Milk production of crossbred daughters of high- and low-milk EPD Angus and Hereford bulls.

Abstract

Milk yield from 273 Angus- and Hereford-sired cows and preweaning performance of their calves were used to determine how accurately milk EPD of Angus and Hereford sires predicted milk production of crossbred daughters and subsequent calf performance. Mean milk EPD (kg) for high Angus (HA), low Angus (LA), high Hereford (HH), and low Hereford (LH) bulls (n = 41) selected as sires were +8.7, -6.2, +7.6, and -4.8, respectively. Cows calved in spring or fall from 1992 to 1997 and yielded a total of 660 records. Twenty-four-hour milk production of the cows was estimated by two weigh-suckle-weigh measurements at monthly intervals. The statistical model included breed, milk EPD level, sire of cow within breed and milk EPD level, year, season, cow age, calf sire, sex, and all two- and three-way interactions. Means were obtained for monthly milk production, total milk production, time and yield of peak production, monthly calf weights, monthly cow weights and body condition scores (1 through 9), and calf birth and weaning data. The least squares means for 24-h milk production (kg) of HA, LA, HH, and LH with P-values for high vs low, across breeds, were, respectively, as follows: mo 1: 6.9, 5.9, 7.1, and 5.7 (P < 0.01); mo 2: 7.2, 6.1, 6.9, and 5.7 (P < 0.01); mo 3: 6.1, 5.1, 5.1, and 4.3 (P = 0.01); mo 4: 6.1, 4.9, 4.9, and 4.8 (P = 0.01); mo 5: 4.8, 4.0, 4.2, and 3.8 (P = 0.01); mo 6: 4.7, 3.4, 3.2, and 3.0 (P < 0.01); and mo 7: 3.7, 2.5, 3.0, and 3.0 (P = 0.05). Least squares means for total milk (kg) were 911.4, 729.6, 758.0, and 664.2 (P < 0.01); for yield at peak (kg/d) were 7.0, 5.7, 6.1, and 5.2 (P < 0.01); for birth weight (kg) were 37.1, 37.9, 38.3, and 38.8 (P = 0.31); for 205-d weight (kg) were 237.3, 218.2, 222.2, and 214.1 (P < 0.01); for final cow weight (kg) were 482.4, 505.4, 509.5, and 511.7 (P = 0.11); and for final cow BCS were 4.9, 5.3, 5.1, and 5.2 (P < 0.01). The correlations of total production with the monthly productions were 0.52, 0.56, 0.52, 0.54, 0.35, 0.37, and 0.31 (P < 0.01) and were 0.12 with birth weight, 0.45 with 205-d weight, -0.12 with final cow weight, and -0.26 with final cow body condition score (all P < 0.01). Daughters of high-milk EPD sires produced more milk and weaned heavier calves than those of low-milk EPD sires at the expense of body condition. These results suggest that sire milk EPD are sufficiently associated with milk yield and calf performance to be useful tools in genetic improvement of preweaning performance.