Inside… Published by the American Hereford Association August 2010; Vol. 101, No. 3

Fe e d e r Ca l f Ma r k e t ni g All Calves Are Not Created Equal . . . . 22 The Art of Arbitrage . 24 A Dozen Marketing Tips ...... 25

Purebred cattle tend to be more homozygous for some favorable genes and some unfavorable ones. While one BIF Highlights . . . . 32 breed might be homozygous favorable Not Equal for one fertility gene but homozygous unfavorable for another, a second Hereford provides added heterosis when compared to breed could be just the opposite. When other British breeds. purebred cattle are crossed with other breeds, the crossbred progeny are by Dan Moser, Kansas State University animal scientist more heterozygous and benefit from dominance at many gene locations — ewer open cows. Lower death animal compared to the average increasing fertility, growth and other loss. More growth, more performance of the pure breeds performance traits. Fmilk and more efficiency. In that make up the cross. Heterosis But not all crosses generate equal these challenging economic times, occurs because the desired level of heterosis. Greater effects of heterosis the benefits of crossbreeding are performance — increased fertility, for occur when the breeds crossed more important than ever. While a example — is partially the result of are more different in their genetic straightbred commercial herd should dominant genes. makeup. Brahman-cross cattle excel for expect increased profitability from Beef producers understand that some traits because of the additional implementing any crossbreeding black coat color is dominant to red: that effects of heterosis. These effects occur system, matching the right breeds can is, when an animal has one black gene because Brahman breeds are quite maximize the benefits of heterosis. and one red gene, the animal is black in different genetically from British and But not all heterosis is created equal. color. Similarly, an animal with one gene Continental breeds. The amount of Added heterosis is a key Hereford for more fertility and one for less might benefit from crossbreeding depends advantage, even when crossed on be just as fertile as another animal that is partially on the genetic diversity of the Herefords Through another British breed such as Angus homozygous for high fertility. In theory, breeds being crossed. the Generations . . . 44 or Red Angus. there are dominant genes that increase In the past, countries of origin Heterosis is defined as the not only fertility but survivability, growth have been used to estimate the increased performance of a crossbred and milk production. continued on page 14...... Not Equal continued from the cover

Figure 1: Breed linkage Figure 2: Breed groups

BV = Branvieh CA = Chianina SM = Simmental RA = Red Angus GV = Gelbvieh AN = Angus LM = Limousin MA = Maine Anjou SA = Salers SH = Shorthorn CH = Charolais SG = Santa Gertrudis HH = Hereford BM = Beefmaster BN = Brangus BR = Brahman

degree of similarity between breeds. either British or Continental, the For example, Angus, Hereford and authors of one of the studies found Shorthorn were all developed in that each of these categories could the British Isles, while Simmental, be subdivided. Continental breeds Limousin and Charolais originated were divided into Alpine and French from continental Europe. From that breeds. Alpine would include breeds Table 1: Genetic diversity between breed groups information, one might conclude of primarily German or Swiss origin, (incorrectly) that all British breeds are such as Simmental, Gelbvieh and Alpine British A French British B more similar to each other than they Braunvieh, while Charolais, Limousin British A 0.194 are to Continental breeds and that and Salers were grouped together as British-Continental crosses would yield French breeds. French 0.134 0.174 greater heterosis than British-British or The researchers found that within British B 0.185 0.194 0.181 Continental-Continental crosses. those groups, the breeds tended to Spanish 0.156 0.162 0.118 0.188 However, with the emergence of be more similar genetically but that Figure 2 and Table 1 courtesy of Joe Cassady, North Carolina State University, and Mike MacNeil, U.S. Department of tools like as DNA markers, it is now there were greater differences from Agriculture-Animal Research Station (USDA-ARS), Miles City, Mont. possible to more accurately assess one group to the other. Similarly, they the degree of genetic similarity found that British breeds could be between breeds. In the last decade, segregated into two groups. Angus, other breed to share a large degree of and Red Angus was the least of any three studies have measured genetic Red Angus and Shorthorn cattle genetic resemblance to the Hereford pair of breeds in the studies. However, diversity of major beef breeds in this tended to be more similar to one was the Highland. the genetic diversity between the two manner, using DNA marker genotype another and were classified as British From their results, the authors British groups was as great or greater frequencies to measure how similar group A, but Hereford cattle were concluded that heterosis would be less than between either of the British breeds are genetically and, thus, how more different and were separately when breeds within the same group, groups compared to a Continental much heterosis is gained by crossing classified as British group B. A fifth such as Angus × Red Angus, Charolais group (Alpine or French). This those breeds. group of Spanish origin would include × Limousin or Simmental × Gelbvieh diversity implies that the heterosis While the non-Brahman beef Texas Longhorns and other native were crossed. Not surprisingly, the expressed in a black baldie (Angus– breeds are typically classified as cattle such as the Corriente. The only amount of diversity between Angus Hereford cross) would be as great as or greater than either an Angus or Hereford crossed with a Continental breed. As long as producers cross breeds from two or more breed groups (Angus/Shorthorn, Hereford, Alpine, French, Spanish and Brahman), the genetic diversity between breeds should be more than adequate to allow high levels of heterosis to occur. This research confirms the widely held opinion that Hereford × Angus is one of the top crosses for commercial beef production in many climates, particularly in terms of cow efficiency. Crossing with Continental breeds, which creates the corresponding increase in cow size and feed costs, is not needed in order to gain maximum heterosis. Commercial cow- calf producers using Hereford bulls on an Angus-based cow herd will produce baldie females with superior fertility, longevity and efficiency while maintaining moderate mature size and lower feed costs. HW

Commercial cow-calf producers using Hereford bulls on an Angus-based cow herd will produce baldie females with superior fertility, longevity and efficiency while maintaining moderate mature size and lower feed costs.

14 He r e f o r d Wo r l d / August 2010 www.hereford.org