Economic evaluation of genetic markers for cow-calf operations differentiated by forage type and breed

Abstract

When selecting breeding stock, the use of genetic marker information in beef cattle (Bos taurus L., and Bos indicus L.) is expected to enhance herd performance and thereby producer returns. Cattle performance data from experimental trials, tracking the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) P450 C994G and HSP70 CDS G2033C genotypic distributions in Angus (AA; Bos taurus), Brahman (BB; Bos indicus), and their reciprocal cross (RC) cows were investigated to determine economic performance differences when grazing endophyte infected tall fescue [Lolium arundinaceum (=Festuca arundinacea)] compared to Bermudagrass (BG; Cynodon dactylon L.) pastures. Since open cows were not culled, the study provides unique lifetime data on cow-calf breeding failure rates. These data are essential for economic comparisons of spring calving herds that were either exposed to fungal endophyte [Epichloë coenophiala (=Neotyphodium coenophialum=Acremonium coenophialum)] infected tall fescue grazing and hay (E+) or not (BG). The Forage and Cattle Analysis and Planning (FORCAP) decision support software was used to assess impact on profitability of birth weight, weaning weight, and breeding failure rate differences across treatment. Results showed that added SNP marker information did little to separate animal performance. A neural network approach also was used to assess the impact of genetic marker information to predict economic performance. Using either gene SNP, less than 5% of variation in economic returns was affected by genetic information, with the largest driver of profitability being breeding failure rate. Using the two genetic markers of this study to predict breeding failure rate showed little evidence to suggest that breeding decisions could be improved using genetic marker information. With more data, this conclusion may well change as observed least square mean differences by SNP were larger than the cost of obtaining the information but not statistically significant.