A public:private collaboration to evaluate the potential value of genomic information to a vertically-integrated commercial beef cattle enterprise (#52)
The objective of this collaborative research project was to use phenotypes collected from Charolais-sired crossbred calves in a commercial feedlot and processing plant to develop genomically-enhanced EBVs. Phenotypes and genotypes were collected from 4,195 crossbred feedlot calves and genomic breeding values (GBV) were calculated for post-weaning average daily gain, hot-carcass weight, marbling (MRB), ribeye area, and external fat thickness (FAT). Estimated breeding values (EBV) for Charolais sires with 10 or more progeny were calculated using an animal model with MTDFREML. Correlations of GBV with EBV ranged from 0.84 to 0.93 when all calves were included in the data, but dropped to between 0.13 and 0.31 when sire’s own progeny were removed from the data set using a 5-fold cross-validation approach. Correlations increased when narrowing the evaluation to only those sires with 15 or more progeny, resulting in trait GBV accuracies ranging from 0.18 to 0.45 for FAT and MRB, respectively. The inclusion of additional progeny in subsequent years of this project is expected to improve the accuracies of genomic predictions, and data will be used to evaluate the potential uses, costs and predicted benefits of using genomic information to optimize breeding program design and management on this vertically-integrated beef operation.