Translational Animal Science最新文献

{"title":"Influence of vegetative diversity during the stocker phase on carcass characteristics and economic returns of beef steers.","authors":"Sydni E Borders, Logan R Vandermark, Jameson R Brennan, Christina E Bakker, Keith R Underwood, Judson K Grubbs, John R Jaeger, Kenneth C Olson, Amanda D Blair","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txaf037","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Stocker cattle can be managed in many grazing environments (variable range health, forage quality and quantity), which could impact subsequent performance and carcass attributes. The objective of this research was to determine the influence of vegetative composition and diversity driven by grazing history during the stocker phase on carcass traits and economic returns of beef steers. Yearling steers (n = 134, 116, 131, in 2020, 2021, 2022, respectively) were assigned randomly to grazing pastures that had been managed at three levels of stocking rate (low, moderate, and high) since 1942, creating three distinct plant communities (high, moderate, and low diversity) that represent the treatments in this study. At the completion of the stocker phase, steers were maintained in their pasture groups for finishing and within year were harvested at a common compositional endpoint. Finishing phase performance and carcass data were collected. Production (kg/ha) and economic return per carcass and per ha were calculated. Vegetative diversity as a result of stocking rate treatment did not influence (<i>P</i> > 0.05) weight gain in the stocker phase, feedlot performance, carcass traits or carcass value. However, pastures with lower vegetative diversity as a result of high stocking rate returned greater overall beef production and economic value per ha due to the increase in animals produced per unit of land, thus demonstrating that stocking rate can influence the profitability of an operation without negatively impacting carcass traits.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf037"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12019960/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143987956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modelling growth in lowland sheep using nonlinear functions.","authors":"Numan Sharif, Fiona M McGovern, Noirin McHugh, Thierry Pabiou, Donagh P Berry","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txaf036","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Modelling the growth profiles of sheep not only provides information about how body weight changes with age but also distills these serial measures into biologically important parameters which can be used in genetic evaluation programs. The objective of the present study was to evaluate a series of different functions applied to serial body weight measures of lowland sheep and, in doing so, also explore the relationship between the parameters within and across functions. The evaluated functions were Brody, Gompertz, Logistic, negative exponential, Richards and von Bertalanffy. The data set used consisted of 158,463 body weight records (range of 6 to 38 records per animal) from 13,090 female sheep. The functions were fitted to each animal separately. The coefficient of determination (R²) and root mean square error (RMSE) per animal, along with the ease of model convergence, were used to evaluate model fit. The percentage of animals that achieved convergence per function ranged from 82.39% (Richards) to 100.00% (negative exponential and Logistic). The mean R² value for the Logistic function was the lowest (0.94), while that for the Richards function was the highest (0.98). A weak negative correlation (r = -0.23 to -0.13) was estimated between the A (asymptotic weight) and B (integrated constant related to initial weight) parameters for all the functions except for Richards. The A and K (maturity rate) parameters of all the functions were negatively correlated and ranged from -0.55 (Brody) to -0.41 (Logistic). The values of the A parameter across all the functions were strongly positively correlated. The estimates for the B parameter of Logistic and Richards functions exhibited a very weak correlation (r = -0.04). A weak to strong correlation between the K parameter values across all functions was observed. Results suggested that all the evaluated functions, except the Richards function, can be applied to model the growth of lowland sheep. The Gompertz and von Bertalanffy functions were considered as the best fitting functions to describe the body weight profiles of Irish female lowland sheep based on their fit to the data, the ease of convergence, and the biological sensibility of the estimated function parameters.