Breeders embrace DNA testing

The first version of the High Density 50K test became available to Angus breeders in 2010. It provided molecular value predictions for 13 traits using more than 50,000 DNA markers.

Owners of the test Zoetis have worked on increasing the number of economically important traits.

Later this month Zoetis will release six more to the panel -- rump fat, retail beef yield, 600-day weight, gestation length, days to calving and net feed intake (post weaning).

They have also recalibrated the HD50K Angus product using several thousand animals with high-accuracy breeding values supplied by Angus Australia.

Predictions for all existing traits have been updated and have resulted in an increase in accuracy across these traits.

At the same time, the cost of the DNA test from a sample of hair from the animal's tail has more than halved in the past five years.

Angus Australia has gradually blended these MVPs into its monthly Breedplan evaluation, with about 1500 animals a year being genotyped, predominately sale bulls.

Zoetis technical services manager - genetics Emily Piper said the uptake of the HD50K test had been rising year-on-year, partly because of growing awareness and acceptance of the technology, but also because of economic reasons.

"It is now at a point where commercial herds are recognising the benefit of profiling heifer replacements and identifying elite females for artificial reproductive programs using tools such as the HD50K for Angus," she said.

She said the greatest value came from testing young animals and getting a sneak peek into their genetic potential.

"This is information you wouldn't otherwise have until the animal has matured and started to produce progeny of its own that can be measured - years down the track," she said.

"This is particularly true of the hard-to-measure traits such as female fertility. You can't measure female fertility on a bull, so you have to wait until he has daughters that are producing progeny of their own to make an assessment of that bull's potential as a sire of fertile females. Knowing this information from a tail-hair test gives you the opportunity to make informed management and joining decisions much earlier in the animal's life."

At an industry level, Ms Piper said it was giving stud and commercial breeders access to information they would never be able to measure themselves, such as net feed intake.

"With the rising cost of feed and inputs to raise and grow-out animals, this has been and will be a trait of utmost importance into the future," she said.

"But it is extremely expensive and difficult to measure and the industry will depend on research projects such as Angus Australia's Sire Benchmarking Program to generate the necessary information. Molecular predictions give the rest of the industry - both the stud and commercial sectors - the opportunity to leverage this research in their own herds."

Angus Australia education, extension and youth manager Andrew Byrne said the HD50K test was giving breeders access to EBVs with increased accuracy on their younger cattle, and an opportunity for small herds to generate EBVs with higher accuracy to what was previously possible.

In April 2011, MVPs were blended in Angus Australia's Breedplan run for seven of these HD50K traits -birthweight, weaning weight, milk, carcaseweight, eye muscle area, rib fat and marbling.

This was followed by calving ease direct and calving ease daughters in June 2011, with another three traits - scrotal circumference, yearling weight and mature cow weight - added in March 2012.

The additional traits that will join the analysis this month bring the total number of traits to 22.