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Title: COMPARISON OF SIRE BREEDS WITH RECORDS FROM THE REGIONAL CROSSBREEDING PROJECT NC-196

Author
item Van Vleck, Lloyd
item BARKHOUSE, KRISTEN - UNIV. OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN
item Cundiff, Larry

Submitted to: Beef Improvement Federation Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/15/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Some beef producers need to compare individual bulls of different breeds to use in crossbreeding programs. Each breed association produces genetic evaluations (EPD) but these evaluations compare only bulls of that breed. To calculate an across-breed genetic evaluation, records are needed of progeny of sires of different breeds when raised under the same management conditions and with the same breeds of dam. Such records from the Meat Animal Research Center have been used to calculate adjustment factors to be added to within-breed EPDs to allow comparison of pairs of bulls of differ- ent breeds. This study used somewhat similar records from 5 states in regional project NC-196. Some breed adjustments from NC-196 are different from those from MARC records. Three breeds at MARC are not in NC-196. Yearling weights are available on only two pairs of breeds with each pair at a different station. Maternal weaning weights are not available. Breed dof sire solutions from NC-196 analyses can be pooled with solutions from MARC analyses but differences in solutions suggest further research is needed.

Technical Abstract: Records from five experiment stations that are part of the NC-196 beef cattle breeding project were used to calculate factors to allow comparison of bulls of nine breeds. Breeds of sire were Angus, Hereford, Brahman, Simmental, Limousin, Charolais, Gelbvieh, Tarentaise, and Salers. Records included a total of 3,490 birth, 3,328 weaning and 1,372 yearling weights. Most breeds were not represented at all stations. Iowa had only Angus and Simmental. Only Iowa and Oklahoma reported yearling weights. Calves with yearling weights at Oklahoma were from Gelbvieh and Limousin sires. Breed of sire solutions were different for NC-196 from analyses done previously at USDA Meat Animal Research Center. After adjustment for the EPD of sires used at the NC-196 stations, the factors to use to compare bulls of differ- ent breeds were not the same as those calculated using MARC records. The differences were especially large for weaning weight. The yearling weight comparison between Angus and Simmental at Iowa was quite different from th comparison at MARC. The yearling weight comparison between Gelbvieh and Limousin was similar for Oklahoma and MARC. Regressions of progeny on sire EPD were similar to those from MARC analyses for birth weight, 1.25, and for weaning weight, .98. The regression for yearling weight was .62 com- pared to 1.24 for MARC records.