Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Meeting minutes attached.

The 2009 annual meeting of the NCERA-199 group was held October 19-20, 2009 in Columbia, Missouri. The NCERA-199 afternoon session featured committee members Drs. Steve Kachman, Daniel Gianola and Mark Thallman. They reviewed their research outcomes in the area of incorporating marker information into genetic evaluation. Theory and application issues were discussed. Later in the afternoon representatives from breed associations discussed what they perceived the needs to be from an industry perspective. The following day, committee members reported on research, extension, and teaching activities of the National Beef Cattle Evaluation Consortium (NBCEC). Drs. Rohan Fernando and Ignacy Misztal also provided research results centered on the use of molecular information in the genetic evaluation of beef cattle and Dr. Brent Woodward of Igenity shared information regarding the first release of marker assisted expected progeny differences to the industry in the Angus breed. Committee members continued work in the development and deployment of an online graduate education curriculum in animal breeding and genetics. Diminishing numbers of faculty in the area of animal breeding and genetics have reduced opportunities for specialized coursework that would prepare future scholars in the field. A consortium of universities, led by Virginia Tech, has joined efforts to address this challenge by developing a series of online courses designed to supplement graduate-level instruction for existing degree programs in animal breeding and genetics. Faculty from Virginia Tech, Colorado State, Michigan State, and Cornell University are working together to create this curriculum that may be taken by students at universities and colleges across the United States. This project is kindly funded by the Higher Education Challenge Grant Program in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, and began in August 2007. Committee members continue to host the Brown Bagger series presented by the National Beef Cattle Evaluation Consortium. The series is designed as a train-the-trainer curriculum and reaches educators, state and regional extension personnel and producers across the country. The series provides timely research based information in the areas of quantitative genetics, breeding systems, molecular genetics and selection system implementation issues. In 2009, 4 sessions were held with between 40 and 50 participants per session. Members of the committee also planned and conducted a two-day symposium on the current status of molecular based selection in the beef industry in Clay Center Nebraska. The proceedings of this symposium, in the form of seven fact sheets, are available online through eXtension. The National Beef Cattle Evaluation Consortium, which is led by members of this committee, has developed a number of multi-institution teams designed to collect and analyze data to address a number of distinct research needs in the area of beef cattle genetics. These teams have been extramurally funded and are investigating the quantitative and molecular genetic aspects of disease resistance, fatty acid and mineral composition of beef products, heifer fertility, cow longevity and adaptation, and a project centered on weaning weight that engages twenty-one beef cattle producers from six states. Further, the NBCEC successfully conducted a two-day workshop centered on the genetics of reproduction. Members of this committee served as speakers and on the planning committee for this event.