56
More, Better Angus
If feedyard performance pays the bills and governs bidding for calves, then “The Busi-
ness Breed” is really taking care of business. Evidence suggests the Angus breed has been
developed to a point where crossbreeding may not provide a feedlot or carcass advantage.
Two recent feedlot analyses, on more than 86,000 head, show Angus cattle beat
crossbreds on feed. That doesn’t surprise USDA Meat Animal Research Center (MARC)
scientists whose data say the Angus breed has caught Continentals in many growth traits.
“
Angus has a lot more tools and research, and breeders have used them to select a lot
harder,” says Larry Kuehn, MARC research geneticist. “Take carcass weight for example,
they’re almost as high as Simmental and Charolais now and they’ve passed Limousin and
Gelbvieh. There’s been a tremendous amount of pressure there.”
Sally Northcutt, genetic research director with the American Angus Association, says
post-weaning performance in the breed has shot upward since the 1980s.
“
We’ve seen a significant change in what Angus cattle will do in the last 15 to 30 years,”
she says. “Historically the Angus breed was not considered competitive in terms of
post-weaning gain, but the data shows you can capitalize on aggressive feedlot gain from
Angus genetics. In the past, producers thought they had to get that from other breeds.”
An Iowa Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity (TCSCF) analysis illustrates this Angus
advantage. Cattle records from 2002 to 2009 were sorted into four groups based on sire
and dam information: low-percentage Angus, half, three-quarters and straightbred.
The more Angus breeding, the better the average daily gain (ADG). The range was 3.28
lb. per day down to 3.1 for the lowest quartile. The straightbreds also stayed healthier,
with lower morbidity and mortality rates, and lower treatment costs.
Bob Weaber, University of Missouri geneticist, says that is a shift that’s come in the past
10
to 20 years.
“
Historically you say “terminal” sire and they automatically think of the European breeds
because they want to add pounds, but you can gain the same amount of weight by using
high-performance Angus genetics,” he says.
Efficiency is just one more example of the benefits of using Angus genetics in a breed-
ing program, Northcutt says.
“
We have selection tools available to make directional change and have a variety of
avenues you can take, be it a balanced-trait bull, a terminal type with more postweaning
and carcass, or more emphasis on the maternal side,” she says.
The diversity helps producers who want the ease of a straightbred system, and those
who retain ownership may benefit the most from an Angus focus.
As a breed, more than half the registrations are from AI and 11% of them come from
embryo transfer work. Numerically, that’s a huge influx of top genetics and also a higher
percentage from AI than the next several beef breed registries by volume.
The Angus investment in performance information – 90,000 carcass records and 6.4
million weaning weights, for example – seems to be paying off.
“
The growth traits are straightforward and extremely accurate. The carcass database,
with the integration of carcass data, ultrasound and genomics, is the best technology
available,” Northcutt says. “The data speaks for itself.
“
How many breeds can rattle off a list of traits like calving ease, maternal milk, carcass
merit and now post-weaning growth as just an offering of potential genetics and selection
tools?”
Only one comes to mind, and that breed calls to mind things like profitability, cash flow
and income statements.
--
Excerpted from an article by Miranda Reiman, Industry Information Specialist,
Certified Angus Beef LLC
Sydgen Young Lucy
5232
Dam of Lot 176
Graham Duchess 55
Grandam of Lot 177
+10 .24 +.7
.35
+34 .25 +76
.24
+.28 .34 +5
+23.47
+62.57
I+6.8 +11 +25
CED
BW
WW
YW
SC
DOC HP CEM MILK
$W
$B
✭
✭
Four pound gainer by one of the breed’s top Marbling EPD sires.
✭
✭
Maternal sister brought $3,300 to Don Hedgecock, Moulton, IA in last year’s sale,
and a maternal brother sold to Suzy Harrison, Auxvasse, MO.
CW
MARB
RE
FAT
+21
+.77
+.26
+.038
SydGen G223 Prime Star 1612
Birth Date: 9-17-2011
Bull 17116076
Tattoo: 1612
Gardens Prime Star
#
N Bar Prime Time D806
Gardens Prime Star G223
Green Garden Jilt C242 S1
15387304
#
Green Garden Beau E224 S1 #Gardens Highmark
#
Green Garden Beau B225 S2
+SydGen Exacto 2158
#
JLB Exacto 416
SydGen Barbara 5695
+SAF Royal Queen 9075
15204388
HF Barbara 624
#
Bon View Bando 598
MLM Barbara 440
BW
RATIO WW
RATIO ADG YW
RATIO
ADJ HIP
ADJ SC
78
96
684
99
1330
103
51.0
35.01
4.04
174
3-95
3-103
3-103
3-88
3-106
3-105
3-94
BWR
WWR
YWR
IMF
UREA
RBFT
RPFT
Dam
Progeny
Record
+4
.23
+3.2 .35 +45 .25 +82
.22
N/A N/A I+17
+23.30
+57.85
I+9.5
+9
+22
CED
BW
WW
YW
SC
DOC HP CEM MILK
$W
$B
✭
✭
One of the four youngest bulls in this feeding group who were scanned and
weighed two weeks after all the other bulls.
