News Update
July 11, 2011

Angus Releases Heifer Pregnancy EPDs

Whether you have 20 or 2,000 cows, success in the U.S. cattle business lies in your herd’s reproductive ability; however, those traits are among the most difficult to characterize from a genetic standpoint.

But after years of collecting breeding records, the American Angus Association has introduced a genetic selection tool to help Angus breeders and their customers better identify animals with desirable reproductive ability.

The heifer pregnancy expected progeny difference (HP EPD) will measure the chance of a sire’s daughters becoming pregnant during a normal breeding season.

“One of our research initiatives has been to characterize reproductive traits in the Angus breed. Now, after much time in the research phase, we’ve developed a database that allows us to provide EPDs for the reproductive complex,” says Bill Bowman, American Angus Association chief operating officer (COO).

The HP EPD isn’t a new concept. The Association began reporting heifer pregnancy research values in its biannual Sire Evaluation Report in 2007.

In June 2011, the Association Board of Directors approved moving the HP EPD from research to reality. Beginning July 8, the EPD will appear weekly alongside other maternal trait EPDs such as calving ease maternal (CEM), maternal milk (Milk), mature weight (MW), mature height (MH) and cow energy value ($EN).

“Angus breeders and their customers continue to recognize the value of selection tools available through the Association,” says Sally Northcutt, Association director of genetic research. “The weekly heifer pregnancy evaluation will provide more real-time EPDs for improving the probability of successful heifer breedings in the herd.”

Heifer pregnancy EPDs are developed using breeding records, pregnancy-check and calving data, as well as pedigree information. The unit of measure for the EPD is a percentage — a higher EPD is more favorable.

“In this case, when comparing two sires on heifer pregnancy EPDs, a higher-EPD sire would be expected to have daughters with a greater probability or chance of becoming pregnant than a sire with the lower EPD,” Northcutt explains.  

Although reproductive traits are challenging to measure and tend to be more lowly heritable in comparison to growth and carcass traits, Northcutt says the Association is spearheading an aggressive push to expand the breeding database, with first-calf heifers as the initial target for selection tools. 

Visit www.angus.org to learn more about heifer pregnancy or other EPDs. The American Angus Association releases National Cattle Evaluation (NCE) EPDs every Friday, providing the most rapidly available selection tools in the beef cattle industry.

— Release from The American Angus Association.

Global Food Safety Standards Organization Holds Ractopamine Hydrochloride at Step 8

The Codex Alimentarius Commission decided to hold at Step 8 the global food safety standards for ractopamine hydrochloride (ractopamine) at its 34th Session, which concluded July 9 in Geneva, Switzerland. Codex global food safety standards are designed to ensure that public health is protected and to facilitate the fair trade of safe food products, providing international food safety reference points for all countries.

Ractopamine is a feed ingredient for pigs that improves carcass leanness, increases average daily gain and improves feed efficiency, and for cattle that increases live weight gain and red meat yield and improves feed efficiency. Ractopamine is manufactured and marketed by Elanco under the trade names of Paylean® for swine and Optaflexx® for cattle.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission adopted global food safety standards for narasin for pigs and tilmicosin for chicken and turkey. Adoption of these standards for narasin and tilmicosin underscores Elanco’s long-term commitment to supporting JECFA scientific assessments and the importance of establishing global food safety standards via Codex.

— Adapted from a release by Elanco.

Angus Releases Genomic-enhanced Calving Ease EPD

The American Angus Association and Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI) have again expanded their offering of genomic-enhanced EPDs.

Beginning July 8, the calving ease direct (CED) EPD joins AGI’s suite of genomic-enhanced selection tools generated using the Association’s extensive performance database and genomic results now provided by both the High Density 50K (HD 50K) platform from Pfizer Animal Genetics and the Igenity® Profile for Angus.

The CED EPD helps cattlemen predict the average difference in ease with which a sire’s calves will be born when he is bred to first-calf heifers. Expressed as a difference in percentage of unassisted births, a higher value indicates greater calving ease in first-calf heifers.

“Now, the calving ease direct EPD utilizes DNA data submitted by breeders to provide even more accurate selection capabilities,” says Bill Bowman, AGI president and Association chief operating officer (COO).

