There are more systems out now that provide valuable objective information for selecting heifers than someone could have dreamed of not too long ago. Aaron Rasmussen, commercial genetics coordinator for Leachman Cattle of Colorado, based near Alliance, NE, said, “In my 27 years in the (artificial insemination) industry, never did I think we would have this powerful technology with such potential to impact the bottom line,” referring to Zoetis’ INHERIT Select genomic test for commercial heifer selection.
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INHERIT Select is just one option commercial producers can choose. Neogen has Igenity Beef, which contains a tool to create custom indexes for crossbred heifers—once known as the Igenity Beef Dashboard but now known as Encompass. Igenity Beef can be combined with Igenity Envigor to measure the amount of retained heterosis in a heifer.
The American Simmental Association (ASA) and International Genetic Solutions (IGS) have an affordable commercial heifer option, Total Herd Enrollment (THE) Option D, with which producers can input pedigrees, performance data and genomic information to receive a full array of EPDs and indexes with unprecedented accuracy for any breed or breed combination. For producers raising a high percentage of Angus or Red Angus (over 75%), there are the breed-specific programs for each, including GeneMax Advantage and Red Navigator.
INHERIT Select
The INHERIT Select genomic test gives producers genetic predictions on their cattle for 19 traits—which is the most comprehensive among the tests—including functional traits that are unique to INHERIT Select, as well as five index options. Rasmussen said his clients screen potential problem heifers out—particularly those that have low genetic values for docility, teat and udder score, foot score and fertility—and then select the top heifers based on the indexes. The index options are the Zoetis Cow-Calf index, Zoetis Feedlot Carcass index or Zoetis Total Return index. Producers also have the option to use Leachman’ proprietary indexes, $Ranch and $Profit.
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According to Zoetis, “INHERIT Select is exclusively for females, with results only reported for genomic determined females, and it is intended for use in crossbred Bos taurus females comprised of the following breeds: Angus, Red Angus, South Devon, Hereford, Simmental, Gelbvieh, Limousin and Charolais. INHERIT Select also includes predictions for genomic breed composition, which informs maternal heterosis for fertility, that is included in the Zoetis Cow-Calf and Zoetis Total Return indexes.
“In addition, INHERIT delivers parentage determination for parents previously genotyped in their overall systems without the need for nominated sires. Customers with groups of females that are 75 percent and greater black Angus breed composition are advised to use GeneMax Advantage offered through collaboration between Angus Genetics, Inc. and Zoetis.”
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When asked about the economics of doing the test, Rasmussen said, “When you cut off the 10% of the heifers that will never add to the bottom line, that alone will pay for the test. Plus, you have the genetic makeup of the females in your herd that allows a producer to mate them properly to match her strengths and weaknesses for her lifetime, which will also pay big dividends.”
Igenity Beef
Another commercial genomic test for heifers is Neogen’s Igenity Beef, which is a beef profile targeting 17 maternal, performance and carcass traits to rank cattle for confident, objective selection. It ranks the 17 traits from a score of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best and 10 being the worst. It also has three preprogrammed indexes and a customizable index through the Encompass platform.
The test is designed for crossbred cattle that contain the Angus, Gelbvieh, Hereford, Limousin, Maine-Anjou, Red Angus, Shorthorn and Simmental breeds. The test is backed by IGS, which has the largest across-breed database in the world.
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John Price has been using the Neogen program for approximately 10 years on his straight-bred Red Angus commercial herd. Prior to switching to Igenity Beef, Price was doing genomic testing with Red Angus’ Red Navigator, which provided a suite of the genomic EPDs Red Angus produces plus the breed’s three indexes: HerdBuilder, Grid Master and ProS.
However, Price switched to Igenity Beef largely to take advantage of Neogen’s Encompass. The Prices need about 150 replacement heifers a year, and they genomically test their entire heifer calf crop, except for the obvious throwaways.
The Prices then combine Igenity’s Maternal and Production indexes as well as the customizable Encompass index to select about 170 heifers. On Encompass, they put less emphasis on weaning weight and calving ease because they feel their cattle are currently dialed into their environment, management and feed resources, and changing the cattle that are optimal for economically relevant traits would be detrimental rather than positive. When the Prices run cattle through the chute, they cut out 15-20 heifers that—for various reasons— they don’t think will make good replacements based on visual appraisal.
