Animal muscularity and size are genetically correlated with animal live-weight and price

Abstract

Animal price and live-weight contribute substantially to the overall profitability of beef and dairy production systems. However, animal data on price and live-weight are not routinely available on all animals since not all animals are sold or weighed during their lifetime. Previous studies have shown that linear type traits can be useful predictors of profitability. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to quantify the genetic associations between muscular, skeletal and functional linear type traits with both live-weight and price on animals. A total of 132,376 live-weight and animal price records were available, as well as linear type trait data from 35,669 animals aged between 180 and 364days. Phenotypic and genetic (co)variance components for animal price, live-weight and linear type traits, were estimated using linear animal mixed models. In general greater prices were paid for taller, deeper and wider animals as evidenced by the moderate genetic correlations between the skeletal and muscularity type traits and animal price. Live-weight, along with 15 type traits, explained 86% of the genetic variation in price; the 15 linear type traits alone explained 73% of the genetic variation in animal price while four selected type traits explained 49% of the genetic variation. Results from this study show that some linear type traits are strongly genetically correlated with both animal live-weight and price and these can be used to enhance the accuracy of selection for animal price and live-weight especially where such data may be limited.