off point to work to improve from
Whole Herd or Total Herd Enrolment - Performance Programs
Presenter
Presentation Notes
-This is how breed Associations Measure. We calculate standardized values called EPDs from the data collected from our performance programs As progressive businessmen all beef producers need to collect data, but just as important as the collection is the analysis of that data so that producers can use it to make informed decisions upon
EPDs
Phenotype = Environment + Genetic Merit
Genetic Merit = Phenotype – Environment
Presenter
Presentation Notes
-This is the most basic way to express the different parts of data that an EPD are made up of -Animals are a product of their Environment and their Genetics -EPDs express the genetic merit of the progeny of an animal -The goal of an EPD is to take out the portion of performance that is due to the environment and leave just the genetic merit of the animal
In Other Words
Sire A WW EPD +60 Sire B WW EPD +40
+20lb
20lb x 40 calves @ $1.42 = $ 1136
Presenter
Presentation Notes
This is an example of one way to use EPDs in making selection decisions Say you were choosing between two bulls who were phenotypically the same and you wanted to see what would be the economic benefit would be between the two bulls. You could use actual weaning weights, but you wouldn’t be able to be sure that the observed difference is because of genetics or phenotype. Comparing EPDs makes it possible to compare animals across farms and time as environment is removed from the value.
What Don’t EPDs Tell You
Presenter
Presentation Notes
EPDs don’t tell you the conformation of the animal – or actual weights. Balance breeding is made up of using all the tools in your tool box to make good choices in selecting breeding stock
Is Bigger Better?
Sire A MILK EPD +18 Sire B MILK EPD +32
+14lb
14lb x 40 calves @ $1.42 = $ 975
Extra Feed = ???
Presenter
Presentation Notes
We’ve covered that EPDs don’t give you a sense of conformation -However they do give you the option to select for performance traits that you're looking to manage - Selecting the bull with the largest/best numbers is not necessarily the right choice for everyone. What are your cows like? What mating would compliment their weaknesses and strengths?
Milking Your Profits •It takes four times the amount of feed to add a pound of weaning weight on a calf through milk, than it would through creep feeding.
•After a certain threshold, it takes more and more milk to put on pounds of weight (Lewis et al., 1990).
•High milk cows in decreased feed environments = decrease milk production level below that of low milk cows, lower body condition scores, longer calving intervals, later calving dates, and lower calving percentages than low milk cows (Van Oijen et al., 1993).
Presenter
Presentation Notes
-Over selection of one trait can lead to decreased performance in other traits -The Dairy industry did a phenomenal job in selecting for milk and conformation over the years, however, specifically the selection for milk was so intense that it was starting to really effect reproduction. In the last 5 years the dairy industry has created very well recorded fertility traits so now producers can ensure that they are not losing production in the bulls they select and balance for increased reproductive performance.
Which Bull Should I Buy?
Presenter
Presentation Notes
To start making the decision of what bull to buy from an EPD standpoint you first have to understand the three parts that make an EPD understandable: The EPD The EPD Accuracy Breed Average EPD
Accuracy
• Parental Average (P)
• Interim (P+)
• National EPD
• Accuracy on Sales Catalogues
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Accuracy refers to the Accuracy of the EPD prediction. The lower the Acc value ( 0 -1 ) the less repeatable the EPD value in the progeny and the higher the value to more confidence you can place in the EPD value for the progeny that will be sired. ( Angus only) When EPDs are first calculated you get a Parental Average, when that young calf starts to have some data recorded on it will get a Interim EPD, if that animal is recorded at the time of year when national evaluations are run it will then get a EPD Acc that has an associated value (0-1) Hereford Only Only participants in Total Herd Enrollment receive EPDs on animals as this insures that there are less associated EPDs generated, that are generally very lowly accurate (based on parentage averages). You have to put data into the system to get it out. Hereford Cattle go through an international evaluation called PACE. This allows all the Hereford Cattle in Canada, US, Argentina and Uruguay to be compared directly, which helps international marketing and allows breeders to look outside of their country for genetics that may