Samples Still Needed for BAA Genomics Project eB Y
MICKY BURCH, MANAGING EDITORf
It’s the year 2015. Many in agriculture have seen commodity price highs and lows, trends come and go, and technology change the way we produce our product. On the forefront of that technology are genomically-enhanced expected progeny differences (GE-EPDs). The Braunvieh Association of America (BAA) is taking progressive steps to incorporate genomics into existing EPDs to increase accuracy, especially of young animals – but they still need your help collecting samples to get the project off the ground.
evaluation is the process of calculating EPDs,” Genho explains. “The idea is to take pedigree information, recorded phenotypes – like weights and carcass data – and genomic information and boil everything down to a single number for each animal.”
Currently, the BAA has about 300 genotypes, but it requires 400 to 500 genotypes to start the process.
Single-Step Approach
To offer this technology economically to the membership, the BAA subcontracted with the International Brangus Breeders Association (IBBA), but the BAA maintains their own identity within the IBBA. Groups of samples are mailed to Livestock Genetic Services (LGS), which then forwards the DNA on to Igenity. John Genho, founder of LGS, works with the data generated by Igenity to help develop Braunvieh GE-EPDs. The biggest opportunity Genho sees for Braunvieh breeders is to build more accurate numbers through the incorporation of genomics – a branch of science concerned with development and utilization of DNA sequences and genetic maps that represent the architecture of the genome. So, instead of breeders having one prediction of an animal’s value from a genomics company (i.e., genomic test results) and one prediction from their breed association (i.e., EPDs), they will have a single number that includes all of the information. “Genetic 24
Parentage testing, EPDs, gene identification and other forms of genetic testing are certainly nothing new. What is new is the process and economics of the test, which are now within reach for many breeders. “Most recently, interest has been shown in the use of a single-step method to calculate GE-EPDs – the single-step method uses raw SNP [single nucleotide polymorphism] data from DNA tests without the need for a large number of animals to build a training population,” Tommy Perkins, Ph.D., executive vice president, IBBA, explains. “The single-step method has served the smaller breeds very well and it appears that even the larger breeds are beginning to use the same methodology.” Now, from a single DNA sample of blood, hair and/or semen, breeders can identify parentage, homozygosity for black or wild-type color, quality grade, tenderness, feed efficiency and other traits. This is important because many producers, purebred and commercial alike, utilize multiple sire pastures. “In ranch settings, multiple sire mating strategies can be used and resulting sire identification can occur. Thus, cattle producers can now determine the number of progeny sired by each bull in the same breeding pasture,” Perkins explains. BRAUNVIEH WORLD
Further, using GE-EPDs for registered cattle in particular is the most accurate way to evaluate young bulls and heifers, Ryan Ruppert, MS, MBA, U.S. sales director, Neogen, says. “GE-EPDs combine the current EPD system with genetic markers from chips to provide the equivalent of 10 to 20 offspring records per trait for most virgin bulls and heifers,” Ruppert says. That can dramatically increase the accuracy of an animal’s EPDs, giving breeders more confidence in the animal’s true genetic ability. “Working with the BAA to genotype your animals will allow for the required genotypes to create these GE-EPDs and give the BAA the ability to better compete in this fast-paced, changing environment in the seedstock sector,” Ruppert continues. Currently, the BAA has about 300 genotypes, but it requires 400 to 500 genotypes to start the process. “Information is power and the power of genomics is reshaping the beef cattle industry – please join other BAA breeders in genotyping your registered Braunvieh cattle to allow BAA the capabilities to use GE-EPDs,” Ruppert urges. Below is an example of an animal in the IBBA registry that has had GEEPDs generated using the single-step method. The Fall 2014 IBBA EPDs don’t include genomics, whereas the Spring 2015 EPDs do. “You should note that some of the EPD values go up (e.g. WW [weaning weight] from 22 to 24) and some EPD values go down (e.g., REA [ribeye area] 0.77 to 0.72) with a single DNA result,” Perkins points out. “Most importantly, note that the accuracies of all four EPDs get better (higher) – for example, birth weight EPD accuracy goes from 0.28 to 0.46 with the single DNA result.” Birth Weight
Weaning Weight
Yearling Weight
Ribeye Area
Spring 2015
0.4 / 0.46
24 / 0.46
50 / 0.43
0.72 / 0.47
Fall 2014
0.2 / 0.28
22 / 0.26
47 / 0.21
0.77 / 0.22