AGI offers genomic-enhanced EPDs for calving ease, carcass, growth (including birth, weaning and yearling weight EPDs; as well as milk) and residual average daily gain (RADG) traits incorporating genomic data from both Pfizer Animal Genetics and Igenity. A genomic-enhanced EPD for docility incorporating Igenity results is also available. (Click here for a complete, regularly updated list of available genomic-enhanced EPDs.)

“These and all other National Cattle Evaluation EPDs are released every Friday and provide Angus producers of any herd size with the most up-to-date information for their selection decisions,” says Sally Northcutt, Association director of genetic research.

Visit www.angus.org for more information.

— Release by American Angus Association and Angus Genetics Inc.

Reserve Your Invitation

The Angus Foundation invites you to attend its supporter recognition event Saturday evening, Nov. 12, in Louisville, Ky.

In this final year of Vision of Value: Campaign for Angus, the Angus Foundation will recognize supporters from the past fiscal year to the Angus breed’s ambitious $11 million fundraising drive for education, youth and research. Angus Foundation and campaign leadership will update attendees on the progress of the fundraising initiative.

All Angus supporters who have contributed $250 this fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2010-Sept. 30, 2011) to the Angus Foundation will be invited to attend this donor recognition celebration.

Special features of the event will be announcements of significant major gifts toward the campaign’s goal of $11 million by Dec. 31, 2011.

You, too, can guarantee your reservation to the event by making your gift of $250 or more by Sept. 30. Gifts can be made online by Visa® or MasterCard.® Visit www.angusfoundation.org and click on “Donate Online” located at the top right corner of the home page.

Contributions payable to the Angus Foundation can also be mailed, postmarked by Sept. 30, to the Angus Foundation at 3201 Frederick Ave., Saint Joseph, MO  64506. Call 816-383-5100 to confirm your contribution level for this fiscal year.

— Release by Katie Allen for the Angus Foundation.

Sponsor Secured for Auction and Concert

The Friends of the Bosque Redondo Memorial recently secured the sponsorship of Farm Credit Bank of Texas for the Sept. 3 live auction and concert, Under the Stars of New Mexico, which will take place at the Bosque Redondo Memorial in Fort Sumner, N.M.

Located in Austin, Texas, Farm Credit Bank of Texas is a wholesale financing institution that is part of the cooperatively owned nationwide Farm Credit System. The congressional mandated mission of the Farm Credit System is to provide a stable and dependable source of financing to rural America, farmers, ranchers and those businesses that provide essential services that support rural America.

The bank provides funding and related services to 19 local borrower-owned Farm Credit lending cooperatives (Agricultural Credit Associations and Federal Land Credit Associations) in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas.

Although Fort Sumner may first be recognized as the burial place of Billy the Kid, there is more to the village located in De Baca County. The Bosque Redondo Memorial is the site of the incarceration of the Mescalero Apache and Navajo Indians from 1864 to 1868. This time of death and suffering is known to the Navajo as “the Long Walk.” The New Mexico State Monument pays homage to the resilience of these Native Americans and their determination to survive

The event will begin at 3:30 p.m. with a live auction of Native American and Western collectible art.

A chuckwagon-style meal will be served beginning at 5 p.m., and then at sunset, 7:30 p.m., guests will hear country artist Michael Martin Murphey and the Rio Grande Band.

Tickets are on sale at $50 for adults and $25 for children under 12. For more information visit www.bosqueredondomemorial.com or call 575-355-7575. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Bosque Redondo Memorial, Fort Sumner, N.M.

— Release by Dorie Tucker for the Friends of the Bosque Redondo Memorial.

The Angus Report

The Angus Report for July 8, 2011, contains the latest video market data that continue to show calves enrolled in the American Angus Association’s AngusSource program earn more; information on the National Angus Conference & Tour (NAC&T) and the early sign-up deadline that is approaching quickly. You can learn more from Shelia Stannard, director of activities and events, as “All Roads Lead to Georgia” this fall. In addition, Tom Brink of J&F Oklahoma Holdings explains how quality cattle equal less risk for feeders.

Click here to access The Angus Report.

— Release by the American Angus Association.

— Compiled by Linda Robbins, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.