interest them. -Accuracy in Sales catalogues is a challenge that is faced by all the breeds. Not very often do you see EPD accuracies in sales catalogues. It’s a very important number to understand, especially since the vast majority of bulls in sales catalogues are young bulls with low accuracies. If you buy a bull based on his EPDs, and he has a low accuracy, be prepared for his numbers to shift overtime to better represent what he truly transmits onto the next generation -For example in the Dairy industry up till ~4 years ago 70% of semen sold was on highly proven bulls (hundreds of milking daughters in production) the top bulls from this highly proven segment were the most sought after because breeders could rely on the outcome in these bulls progeny. Young bulls were used 30% of the time in progeny test programs to start to build their accuracy numbers with hopes that one day they may make it to the top of the proven sire list. -Beef industry has always been the opposite, young bulls are used on mass. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the young genetics should be advanced over older genetics, however when your not measuring genetic gain over the generations – how are we supposed to know
Accuracy BW WW YW Milk CED Marb RE Fat
0.95 0.13 0.6 0.9 0.5 0.4 0.01 0.02 0.002
0.9 0.26 1.2 1.7 1 0.8 0.03 0.03 0.004
0.8 0.53 2.3 3.4 1.9 1.6 0.06 0.06 0.009
0.7 0.79 3.5 5.1 2.9 2.4 0.09 0.1 0.013
0.6 1.05 4.6 6.8 3.9 3.2 0.12 0.13 0.017
0.5 1.31 5.8 8.5 4.9 3.9 0.15 0.16 0.022
0.4 1.58 7 10.2 5.8 4.7 0.18 0.19 0.026
0.3 1.84 8.1 11.9 6.8 5.4 0.21 0.23 0.03
0.2 2.1 9.3 13.6 7.8 6.2 0.24 0.26 0.035
0.1 2.36 10.4 15.3 8.7 7.2 0.26 0.29 0.039
Accuracy
Presenter
Presentation Notes
It’s important to note that EPDs do change as you add information on animal or even their relatives. This is an accuracy change table, you can use this to determine the up and down side of the possible change that cold happen to an animals EPD
The DNA Link
Presenter
Presentation Notes
There is a tool that we can utilize in beef cattle called Genomics which adds genetic information to traditional EPDs which increases the accuracy of prediction for EPDs 99.99% of the genome is conserved in most species – it’s the small difference between us that provide us information to develop genetic tests that can explain why an animal may perform better or worse than the next
Incorporating Genomics
Dr. Anderson, Zoetis
Genomic Blending
Matt Spangler, 2011
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Genomics has the biggest effect on accuracy in younger animals. As an animal records progeny and more of the animals own phenotypic data, the genomic effect is washed away. Therefore genotyping older proven sires will have very little to no effect on the Accuracy and therefore the EPD
This is the easiest way to express accuracy - Differ based on heritability of the trait
Results
BW WW
YW MILK SC Marb REA FAT
CWT
EPD
GE-EPD
1
2
3
1
2
3
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Note increase I accuracy Animal 2 & 3 are et full sibs, with traditional EPDs they would have an average of their parents EPDs but with Genomics we can see them deviate as we add more information to their analysis
Courtesy of Kevin Schultz, Sandhill Farms
Sandhill Farms Example ó Large, progressive Hereford Herd in KS ó Kevin Schultz spoke at our AGM on using
Genomic Technologies ◦ Follows the BW EPD of 6 bulls that they used in their
program in the same year through 4 EPD runs ñ Traditional: the bulls traditional EPDs at 4 months of age ñ 1st Run GE: When GE’s became available Kevin pulled hair on
these bulls, they were around a year old ñ 2nd Run GE: The GE prediction Equations went through a
modification to have more predictive power ñ Current GE: The 6 bulls now all have calves on the ground and
go through a new EPD run ñ To see Kevin’s whole presentation on using GE-EPDs visit Hereford.ca, under the HOME tab click on MEDIA
Courtesy of Kevin Schultz, Sandhill Farms
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Traditional: the bulls traditional EPDs at 4 months of age 1st Run GE: When GE’s became available Kevin pulled hair on these bulls, they were around a year old 2nd Run GE: The GE prediction Equations went through a modification to have more predictive power Current GE: The 6 bulls now all have calves on the ground and go through a new EPD run Its interesting to see, and a great example of how a young bull with a traditional EPD can change over time. The first and second bull were very similar in their BW EPD, but the GE EPD started to give a clearer picture of what genetics truly these animals were going to pass along The GE EPD may have not been completely predictive of what was going to happen come calving, however it did correct the Traditional in the right direction.