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The interesting thing at the Prices’ operation is they have seen a tremendous increase in uniformity in their cow herd by using objective selection and just getting rid of a few “ugly” ones when they run them through the chute. This makes management easier and increases the marketability of their calves when they sell them at Superior Livestock Auction’s Week in the Rockies sale. For people that rely just on visual appraisal, this may seem counterintuitive. However, something that you hear over and over again from people who have used long-term genomically enhanced objective selection on their heifers is that their cow herd’s uniformity improves over time.
Envigor
Another innovative program from Neogen is Envigor, which tests retained heterosis. Oftentimes, if heifers are dialed into an operation’s management, environment, feed resources and market, it is more important to select for retained heterosis rather than changing traits through selection. According to Neogen, hybrid vigor leads to increased fertility, lower cull rates, more pounds weaned per cow exposed and greater feed efficiency. When combined with Igenity Beef, it is a powerful tool.
THE Option D
For breeders who are really serious about using the maximum amount of data, ASA has THE Option D. For a flat fee of $390 plus the $110 membership fee, a producer can enroll any size herd, whether it is 50 or 5,000 head. Producers must record the production of every cow enrolled, whether that means reporting a calf or a productivity/reason code if the cow doesn’t calve.
In the case of a live calf, a producer must report the birthdate, sire, dam, sex and artificial insemination or natural service. Producers then have the option to submit birth, weaning and yearling weights or a disposal code if the calf died, was culled or was sold as a feeder calf at any point from birth up until they are a yearling.
They can then genomically test their heifer calf crop utilizing a 100,000-marker panel for the comparatively low price of $25 per test. They receive a complete set of EPDs on their females, including ASA indexes, but the accuracy of the predictions will vary depending on the amount of information submitted. Because it is run on the world’s largest multibreed database—IGS’ multibreed analysis, powered by the Biometric Open Language Tool software—the program works for any breed or breed combination.
Unlike other programs, THE Option D allows producers to build pedigrees on their cow herd, as well as submit normal performance data, which will build genetic prediction accuracy equivalent to seedstock cattle over time. It gets better.
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If a producer genomically tests a minimum of 90% of the heifer calf crop and also submits birth weights, weaning weights and either a yearling weight or a disposal code on those calves, the producer receives a $5 credit on the genomic tests. If they add an individual carcass record to this information, they will receive an additional $15 credit, which brings the 100K genomic test down to just $5, according to Jannine Story, director of ASA Performance Data Programs.
Putting in the effort
The bottom line is a commercial producer will get out of this program what they put into it. If they are willing to build the pedigrees on their cattle, submit performance data and conduct genomic testing, they will be able to make genetic selections based on the highest accuracy genetic predictions for the traits ASA predicts, regardless of breed makeup.
It is also a very good value in terms of cost, particularly considering all the information provided in return. However, this option also helps the seedstock producers who provide the bulls to these commercial producers because the added data on their genetics will feed back to them and add accuracy on the sires and dams in their program. It’s a win-win all around.
The times are changing, as commercial producers can now base much of their selection on objective measures while still using their eyes for the traits that don’t have predictions. Rasmussen will tell you that by doing genomic work, it will confirm what you have been doing in your breeding program. The people who have multigenerational artificial insemination behind their cattle—in his case, using the $Profit system—will see a dramatic difference in genetic potential compared to plain bred cattle.
There are tremendous options, with Zoetis providing predictions on a number of functional traits and Neogen giving the producer the option of Encompass to customize an index to a particular operation. Also, the Envigor test may pay bigger dividends, ensuring better heterosis in replacement heifers than what can sometimes be achieved through trait selection.
There are also breed-specific programs, with the most common examples being GeneMax Advantage and Red Navigator. GeneMax Advantage is backed by 1,000,000 genotypes that the American Angus Association has collected. For producers that are really data oriented, they can become part of ASA’s THE Option D and have their cattle be part of the world’s largest multibreed evaluation.
With the costs of inputs rising all the time, these tests can pay big dividends by preventing freeloader cows that do not have the genetic potential to ever be profitable from entering the herd. It will also improve mating decisions so that a commercial producer can better design the genetics of their herd to meet their unique environment, management, feed resources and market. The ability to test for the amount of retained heterosis can also be an effective tool to enhance efficiency and profitability. From a genetic standpoint, it is truly an exciting time to be in the beef industry, with phenomenal objective tools that only get better every year.
