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2022 Walton-Berry Graduate Student Support Grant Recipients
High-impact research focuses on fertility and improved selection indexes
by Lilly Platts
Two graduate research projects are recipients of the 2022 Walton-Berry Graduate Student Support Grants. Each will receive a $5,000 grant through the ASA Simmental-Simbrah Foundation. The aim of these grants is to help train future leaders in animal breeding, and advance our knowledge of applied livestock genetics by aiding in the professional development, success, and experiences of young animal scientists at the regional and national level. This grant is available to all agricultural disciplines; however, focus is on the genetic improvement of livestock. The Walton-Berry Graduate Student Support Grant, initiated by Jim Berry of Wildberry Farms, honors Dr. Bob Walton’s lifelong efforts in animal breeding and raising Simmental cattle.
Dr. Matt Spangler
Hunter Valasek
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Dr. Matt Spangler, Department of Animal Science; and graduate student Hunter Valasek
The aims of this project are twofold: first, to investigate the impact of planning horizon in the development of selection indexes; and second, to develop indexes in retrospect to benchmark genetic selection for improved commercial level net profit. Economic selection indexes are arguably one of the most essential tools in the animal breeder’s toolkit. Using iGENDEC software that enables the construction of economically optimized selection indexes, researchers will investigate the impact of a planning horizon. Simply put, planning horizon defines the length of time (in years) that the programmed simulation mimics the annual production of cattle in various breeding scenarios. Though selection indexes have been available to US beef producers for nearly two decades, their collective impact on the beef industry is unknown. Selection indexes, such as $API and $TI, often compete with their components (the many individual trait EPD) in selection decisions. Consequently, it is possible that the aggregate selection decisions are not economically optimal. One way to investigate this is by using the concept of an index in retrospect. An index in retrospect uses the genetic response in component traits (i.e., traits for which EPD exist) to define how they must have been weighted in decision-making. Such a process could be used to benchmark breeds relative to their genetic advancement of commercial-level net profit, and to quantify the difference between the index in retrospect and economically optimized indexes constructed using iGENDEC.
Dr. Wellison Diniz
Auburn University
Dr. Wellison Diniz, assistant professor of animal genomics, Department of Animal Sciences; and graduate student Nicholas Kertz
Reproductive failure is still a constraint for the sustainability of beef production systems. Since fertility traits are not highly heritable, tracking their progress has been limited using traditional approaches. The focus of Dr. Diniz’s research with graduate student Nicholas Kertz is to identify blood biomarkers that underlie heifer fertility. By combining genomics, bioinformatics, and machine learning methods to identify blood biomarkers, the long-term goal is to identify how to select fertile replacement heifers accurately. Preliminary work shows that metabolic biomarkers can be used to identify fertile versus infertile heifers from blood samples taken at the time of artificial insemination. Work is underway in their laboratory to link metabolic and genomic biomarkers to improve the power of prediction from tissue samples obtained well before breeding time. n
2021 – Drs. Troy Rowan, Sarah Moorey, and Jon Beever at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. Funds used to leverage sequence-level genomics to examine multiple components of beef cattle genetics. 2021 – Drs. Scott Speidel, R. Mark Enns, and Milton Thomas, with PhD student Lane Giess at Colorado State University. Funds used to develop IGS multi-breed heifer pregnancy EPD (second of two-year funding). 2020 – Drs. Scott Speidel, R. Mark Enns, and Milton Thomas, with PhD student Lane Giess at Colorado State University. Funds used to develop IGS multi-breed heifer pregnancy EPD (first of two-year funding). 2020 – Dr. Megan Rolf and MS student Andrew Lakamp, at Kansas State University. Funds used to research the genetic control of methane production in beef cattle. 2019 – Dr. Hao Cheng, University of California. Funds used to build a faster genomic prediction tool. 2019 – Dr. Jared Decker, University of Missouri. Funds used to support graduate research to study abroad at the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute in Scotland, looking at genomic signatures of selection to apply to population genetics. 2018 – Dr. Jason Ahola, Colorado State University. Funds used to study beef cow mature size across varying environments. 2018 – Dr. Lauren Hanna, North Dakota State University. Funds used to characterize efficiency traits in the commercial beef cow herd. 2017 – Dr. Jared Decker, University of Missouri. Funds used for graduate student travel to Beef Improvement Federation meetings and develop extension publications. 2017 – Drs. Scott Speidel, Milton Thomas, and R. Mark Enns, Colorado State University. Funds used to investigate stayability genetic predictions using endpoints beyond six years of age. 2016 – Dr. Jerry Taylor, University of Missouri. Funds used to identify potentially lethal haplotypes in beef cattle. 2015 – Dr. Heather Huson, Cornell University. Funds used to study the genetics of Digital Cushion Thickness and pay travel expenses for a graduate student to present research findings at an international conference in Sweden. 2015 – Dr. Megan Rolfe, Oklahoma State University. Funds used to analyze genetic links to water intake in beef cattle. 2014 – Dr. Jennifer Thomson, Montana State University. Funds used to study the genetics and objective measurements of temperament in beef cattle. 2014 – Dr. Stephanie McKay, University of Vermont. Funds used to characterize the brain methylome in steers with extreme measures of docility. 2013 – Drs. Jennifer Bormann, Bob Weaber, Dan Moser, and Mike MacNeil from Kansas State University. Funds used to support graduate student stipend and living expenses for a collaborative research project in quantitative and molecular genetics in beef cattle at the US Meat Animal Research Center.