Breeding Programs and Tools
1. What’s your GOAL for your operation? 2. List your animals 3. What’s your herd average 4. What do your cows look like? 5. Assess strengths and weaknesses Structural traits to maintain or change Performance traits to maintain or change 6. Decide how much you need to change what you don’t like 7. Choose bulls that help you maintain what you like about your cows
and help change what you don’t
Presenter
Presentation Notes
When making a breeding plan for your herd – look at all your cows not just your top cows. Your top cows are still going to be your top cow in 1 or two generations. But you want to focus on increasing the performance of your bottom end
9lb, on average, lighter than breed average for weaning weight. How much does that cost you? 200 calves x 9lb lighter at weaning = 1800lb $2.75 x 1800 = $4950
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Just by bringing your herd average to breed average see the money that has been left on the table
Selecting The Right Bull
Bull B
Bull A
Bull C
WW Avg. = 43
Presenter
Presentation Notes
- Let compared WW EPDs on three bulls
What’s the Dollar Difference
Cows = 36 Bull A = 60 Bull B = 45 Bull C = 38
Bull A will add 24lb on average per calf, 4800lb over 200 cows, that = 13,200 extra dollars
Bull B will add 9lb on average per calf, 1800lb over 200 cows, that = 4,950 extra dollars
Bull C will add 2lb on average per calf, 400lb over 200 cows, that = 1,100 extra dollars
Presenter
Presentation Notes
After presenting the slide - ask the audience, if we actually used these bulls three times over the same group of cows, why wouldn’t these numbers be exactly realized
Other things to consider
ó Is the biggest the best? óWill Bull A be too big for your cows? óWill you lose money on compromised
calving ease? óWill you have to feed extra? ó Are all three bulls equal for all other
traits and for conformation?
Available Mating Tools
EPD Inquiry
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Enter parameters that you would like to achieve for your breeding program also if your going to a sale you can search my pre-fix so you can pre-sort the animals that meet your EPD requirements and then view them on farm to see which ones meet you conformation requirements
Mating Predictor
Presenter
Presentation Notes
- Once you narrow your search to a few bulls, enter them into the mating predictor. This will “mate” them to all or some of your cows or heifer groups dependant on what your groupings are
Mating Predictor Inbreeding Coefficient
Presenter
Presentation Notes
-Once you run it you’ll get a detailed output of the each of the cows mated to each of the bulls. -Also includes inbreeding Coefficient to watch for mating related animals
Ongoing Research
What we don’t want to do is select for growth only, at the expense of fertility and longevity. We need cows to stay in the herd and produce live calves.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Starting to gather data and to develop a discovery population to see if GE-EPDs can be developed 2500 cows to be measured
Variation in Discovery Population
Residual Feed Intake Residual feed intake = feed consumed - calculated feed requirements based on body weight and ADG during a standardized test period. RFI = variation in feed intake that remains after the requirements for maintenance and growth have been met. Efficient animals eat less than expected and have a negative or low RFI, while inefficient animals eat more than expected and have a positive or high RFI.
-1
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
Hereford Residual Feed Intake Trials
RFI
Most Feed Efficient Bull = -0.772 lb DM/day;
Least Feed Efficient Bull = 0.935 lb DM/day; Acc: 0.588
Difference between yearly feed cost between these two bulls:
$40.49 (1.7lbDM/day*$0.065/lb DM*365)
Zero is Breed Average
Presenter
Presentation Notes
In a few months time the Hereford RFI research Trial, completed in combination with Cattlelands, Olds College and University of Alberta will have over 1000 77 day RFI phenotypes and genotypes RFI EPDs have already been published on the bulls that were tested and common ancestors. The next step will be to develop a GE-EPD; lead by University of Alberta RFI is a trait of interest as it has good heritability and has little influence or correlations with the other traits (reduces double selecting) You truly cannot pick out the best and worst RFI bulls by looking at conformation
Profit = Production + Cost
•50 years of bigger cows that eat more by selecting for the output of ADG.
•Selection for factors that could lower costs within the production cycle
•Measuring and selecting for the inputs and not just the outputs = continue
generating income + enhance sustainability and save costs.