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf036"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12057560/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143996705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of finishing systems on sensory characteristics and the mechanisms regulating tenderness formation in the <i>longissimus lumborum</i> of bison bulls.","authors":"Lydia M O'Sullivan, Clay J Newton, Keith R Underwood, Judson K Grubbs, Christina E Bakker, Thu Dinh, Carter Kruse, Amanda D Blair","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf032","DOIUrl":"10.1093/tas/txaf032","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The objective of this study was to characterize the influence of finishing system on the sensory characteristics and mechanisms of tenderness formation in the <i>longissimus lumborum</i> (striploin) of bison bulls. Bison bulls (n = 196) were randomly assigned to one of two finishing treatments at approximately 25 mo of age: 1) Grain-finished (n = 98; placed in an open lot with ad libitum access to prairie hay, alfalfa hay, and whole shell corn prior to slaughter) or 2) Grass-finished (n = 98; bulls allowed to graze native pasture until slaughter). Bulls were harvested at approximately 30 mo of age and striploins were collected. Ultimate pH was recorded, and striploins were fabricated into steaks for assessment of sensory characteristics by consumer and trained sensory panels (steaks aged 14 d), and analysis of Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF; steaks aged 4, 7, 14 or 21 d). Additional steaks were aged for 14 d for determination of collagen content and sarcomere length. Proteolysis of desmin and troponin-T was evaluated on samples aged for 4, 7, 14, or 21 d. Consumer panel results indicate that grain-finished steaks had higher ratings for overall liking (<i>P</i> = 0.04) and flavor liking (<i>P</i> < 0.01) whereas off-flavor intensity was increased (<i>P </i>< 0.01) for grass-finished steaks compared to grain-finished steaks. Trained panelists indicated that grass-finished bison steaks had increased (<i>P </i>< 0.01) aroma and flavor intensities compared to grain-finished bison steaks and \"ammonia, metallic, and gamey flavors\" were associated with the grass-finished treatment. Warner-Bratzler shear force was affected by the interaction of finishing treatment with aging period (<i>P </i>< 0.01). Steaks from the grain-finished bulls became more tender (<i>P ≤ </i>0.02) as aging time increased from 4 d to 14 d, whereas WBSF of steaks from grass-finished bulls did not differ (<i>P </i>≥ 0.10) during this period. Steaks from grass-finished bulls were more tender (<i>P ≤ </i>0.01) than steaks from grain-finished bulls at 4 d and 7 d but treatments were similar (<i>P </i>≥ 0.61) at 14 and 21 d. Samples from grass-finished bulls had less (<i>P </i>< 0.01) intact desmin compared to grain-finished bulls. This study demonstrates that finishing system influences sensory attributes of steaks from bison bulls and highlights the role of proteolysis as the primary mechanism regulating tenderization of bison.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf032"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11971716/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143796404","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Technical note: Construction of a CO _<b>2</b> supply system for depopulation of pigs in a container.","authors":"Marianne Kaiser, Jens Kristian Kristensen, Peter T Thomsen","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txaf034","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Situations may arise where authorities need to depopulate large quantities of pigs in a short time. This must be done in an animal welfare-responsible manner. This paper describes in detail a technical mobile container system for CO₂ depopulation of pigs. The system consists of simple and easily accessible materials and can be replicated and scaled for multiple container systems for CO₂ depopulation. The container system was tested at 4 depopulation events where the pigs' behavior was filmed (1 event) and the duration of the various procedures was recorded. The results showed that the system's capacity met AVMA's recommendations for a CO₂ supply rate of 10% to 30% of the chamber volume per min. On average, the containers were supplied with CO₂ for 7 min, and it was possible to maintain a CO₂ concentration of 80% for at least 10 min after stopping the CO₂ admission. By maintaining the tarpaulin on the container during transport, this \"extending effect period\" can be utilized for additional CO₂ exposure and acts as an extra safeguard for successful depopulation. Target CO₂ concentration of 80% occurred after a mean of 7 min. Pig escape attempts were first observed 2 min:26 s after the start of CO₂ exposure. Presumably due to the stocking density (a mean of 0.52 m² per pig), no loss of posture (indicating loss of consciousness) could be observed. On the other hand, the last escape attempts were observed after 3 min:04 s, and the last atactic movements after 3 min:13 s. It is therefore reasonable to assume that all pigs have lost consciousness around that time. No pigs survived the procedure, and the described CO₂ depopulation system therefore lived up to expectations. We recommend that users are given the opportunity to practice thoroughly before an authentic emergency.