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Feed Efficiency in Bull Testing Programs

Feed Efficiency in Bull Testing Programs. Dr. Lisa Kriese-Anderson Associate Professor/ Extension Animal Scientist Auburn University. Feed Efficiency Measures. More than two dozen measures of feed efficiency in the literature Gross Feed Efficiency Gain per unit of DMI

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Feed Efficiency in Bull Testing Programs

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  1. Feed Efficiency in Bull Testing Programs Dr. Lisa Kriese-Anderson Associate Professor/ Extension Animal Scientist Auburn University

  2. Feed Efficiency Measures • More than two dozen measures of feed efficiency in the literature • Gross Feed Efficiency • Gain per unit of DMI • Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) • DMI per unit of gain • BIF Guidelines adjust to MBW • Feed Intake • Residual Feed Intake 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  3. Feed Efficiency Measures • Most are moderately heritable • h2 = 0.20 to 0.40 • Many are ratio based • Many are specific to a stage of animal growth or production • Most measures of efficiency are highly correlated with other economically important traits 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  4. Review of Literature • Phenotypic correlations between FCR and ADG 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  5. Review of Literature • Phenotypic correlations involving FCR 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  6. Review of Literature • Phenotypic correlations between FCR and ADG 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  7. Review of Literature • Genetic correlations involving FCR 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  8. Review of Literature • Genetic correlations involving FCR 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  9. Need to Use Caution With Ratio Traits • A favorable decrease in FCR (due to selection) does not necessarily correspond to improvements in efficiency of feed utilization • Could be due to change in growth rate 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  10. Phenotypic Trends of FCR at Auburn LSMeans Adjusted for Weight 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  11. Phenotypic Trends of YWT at Auburn 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  12. Comparison of Trends 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  13. Residual Feed Efficiency • Measure of efficiency talked about in beef research and industry circles for the past 5 years • Actual Feed Intake – Expected Feed Intake • Not correlated to ADG • “Independent” measure of efficiency 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  14. How Do We Get at Measures of Efficiency • Many require collection of feed intake data • States with access to individual feed intake (University based) • Alabama (capacity of 96) • Florida (GrowSafe System) • Illinois • Iowa • Texas (GrowSafe System) • West Virginia (GrowSafe System) 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  15. Feed Efficiency Traits • Many require collection of feed intake data • Some private companies/producers are putting in systems to measure individual feed intake • Model Predicted Feed Conversion • 2 primary software programs are available • Cornell/Cattle Value Discovery System (CVDS) • DECI (MARC) • Validation of software shows both are robust 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  16. Efficiency and Bull Tests • What is needed at traditional bull tests to measure efficiency? • Buy in from purebred producers (consignors) and commercial producers (buyers) that efficiency is important • They need reassurance from academic community that efficiency in growing animals will correspond to efficiency in the cowherd 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  17. Efficiency and Bull Tests • What is needed at traditional bull tests to measure efficiency? • Need the capacity to measure entire contemporary groups • How do we report the data? 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  18. Can Differentiate Animals • Carstens and coworkers • Used index (Crews et al, 2006) to sort bulls involved in a Texas Bull Development Center • RFI, ADG, YWT • Higher index bulls (>105) • 17% ADG • 9% less intake • 22% lower FCR 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  19. LSMEANS for breed effect on ADG of central test bulls adjusted for weight a a ab ab ab bc c c Columns with different letters differ at P < 0.05 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  20. LSMEANS for breed effect on FCR of central test bulls adjusted for weight a ab ab abc ab abc bc c Columns with different letters differ at P < 0.05 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  21. LSMEANS for breed effect on FI of central test bulls adjusted for weight a a a ab bc bcd cd d Columns with different letters differ at P < 0.05 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  22. LSMEANS for breed effect on RFI of central test bulls adjusted for age a bc ab abc cd cd bcd d Columns with different letters differ at P < 0.05 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  23. Where Do Large Breeders Come In? • Need to encourage large producers to think about efficiency • On farm evaluations • Cooperator herds 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

  24. Some Closing Thoughts • This is hard • Need buy in from both sides of industry • They probably need more information • Mass educational effort 2007 NBCEC Brown Bagger

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