Angus R&D for the Commercial Producer

Waitara Cohort 7 Steers

In this Presentation:

• 10 Years of the Angus Sire Benchmarking Program

• EBVs are no Bull!

• New Traits - ImmuneDEX

• Take-home messages

Burindi Cohort 6 Steers

Angus Sire Benchmarking ProgramObjectives

1. Progeny test data on modern Angus bullsesp. feed efficiency, carcase, meat quantity and quality, heifer fertility and immune competence

2. Assemble data for the validation & refinement of Angus BREEDPLAN

3. Build a reference population of genotypes and phenotypes for genetic analysis and R&D

Sires Nominated by Angus Australia Members

• 321 Sires – Cohorts 1 to 9 (av. 36 per Cohort)

• Joined to ~50-60 females per Cohort

• Produce ~ 25 to 30 progeny Cohort.

Cow Herds

Tullimba Feedlot (100+ Days)

Long Fed(approx. 100 to 170

Days)

Abattoir

Steer Progeny

Retail Beef Yield Project

Meat Science Lab

Cow Herds

Natural service joining~15 months

Conception and calving performance

Heifer Progeny

ASBP - 2010 – 2023

Collaborators………..Thank You• MLA Donor Company project (with matching Angus

Australia & Commonwealth funding)• Rangers Valley Feedlot• Kerwee Feedlot• Vetoquinol – FTAI Products and Advice• Genotyping Companies (Zoetis, Neogen)• ALFA (NFI Testing)• Co-operator Cow herds (Inc. CSU) • Bull owners (Australia, NZ, US)• UNE (Tullimba facility)• UNE, NSW DPI, CSIRO

Building the Reference Population• Major objective build a reference population of modern

Angus cattle. • Important enables Angus breeders to take full advantage of

genomic technologies.

• Involves focussed recording of genotypes, pedigree and phenotypes, particularly for hard-to-measure traits.

• Must also be related to the seedstock and commercial Angus populations.

Summary of ASBP Sires and Progeny per Cohort.

• Cohorts 1 to 9 will deliver ~4,500 steers that have been phenotyped comprehensively from birth to slaughter.

• A similar number of heifers have been phenotyped comprehensively from birth to first parity.

• All sires and progeny have genomic profiles (>8,000 SNPs…mostly >20,000 SNPs)

Building the Reference Population

Cohort Joining

year

Number

of sires

Average

ABI

Total

progeny

Progeny per sire

average (Min, Max)

1 2010 35 $102 906 26.3 (15, 36)

2 2011 47 $104 1,303 25.8 (17, 41)

3 2012 40 $105 1,255 24.3 (14, 37)

4 2013 21 $117 608 26.4 (10, 37)

5 2014 46 $108 1,311 27.2 (16, 47)

6 2015 41 $126 1,323 27.6 (19, 46)

7 2016 34 $132 1.091 27.0 (12, 42)

8 2017 35 $142 1.047 25.5 (10, 40)

9 2018 22 $148 565 NA

Total 321 9409

Angus Australia Reference PopulationAs of July 2019

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

# A

nim

als

Trait

Industry ASBP

Angus Australia Reference PopulationAs of July 2019 – Hard-to-Measure

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

Days to Cavling Carcase Wt Carcase EMA Carcase Rump Fat Carcase Rib Fat Retail Beef Yeild Carcase IMF Net Feed Intake

# A

nim

als

Trait

Industry ASBP

Angus Australia Reference Population

……Additionally:

Trait # Records

Comments

Immune Competence ~4000 Cohorts 1,2,6,7,8

MSA Grade Traits ~3500 Cohorts 1-7. MSA Index, Marbling, Ossification

Shear Force ~1200 Cohorts 1,2,3

Fatty Acid Profile ~150 Cohort 5

Carcase Grading Camera ~1000 ALMTech (MIJ, Hyperspectral, Microwave)

Methane Emission ~500 Cohorts 2 and 3

Heat Tolerance na Under Development

Flight Time ~2300 Mainly on immune competence calves when possible

Coat score ~4500 Cohorts 1 to 6

Structural scores ~6200 Feet/claws, legs, capacity etc. Cohorts 1 to 7

Muscle Score ~6200 Cohorts 1 to 7.

Relationship between the number of animals in a reference population (with genotypes and phenotypes) and accuracy of EBVs of animals genotyped only at differing levels of trait heritability.

Angus Australia Reference Population

Goddard, M.E., Hayes, B.J. & Meuwissen, T.H.E. Using the genomic relationship matrix to predict the accuracy of genomic selection. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 128, 409-421 (2011).

