Duration: 10/01/2006 to 09/30/2012

Administrative Advisor(s):

NIFA Reps:

Non-Technical Summary

Statement of Issues and Justification

The U. S. beef industry presents unique challenges in developing strategies for genetic improvement of beef cattle because it is made up of distinct, competitive segments, each with multiple profit centers. Furthermore, because genetic improvement is accomplished almost entirely through the efforts of independent breeders and beef cattle breed associations (versus breeding companies in the poultry and swine industries and AI studs in the dairy industry) there are no broadly accepted breeding goals nor is there an integrated approach for genetic improvement across industry segments. Consequently, national genetic evaluation programs sponsored by beef breed associations have become the foundation for genetic improvement of beef cattle.

The development of National Cattle Evaluation (NCE) systems was accomplished because of efforts of breed associations and resources at specific land grant universities. NCE includes the collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of genetic information for almost every major breed (BIF, 2002). The success of NCE has been accomplished because breed associations pay a significant portion of the costs through contracts with land-grant universities. They also bear all the cost of data collection (NCR-199, 2003). However, the formation of the National Beef Cattle Evaluation Consortium (NBCEC) in 2001 provided new sources of federal funding to assist with NCE efforts. According to the NBCEC prospectus, the mission is to "develop and implement improved methodologies and technologies for genetic evaluation of beef cattle for the purpose of maximizing the impact genetic programs have on the economic viability, international competitiveness, and sustainability of U.S. beef cattle producers and to provide consumers with affordable and healthy beef products." Several members of the NCERA 199 committee provide leadership, conduct research, and hold regular outreach activities using the resources of the NBCEC (NBCEC, 2005). There is an informal relationship between the NCERA 199 committee and NBCEC. The NBCEC is focused on the development and implementation of long term goals for NCE by relying on resources of the core universities (Cornell Univ., Colorado State Univ., and Univ. of Georgia) that conduct genetic evaluation of beef cattle. The NCERA 199 committee is focused more on coordination of research activities and shorter term goals. Also supporting innovations in NCE is research from a much broader network of scientists at other universities and the USDA. Results from NCE are distributed, usually biannually, to the industry via the beef breed associations. Technology adoption is exceedingly quick. The potential of this technology is enhanced through the outreach programs of NCERA 199 members, research and education personnel at the breed associations, and extension specialists at universities (NCR-199, 2003).

The beef industry considers the NCE programs to be very successful as evidenced by the widespread use of genetic information by the registered seedstock and commercial segments of the industry. Due to NCE, all breeds with developed performance programs have demonstrated genetic trends over time. Many of these breed associations are finding it difficult to continue funding NCE despite the growing demand for expanded information from industry stakeholders. Therefore, close coordination among researchers and breed associations is becoming increasingly important. NCERA 199 has been and will continue to be the best method for achieving the needs of NCE. The additional resources provided by the NBCEC have improved the general infrastructure of NCE. This cooperation will maximize adoption of innovative applications and technologies and will minimize costs by reducing unnecessary duplication of effort.

For the 2006 to 2011 project period, the following list represents examples of research issues and challenges to be addressed by this committee: 1) Development of genetic predictions for economically relevant traits, particularly those related to production efficiency, animal health and meat quality; 2.) Greater investment in integrative research that utilizes advancements in bioinformatics and functional genomics to exploit the genetic architecture of economically relevant traits for beef cattle production; 3.) Improvements to current NCE methodology and computational strategies that incorporate data from different breeds and countries, as well as genetic marker information; 4.) Development of NCE methodologies and computational strategies that incorporate changes in production and marketing practices (e.g., early weaning, case-ready beef, value-based marketing).

Objectives

Procedures and Activities

The NCERA 199 committee plans to implement the following procedures and activities to address each of the previously stated objectives for the committee.

Objective 1

An annual meeting will be held each year in the fall at a host university or beef breed association. These meetings will create a forum for information sharing among members on the committee. Committee members will also explore opportunities to hold joint meetings with other committees, such as NC 1010 Interpreting Cattle Genomic Data: Biology, Applications and Outreach, to access new resources and share information from other areas of expertise. The committee will continue annual activities with the NBCEC at different symposiums and meetings. Specifically, members of the committee plan to participate as speakers each year for the NBCEC Brown Bagger Series (NBCEC, 2005). A BIF Genetic Prediction workshop is planned for the next cycle of this committee, but a date has not been set. Members of the NCERA 199 committee intend to assist with planning and hosting this event.