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf034"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12012665/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144033652","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhancing equine welfare: a qualitative study on the impact of RAiSE (Recognizing Affective States in Equine) as an educational tool.","authors":"Amber Wells, Kristina M Hiney, Colleen M Brady, Kathy P Anderson","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txaf033","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The horse industry's growing focus on improving horse welfare stems from stakeholders' desires, increasing public scrutiny, and potential threats to its Social License to Operate. Correctly assessing equine affective states is crucial for enhancing horse welfare. However, horse owners often struggle with this assessment, especially those with limited consistent access to horses. To address this gap, RAiSE (Recognizing Affective State in Equine) was developed as an educational tool aimed at improving horse industry participants' ability to recognize these states. After development of the educational tool, its effectiveness was assessed using an inductive qualitative approach to define themes and patterns. Interview responses were collected through open-ended questions and interviews, with thematic analysis revealing key improvements and challenges of online learning. Participants discussed feeling as if they had achieved improvements in their ability to assess affective states and expressed intent to alter their behavior. Important themes that emerged through the inductive analysis of open-ended questions included: a<i>wareness of</i> h<i>orse's</i> e<i>motional</i> s<i>tate,</i> c<i>omprehensive</i> o<i>bservation of</i> h<i>orses'</i> b<i>ody</i> l<i>anguage,</i> i<i>nterpreting</i> e<i>quine</i> s<i>enses,</i> r<i>ecognizing</i> p<i>ain and</i> i<i>ts</i> i<i>mpact on</i> e<i>quine</i> b<i>ehavior and</i> w<i>ell-</i>b<i>eing, and</i> h<i>uman</i> i<i>nfluence on</i> b<i>ehavior and</i> w<i>elfare.</i> Interviews of ten users highlighted key themes regarding improvements needed with RAiSE, as well as the shared positive experiences throughout taking the online course. This study emphasizes the critical role of educational tools like RAiSE and the importance of their evaluation in advancing horse welfare by improving owners' awareness and understanding of equine emotions, thus enabling owners to make better decisions and management practices.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf033"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12000717/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144015989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Recent nutritional strategies and feed additives to stimulate proper rumen development in young goats.","authors":"Mahmoud M Abdelsattar, Wei Zhao, Mohamed Diaby, Einar Vargas-Bello-Pérez, Naifeng Zhang","doi":"10.1093/tas/txae164","DOIUrl":"10.1093/tas/txae164","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Domestic goats (<i>Capra aegagrus hircus</i>) are important producers of milk, meat, and hair. The early weaned goats may face fundamental issues related to the incomplete rumen development to deal with the transition from liquid feeds into solid feeds. Therefore, the present review focuses on the nutritional strategies and feeding methods to enhance the proper rumen morphological development, fermentation efficiency and microbiota structure in young goats. The enhanced rumen development caused by these nutritional strategies can have lasting positive effects on their overall growth performance and health status, leading to decreasing mortality rates and susceptibility to disease after weaning. A wide range of areas was summarized including liquid feed management in preweaning goats (colostrum, milk, and milk replacer), solid feed management (concentrate and roughages), endogenous and exogenous volatile fatty acids and ketones, plant extracts, prebiotics and probiotics as well as rumen microbial contents that can be incorporated into the kids as an alternative to antibiotics to avoid pathogens and enhance the proper establishment of microbial community. Such nutritional strategies and current breeding recommendations can be used for the development of young goats' production systems to enhance the long-term digestive function efficiency in goats.