The future of beef breeding

Travis Leslie, farm manager at Kepler farm, said an initial progeny testing programme was set up to test the effects of hybrid vigour and to enable the development of an across-breed genetic evaluation, but this has since evolved to include greenhouse gas and feed efficiency trials.

“The aim is to improve the efficiency of beef operations through the use of hybrid vigour and help farmers make more informed decisions about bull purchases,” Leslie said.

In the trials, Angus bulls are crossed with Hereford cows, and vice versa. The progeny of these crosses are also bred.

Extensive progeny testing on all progeny is done to find the benefits of hybrid animals.

“For the across-breed analysis, we create an index to compare bulls across breeds.”

Although it is still early in the trial period, the benefits of hybrid vigour are becoming clear, Leslie believes.

Hybrid vigour gives the opportunity to grow out larger cattle, or finish earlier.

Industry theory is that hybrid cows will have better longevity, he says.

It is also early in greenhouse gas and feed conversion trials, however it would stand to reason that a crossbred animal that is finished earlier than a purebred would convert feed better, he said.

“The animal that’s around for the shortest stay is the most methane friendly.”

cohorts of heifers, totalling about 250 individuals so far, to greenhouse gas trials taking 6-8 weeks over the winter.

This year, they travelled to Te Mania Angus in Canterbury for the measurements and also had feed intake measures taken.

The quietness of the heifers is a testament to the Kepler staff’s approach to animal handling and care, he said.

With the animals supplied by Pāmu, the trials were a collaboration between geneticists from Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Informing New Zealand Beef programme, scientists from AgResearch and Te Mania Angus Stud.

programme is to measure feed efficiency and methane in cattle in a bid to develop new traits specifically for the beef industry.

Head of genetics at B+LNZ, Dr Jason Archer, said the goal of the trial is to produce genetic tools that farmers can use to increase feed efficiency and reduce methane output, without reducing productivity.

“Ultimately we want a feed efficiency Estimated Breeding Value (EBV) and an EBV reflecting methane per kilo of feed eaten.”

Leslie said ongoing trials represent an important opportunity to drive advancements for the industry.

“There is immense value in fully recorded animals in what can be seen as a comprehensive genetics programme. There is also value in linking animals across different programmes and having extensive data that drive strong outcomes.

“In the future, farmers will become more discerning about the bulls they select and put a lot more thinking into their beef breeding systems.

“Harnessing the benefits of hybrid vigour is a way to get something extra from what you are already doing.”

He said Kepler farm is extremely proud to be part of the Informing New Zealand Beef programme and investing in the future of beef breeding. “I can see in the future that selecting bulls for beef breeding will become much more data driven and this will give the industry a real boost.”