Objective 2

This objective will be accomplished through annual genetic evaluations for NCE and research that supports the development of tools for NCE. The NCE takes place biannually for many beef breed associations. The research efforts of this committee combined with those of the NBCEC will be implemented in genetic evaluations for beef breeds. Research results and ideas directly related to the success of NCE will be discussed with committee members at the annual meeting. This exchange of ideas should provide important feedback to committee members researching the development of new selection tools for NCE. In previous years, speakers have used the collective knowledge of the committee to resolve technical issues with NCE analyses. Several committee members will continue their research to integrate genomics information into genetic evaluation of beef cattle. These efforts will be coordinated with available funding and research projects conducted by members of this committee.

Objective 3

The annual Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) meeting provides an excellent forum to disseminate research findings to the beef industry. Committee members are planning to serve as speakers for the April 2006 meeting in Mississippi. Additional NBCEC sponsored training sessions and symposiums are being planned for upcoming years with new themes to transfer research to extension personnel and interested participants (i.e., breed associations). Recently, several NCERA 199 committee members were speakers in the NBCEC Large Herd Managers symposium held December 9 and 10 in Kansas City, MO.

Objective 4

To achieve this objective, committee members will continue their regular interaction with the NBCEC through various meetings and symposiums. Previously, this included programs, such as the Brown Bagger and National Animal Breeding Seminar series, that improved research and educational outreach activities. The committee members that also represent the key universities involved in the NBCEC (Colorado, Cornell, and Georgia) will be directly involved in research coordination and planning of educational activities. For example, a beef sire selection manual will be released in 2006 and there are plans for a symposium genetic improvement of feed intake in cattle.

Objective 5

This objective will be achieved first, by educating bull breeders to the value of alternative bull selection choices within the context of bull buyers production systems, and second, by market forces resulting from demonstration to bull buyers the value propositions associated with alternative bull selection choices. The research activities will include: 1. research related to the underlying approaches used in the bio-economic models; 2. implementation of the models in a web-based framework; 3. feedback from extension agents and Breed Association personnel; and, 4. workshops to communicate the existence and operation of the web system. The research activities and educational components will involve collaboration between Colorado State University, the North American Limousin Foundation, and the American Simmental Association. University of Kentucky will support the outreach efforts.

Expected Outcomes and Impacts

Projected Participation

View Appendix E: Participation

Educational Plan

Information developed by members of the committee will be of critical value to the beef cattle industry and to research scientists working in the area of genetic improvement of livestock. The committee will actively disseminate information in several ways. Members of the committee are active in other interested organizations such as the BIF and work closely with breed associations. Information from the committee will be reviewed and discussed by BIF committees and workshops. Committee members will then make presentations at meetings such as held by BIF and breed associations. The BIF annual meeting is attended by all segments of the beef industry including commercial cattlemen, seedstock breeders, personnel from breed associations and AI studs, extension specialists and researchers (university, USDA, etc.). The potential flow of information is as follows:

NCERA 199 Coordinating Committee
↓
NBCEC
BIF Genetic Prediction Committee
Genetic Prediction Workshops
↓
BIF Annual Meetings
Breed Associations
Extension Specialists
Continuing Education (i.e., NBCEC Brown Bagger)
↓
Seestock Producers
Commercial Cattle Producers
Commercial Industry (e.g., MMI Genomics)

Organization/Governance

Officers will consist of a chair and chair-elect. The term of office will be one year. The chair will be responsible for organizing the annual meeting and for coordinating meeting arrangements with the host location. The chair-elect will be responsible for writing and submitting minutes of the meeting to the administrative advisor and to the website coordinator.

Prospective members will be invited to attend regular meetings by the administrative advisor or a committee member. After attending a meeting, candidates are eligible for nomination to join the NCERA 199 committee. The approval will require a majority vote of the committee members present.

Committee members and participants need to regularly participate in the annual events associated with the NCERA 199 committee. If a member of the committee does not attend the annual meeting, their absence will be noted in the report with a copy sent to their agricultural experiment station director. Furthermore, the committee member must respond with an explanation for their absence and inform the committee of their expectations to participate in the future.

Literature Cited

BIF. 2002. Guidelines for Uniform Beef Improvement Programs (8th). Beef Improvement Federation. Athens, GA. Retrieved from http://www.beefimprovement.org/

Ishmael, Wes. 2005. Better Odds. BEEF. November. pp 48-51.

NBCEC. 2005. National Beef Cattle Evaluation Consortium. Retrieved from http://www.nbcec.org/nbcec/index.html

NCR-199. 2003. Implementation and Strategies for National Beef Cattle Evaluation. Statement of Impact and Research Needs. Retrieved from http://www.wisc.edu/ncra/impstate-animalproduction.htm

Attachments

Land Grant Participating States/Institutions

CO, FL, GA, IA, KS, KY, MI, NE, NY, OH, VA, WI

Non Land Grant Participating States/Institutions

American Internation Charolais Assoc., American Simmental Association, Merial, USDA-ARS, USDA/ARS/U.S. Meat Animal Research Center