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txae164"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11969336/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143796408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of two different rates of body weight gain during the first trimester of pregnancy or supplementing vitamins and minerals throughout pregnancy on primiparous beef cow milk production and composition.","authors":"Friederike Baumgaertner, Ana Clara B Menezes, Wellison J S Diniz, Todd E Molden, Jennifer L Hurlbert, Kerri Bochantin-Winders, Kevin K Sedivec, Megan R Wanchuk, James D Kirsch, Sarah R Underdahl, Carl R Dahlen","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf013","DOIUrl":"10.1093/tas/txaf013","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We evaluated the effects of nutrition during pregnancy in beef heifers on colostrum and milk production and composition. For Experiment 1, crossbred Angus heifers were randomly allocated to a low (0.28 kg/d, [<b>LG</b>], <i>n</i> = 23) or a moderate rate of body weight gain (0.79 kg/d, [<b>MG</b>], <i>n</i> = 22) for 84 d after breeding, followed by management on a common diet until parturition. Colostrum samples were collected before first suckling and milk samples were collected by manual stripping of the teats 5 to 6 hours after calf removal on d 62 ± 10 and 103 ± 10 postpartum. At d 103, sampling techniques were compared by collecting a second sample after oxytocin administration and 90 s lag time. Colostrum somatic cell count was greater (<i>P</i> = 0.05) in LG (6,949 ± 797 × 10³ cells/mL) than MG (4,776 ± 797 × 10³ cells/mL) cows. In milk, percent protein was greater (<i>P</i> ≤ 0.01) in MG (3.03 ± 0.05%) than LG (2.87 ± 0.05%) cows. At d 103, oxytocin administration and extended lag time after teat stimulation increased milk fat content (<i>P </i>< 0.01) compared with immediate milk sample collection. For Experiments 2 and 3, crossbred Angus heifers were randomly assigned to receive either 113 g•heifer^-1•d^-1 of a vitamin and mineral supplement (<b>VTM</b>,) or no supplement (<b>CON</b>) from breeding until parturition. For Exp. 2, CON (n = 12) and VTM (n = 17) heifers were managed on a single pasture after parturition. On d 56 of lactation, 24-h milk production and composition were determined via a modified weigh-suckle-weigh technique using a portable milker. Milk yield and components (<i>P </i>≤ 0.91) were similar between treatments. For Exp. 3, twice daily milk yield was recorded for 6 CON and 6 VTM heifers for 78 d following parturition. Milk samples were collected on d 32, 58, and 78 of lactation for component analysis. No differences were observed among treatments in milk yield or composition (<i>P</i> ≥ 0.09). Milk production was affected by day, increasing until d 10 and remaining similar (<i>P </i>≥ 0.27) thereafter; however, protein was greater (<i>P </i>< 0.01) on d 58 compared with d 32 and d 78, and urea was reduced (<i>P</i> < 0.01) on d 78 compared with d 32 and 58. These experiments indicate that nutrition during early pregnancy has a sustained impact on milk protein but no impacts of vitamin/mineral nutrition during pregnancy were observed ion the subsequent lactation.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf013"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11969335/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143796370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Association of liver abscess with demographic factors, gross pathology, and gastrointestinal histologic morphology in feedyard mortalities.","authors":"Rachel E Champagne, Phillip A Lancaster, Brad J White, Paige H Schmidt, Madeline R Mancke, MaKenna Jensen, Brandon Depenbusch, Cody Nichols, Brandon L Plattner, Laura Carpenter, Katie Long, Kadyn Nuncio","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf031","DOIUrl":"10.1093/tas/txaf031","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Liver abscesses (LA) are a major cause of hepatic condemnation in feedlot cattle (~ 20% beef carcasses) creating concerns surrounding carcass contamination, impaired performance, and antimicrobial stewardship. Due to antemortem limitations in determining LA status, risk factors for LA during the feeding phase are poorly characterized. The objective was to identify factors associated with the presence of LA in feedlot mortalities at necropsy, including demographic factors, and gross and histologic gastrointestinal (GI) morphologic lesions. Systematic necropsies (n = 900) were performed in 6 central U.S. commercial feedyards (June/July 2022 and 2023). Gross morphologic diagnoses were determined by technicians and confirmed by a veterinarian. Formalin-fixed sections of rumen, small intestine (SI), and spiral colon (SC) were collected from LA cases (n = 40) and time-, feedlot-matched controls (CON; no LA; n = 40). Demographic data collected included sex, days on feed at death (DOF), arrival weight, number of disease treatments, and estimated weight at death. Morphologic features were measured in GI tissues using hematoxylin and eosin stain and alcian blue stain was used to evaluate goblet cell area in SI and SC. General and linear mixed-effects models were used to evaluate LA association with demographic, gross lesions, and histomorphologic changes identified in LA and CON cases. Steers had greater (<i>P</i> < 0.01) probability of LA than heifers (0.16 vs. 