Nov. 5,
2010
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more
information contact:
Miranda
Reiman, CAB Industry Information Assistant Director, at 308-784-2294 or
mreiman@certifiedangusbeef.com
The Growing Angus
Advantage
After
decades of genetic progress, this ain’t your dad’s Angus.
Evidence
suggests the Angus breed has been developed since the 1980s to a point where
crossbreeding may not provide a feedlot or carcass advantage.
Two
recent feedlot analyses, on more than 86,000 head, show Angus cattle beat
crossbreds on feed, and data from the USDA Meat Animal Research Center (MARC)
says the breed has caught up to Continentals in many growth traits.
“The
Angus breed has a lot of tools and research, and breeders have used them to
select a lot harder,” says Larry Kuehn, MARC research geneticist. “Take
yearling weight for example, they’re almost as high as
Simmental and Charolais now and they’ve passed Limousin and Gelbvieh. There’s
been a tremendous amount of pressure there.”
One
report examined cattle fed at Decatur County Feed Yard, Oberlin, Kan. The
Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) licensee tracked performance and carcass
measures on calves in four groups. The straightbred Angus group had the highest
average daily gain (ADG) at 3.53 pounds (lb.), compared to 3.32 lb. for those
with less Angus heritage, 3.21 lb. for other breeds and 3.27 lb. for the
unknowns. They also finished more quickly and did so at a heavier final weight.
An Iowa
Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity (TCSCF) analysis sorted cattle records into
four groups based on sire and dam information.
The
more Angus breeding, the better the ADG. The range was 3.28 lb. down to 3.1 lb. for the
lowest quartile. (See chart)
The
higher percentage Angus cattle spent fewer days on feed, 163.9 compared to
175.2 for those with a quarter or less Angus genetics.
Both
datasets also demonstrate the carcass quality that is a hallmark of the breed.
“The classic example of bringing in another
breed to achieve feedlot performance isn’t necessary with the selection tools
we have for Angus and carcass merit and the feedlot component,” says Sally
Northcutt, genetic research director for the American Angus Association.
The
crossbreed expected progeny differences (EPDs),
calculated by MARC since 1993, show a distinct trend in Angus genetics.
“Birth
weight is as flat as it can be, even a little negative, while yearling weight
is just climbing,” says Larry Cundiff, the emeritus geneticist who first
published those EPDs.
In this
year’s update, the average Angus birth weight shared the lightest spot with Red
Angus at 92 lb., but yearling weight climbed to the third highest at 1,020
lb.—only 11.5 lb. less than Charolais.
“Angus
has the best marbling by quite a bit,” says Kuehn. “They have a little bit of a
trend in ribeye area now.”
The Association’s
database shows yearling weight has soared since its 1979 base year (zero) to
+82 lb. in 2009. More than 30% of that came in the last decade.
“The Angus people don’t think of their cattle
as a terminal sire breed, but I do, because Certified Angus Beef and very
effective selection for growth rate has put them in that position,” Cundiff
says.
Bob
Weaber, University of Missouri geneticist, says many producers haven’t
evaluated that trend lately.
“They
don’t recognize how much Angus has improved to close that gap in growth
performance relative to the Continental breeds,” Weaber says. “Taken by itself,
a change in growth or lactation can be advantageous, but if the perception is
different than reality, the cattle may not be managed to their genetic potential.”
Larger,
higher performing cows likely need more feed than their predecessors, Cundiff
adds. To that point, the Association recently announced an EPD to target feed
efficiency, and the residual average daily gain (RADG) measure will help
producers select for better converters.
Reproduction
is lowly heritable and tends to show the most heterosis, Weaber says. But the
breed complementarity from crossbreeding Angus to continental European breeds
may not have the performance advantage it once did.
“A highly
superior breed in terms of one trait can beat its crossbred, if it’s enough
different than the average of the pure breeds,” Kuehn says.
Take
marbling in the example of an Angus-Limousin cross. There is a full point
difference in marbling EPDs between the two breeds.
“Even if
the crossbred has better marbling than the average, the Angus is still going to
beat the crossbred,” he explains.
###
*Data on 56,438 head at Decatur County Feed Yard,
2003-2009
*Data on 56,438 head at Decatur County Feed Yard,
2003-2009
###