✭
✭
Maternal sister brought $3,000 to Fox Run Farms, Mexico, MO, and another
maternal sister brought $1,500 to Jim Frank, Jefferson City, MO.
CW
MARB
RE
FAT
I+13
I+.52
I+.41
I-.020
SydGen 78 Bextor 1670
Birth Date: 10-24-2011
Bull 17116097
Tattoo: 1670
#
CRA Bextor 872 5205 608
#
BAR Ext Traveler 205
SA Bextor 78
Cra Lady Jaye 608 498 S Easy
16212885
SA Queen Ruth 276
#
ALC Nobleman N01N
SA Queen Ruth 2011
#
+SAF Connection
#
+SVF Gdar 216 LTD
SydGen Young Lucy 5232
+SAF Royal Queen 5084
14980040
+SydGen Young Lucy 3219
#
B/R New Design 323
B/R Young Lucy 1151
BW
RATIO WW
RATIO ADG YW
RATIO
ADJ HIP
ADJ SC
90
111 658
95
1119
91
51.3
N/A
2.88
176
4-98
4-97
3-92
3-86
3-92
3-72
3-72
BWR
WWR
YWR
IMF
UREA
RBFT
RPFT
Dam
Progeny
Record
I+5 .05 I+1.7 .05 I+49 .05 I+90 .05 I+.15 .20 I+23
+34.22
+50.06
I+9.8 I+7 I+28
CED
BW
WW
YW
SC
DOC HP CEM MILK
$W
$B
✭
✭
A pair of twin brothers.
✭
✭
As always on twins, they receive ratios, but their growth does not affect their growth
EPDs, which are sire-dam average. Ultrasound data does affect their Carcass EPDs.
✭
✭
Maternal brother brought $3,500 to Bruce Aeschbacher, Fortuna, MO.
✭
✭
Dam is a very impressive cow, and a maternal sister to Big Elban of Graham 38425.
CW
MARB
RE
FAT
+19
+.32
+.06
+0
SydGen 7050 Successor 1610
Birth Date: 9-16-2011
Bull 17239475
Tattoo: 1610
Spur Success 2801
#
Bon View New Design 1407
Spur Successor 7050
Spur Effie 006
16129798
#
Spur Maureen 471
#
Connealy Lead On
Spur Maureen 261
SAF Top Dollar
#
SAF Choice Plus
SydGen G Duchess 7383
+SAF Royal Queen 5084
+15793130
#
Graham Duchess 55
Gorthy of Graham 18866
#
Graham Duchess 48
BW
RATIO WW
RATIO ADG YW
RATIO
ADJ HIP
ADJ SC
76
105 706
91
1212
88
50.5
35.01
3.16
177
B
2-99
2-118
2-112
4-95
4-94
4-108
4-113
BWR
WWR
YWR
IMF
UREA
RBFT
RPFT
Dam
Progeny
Record
CW
MARB
RE
FAT
+20
+.98
+.64
+.036
SydGen G223 Prime Star 1626
Birth Date: 9-27-2011
Bull 17116082
Tattoo: 1626
✭
✭
Scanned real well, earning him the second highest Marbling EPD in the entire fall
bull division.
✭
✭
Grandam sells as Lot 5, and his dam is a flush sister to SydGen Sedalia 8166,
Grand Champion Bull at the 2009 Missouri State Fair.
✭
✭
Flush sister to the dam was the $4,600 selection of Indian Springs Angus, Duck
River, TN in the 2010 sale.
Gardens Prime Star
#
N Bar Prime Time D806
Gardens Prime Star G223
Green Garden Jilt C242 S1
15387304
#
Green Garden Beau E224 S1 #Gardens Highmark
#
Green Garden Beau B225 S2
SydGen CC&7
#
+SAF Connection
SydGen Enchantress 9431
SydGen Forever Lady 4087
+16415350
SydGen Enchantress 6009
+SydGen Focus 2088
SAF Enchantress 0025
BW
RATIO WW
RATIO ADG YW
RATIO
ADJ HIP
ADJ SC
82
108 741
107
1336
103
50.4
37.36
3.72
175
+6
.26
+2.1 .34 +43 .25 +87
.24
+.70 .34 +15
+26.50
+72.25
I+9.1
+7
+34
CED
BW
WW
YW
SC
DOC HP CEM MILK
$W
$B
CW
MARB
RE
FAT
+24
+.35
+.09
+.009
SydGen 7050 Successor 1609
Birth Date: 9-16-2011
Bull 17116075
Tattoo: 1609
BW
RATIO WW
RATIO ADG YW
RATIO
ADJ HIP
ADJ SC
74
102 755
97
1357
98
51.3
36.51
3.76
177
A
I+5 .05 I+1.7 .05 I+49 .05 I+90 .05 I+.36 .20 I+23
+34.16
+54.30
I+9.8 I+7 I+28
CED
BW
WW
YW
SC
DOC HP CEM MILK
$W
$B
BWR
WWR
YWR
IMF
UREA
RBFT
RPFT
Dam
Progeny
Record
2-99
2-118
2-112
4-95
4-94
4-108
4-113