Heritability

Validation of Angus BREEDPLAN

Validation of Angus BREEDPLAN

Highest 10 bulls Birth Wt EBV Lowest 10 bulls Birth Wt EBV

+6.2 kg +2.8 kg

EBV Diff = 3.4 kg

Progeny Diff = 1.7 kg

38.4 kg 36.4 kgProgeny Diff =

2.0 kg

Birth Weight

Validation of Angus BREEDPLAN

Highest 10 bulls EMA EBV Lowest 10 bulls EMA EBV

+7.8 cm2 +2.2 cm2

EBV Diff = 5.6 cm2

Progeny Diff = 2.8 cm2

85.6 cm2 82.8 cm2Progeny Diff = 2.8 cm2

EMA

Validation of Angus BREEDPLAN

Highest 10 bulls IMF EBV Lowest 10 bulls IMF EBV

+2.8 % +0.8 %

EBV Diff = 2.0 %

Progeny Diff = 1.0 %

10.4 % 9.2 %Progeny Diff =

1.2 %

IMF

Cohort 1 – 35 Sires Cohort 2 – 47 SireCohort 3 – 40 Sires

Validation of Angus BREEDPLAN

Angus Sire Benchmarking ProgramCohort 5 and 6

Highest 10 v lowest 10 EBV Sires

Trait Expected

Difference

Actual

Difference

Birth Weight 1.9 kg 1.6 kg

Gestation

Length3.1 days 3.0 days

200 Day

Weight9.5 kg 11.0 kg

400 Day

Weight16.0 kg 15.0 kg

600 Day

Weight23.6 kg 22.8 kg

Carcase

Weight16.8 kg 15.0 kg

Carcase Rib

Fat2.0 mm 1.4 mm

Carcase

Rump Fat2.2 mm 0.1 mm

Carcase EMA 3.8 cm2 3.2 cm2

Carcase IMF 1.4 % 1.5 %

Days-to-

Calving2.4 days 0.5 days

Net Feed

Intake - F0.4 kg/d 0.3 kg/d

• Cohort 4 not shown due to small number of sires

Cohort 4 – 21 Sires Cohort 5 – 46 SireCohort 6 – 41 Sires

Validation of Angus BREEDPLAN

New traits - ImmuneDEX

The ImmuneDEX is a genetic description of an Angus animal’s ability to react to an immune system challenge (disease).

New traits - ImmuneDEX• Developed in Collaboration with CSIRO

• Based on ~3000 cell-mediated and antibody-mediated immune response phenotypes.

• Moderately heritable (0.2 to 0.3)

• Negative but weak correlation with some production traits

• Favourable but weak correlation to docility/temperament.

• In a subset of 900 steers from this study, disease incidence during feedlot feeding was examined, showing that animals with a superior immune competence phenotype had:

• lower health related costs (~$100 per head more for low responders)

• Lower mortality rates (all deaths from low responders)

New traits - ImmuneDEX

Mid May 2019 Angus BREEDPLAN EBVs

Sire ImmuneDEX ABI CED 400 SS DOC Cwt EMA Rib IMF

Name RBV Acc Prog $ % kg cm % kg cm2 mm %

PARINGA RED PILBARA K146 +70 92% 20 +115 +1.5 +59 +1.7 +0 +37 +4.1 +0.8 +4.9

COONAMBLE KEVIN K314 +50 88% 14 +129 +0.7 +92 +4.0 +12 +69 +4.7 +1.1 +1.6

GLENAVON REVENUE L039 +49 85% 11 +118 -2.5 +98 +0.9 -7 +79 +8.0 -1.7 +1.7

HARDHAT GM AGRONOMIST J516 +48 93% 23 +96 -4.0 +83 +1.3 -10 +56 +8.7 -0.3 +2.1

ANVIL KOKODA K267 +44 92% 21 +139 +1.1 +96 +2.4 +6 +74 +4.7 -1.4 +3.2

WAITAWHETA B11 +44 88% 14 +50 +2.9 +55 +0.8 +6 +25 -3.2 +2.6 +0.1

DENHOLM GLEN G10 BARTEL J41 +43 96% 39 +135 +5.2 +82 +2.5 +15 +42 +9.3 -1.8 +2.1

PATHFINDER KOMPLETE K22 +42 93% 24 +109 +5.8 +76 +2.2 +4 +66 +7.5 +4.2 +1.6

PARINGA IRON ORE E27 +41 86% 12 +122 +3.4 +73 +2.3 +28 +75 +7.4 +0.2 +1.9

TE MANIA QUANTUM 09 490 +40 80% 8 +121 -3.4 +89 +2.7 +17 +70 +2.6 -0.6 +2.7

Average* +31 +114 +0.2 +81 +1.8 +4 +59 +5.5 +0.0 +1.7

Top 10 ImmuneDEX Angus sires from the ASBP (Cohorts 2,3,6,7)

Take home messages:

For current and future DNA based breeding tools, Angus

Australia is building a reference population of modern

Angus animals.

Angus BREEDPLAN Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) are

very effective for selection.

The ImmuneDEX is a genetic description of an Angus

animal’s ability to react to an immune system challenge

(disease).

Interested in becoming an Angus co-operator cow herd?

………..….if yes please talk to me.