slightly different result reports but are comparable,” Paschal says. “In addition, they can indicate if an ani- mal is heterozygous or homozygous for a genetic condition.” With some breeds, the genom-
ics companies provide the genetic information to be included in the calculation of the breed’s EPD for various traits to create genomic en- hanced EPD (GE-EPD). “These differ between breeds,”
Paschal says. “Some have several, others only have a few. Almost all breeds are incorporating genomic information because it increases the accuracy of the EPD by allowing for information on more relatives to be used in the EPD calculation. This is especially important in young bulls that don’t have any progeny.”
Cost/benefi t ratio It will likely vary for every pro- ducer. The 12-trait tests from Igenity
cost about $38 per head, Paschal says. “But even if you don’t sell cattle for carcass merit, the value of knowing cow docility and how your calving ease will improve may well cover that cost,” he says. “If she gets pregnant and you
can save one more calf that would be a wash. Then you have all 11 of the other traits to benefi t from in your program.” For a large commercial producer,
genomic testing should improve the accuracy for selecting young bulls. “Say your calves are grading at the top of low Choice,” Paschal says. “The tests will help you fi nd better bulls and can help put your average in the upper two-thirds Choice range. “It’s not a guarantee those cattle
are going to grade better, but it’s a guarantee you have a better chance to grade better. You will know the genetics are there.”
Identifying cattle that have
health problems can be extremely valuable. “For example, the BVD-PI test may have the greatest cost-ben- efi t ratio of any of the tests,” Paschal says. “Being able to identify cattle at birth if they are BVD-PI would keep it from spreading and reduce the costs of the disease. “Superior Livestock shows a
$2.42 cwt. advantage for BVD-PI- free tested calves. If you can guar- antee you’re not passing BVD or a persistently infected calf along, that should add to your profi t and increase your credibility as someone who sells good calves.” Paschal advises ranchers to con-
tact their animal health representa- tive to determine the type of testing needed for their program. If larger numbers are involved, there may be opportunities to bundle the various testing services to reduce per-unit costs.
Genetic Testing Evolves Joe Paschal, Texas A&M AgriLife Ex-
tension livestock specialist, says genetic testing has excelled for nearly 20 years. “In the mid-1980s there was a lot of
interest in mapping and analyzing the beef cattle genome to improve selec- tion response, especially for traits that were low in heritability, or for fertility, disease resistance, milk production or longevity,” he says. Some breed groups added carcass
traits. Carcass yield and marbling were “fairly accurately measured by ultrasound in the early 1990s. Tenderness was not yet an economically relevant trait.” As genomics researchers found the
part of DNA that was closely associated with certain traits, these were tested in research herds and offered to the public.
72 The Cattleman November 2013 Some of these tests worked well only
in the population from which they were developed. “Those tests developed in the Bos taurus populations were not as reliable for Bos indicus populations,” Paschal says. “Most of those tested were for carcass merit (marbling, muscling and tenderness). They were useful to purebred breeders seeking to improve the carcass merit of their bulls for sale to commercial breeders.” Paschal expects genetic testing to
evolve. “Genomic tests offer producers information in 1 test that may have taken years to obtain in the past,” he says. “In this age of tight margins and the need to rebuild our cow herd, these are tools which can provide data that should im- prove ranch operations.”
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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