0.06, respectively). Dairy-influenced cases had a greater (<i>P</i> = 0.04) probability of LA than traditional beef breeds (0.30 vs. 0.03, respectively). Cases that were 101 + DOF had a greater (<i>P</i> < 0.01) probability of LA than those <50 DOF (0.20 vs. 0.06, respectively). Cases with peritoneal adhesions had a greater (<i>P</i> < 0.01) probability of having LA than cases without peritoneal adhesions. Liver abscess cases had wider (<i>P</i> = 0.03) rumen papillae and thinner (<i>P</i> = 0.05) keratin layer lining papillae in the rumen, and shallower (<i>P</i> = 0.02) crypts and thinner (<i>P</i> = 0.02) propria in the SI than CON cases. A tendency (<i>P</i> = 0.08) for LA cases to have a lower percent area of goblet cells in the SI than CON cases was observed. No differences in SC morphology were observed. Although results are biased to only feedlot mortalities, these findings indicate an association of LA with histomorphologic measures, gross pathology, and demographic factors. Further investigation is required to better understand factors influencing LA formation in feedlot cattle.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf031"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11971717/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143796357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of sire beef genetic merit and concentrate supplementation strategy on phenotypic performance of dairy-beef steers.","authors":"Jamie O'Driscoll, Deirdre C Purfield, Nóirín McHugh, Donagh P Berry, Nicky Byrne","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txaf029","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Beef from the dairy herd is becoming an important source of beef globally, but most dairy breeding objectives have typically not selected for beef production traits. Moreover, beef sires used in dairy herds are generally selected for ease of calving and short gestation, features known to be antagonistically correlated with carcass weight and conformation. Total merit breeding indexes collapse information from a series of (economically important) traits into a single rank per animal-one such type of total merit index is that which ranks beef bulls for mating to dairy females (i.e., a dairy-beef index). Such breeding objectives have not yet been validated in a controlled field study. In addition, there is a growing interest in identifying strategies to reduce slaughter age in pasture based dairy-beef systems. The objective of the present study was to quantify the benefits on dairy-beef steer performance from a combination of prudent sire selection using a dairy-beef breeding objective coupled with the strategic use of concentrate supplementation at pasture. Three genotypes were evaluated: 1) 66 animals produced from Angus sires in the top 40% of the Irish dairy-beef breeding objective (High Angus); 2) 92 animals produced from Angus sires in the bottom 60% of the Irish dairy-beef breeding objective (Low Angus); and 3) 75 animals from Holstein-Friesian (HF) sires. Each genotype was evaluated across one of three feed treatments (FT): 1) grass only (GO); 2) low concentrate (LC), and 3) high concentrate (HC). There was no association between genotype and feed treatment for animal growth. Results clearly demonstrated that progeny from sires excelling genetically in beef genetic merit outperformed progeny from low beef genetic merit sires for carcass weight. High Angus steers had a similar carcass weight (312.4 kg; <i>P</i> > 0.05) to HF steers (315.9 kg), with Low Angus steers having the lightest carcass (294.1 kg; <i>P</i> < 0.05). Nevertheless, HF steers were 84.5 d older than both Angus genotypes at slaughter (<i>P</i> < 0.05). Furthermore, supplementation during the second grazing season (the HC feed treatment) reduced the slaughter age of both Angus genotypes, but it had no effect on the slaughter age of HF steers. This study demonstrates the benefits of using high beef genetic merit sires in dairy herds to improve animal performance, whilst also demonstrating the potential to reduce slaughter age through supplementation.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf029"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12000718/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144035862","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"To BSE or not to BSE: a capital budgeting analysis of the use of the bull breeding soundness evaluation (BSE) to improve reproductive efficiency and profitability in cow-calf herds.","authors":"Todd G Gunderson, Kevin N Kim, Kalyn T Coatney, David R Smith","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf024","DOIUrl":"10.1093/tas/txaf024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The breeding soundness evaluation (BSE) as defined by the Society for Theriogenology is intended to identify subfertile bulls. Removing subfertile bulls and replacing them with fertile bulls is expected to produce financial benefits in the form of more pregnant cows within a designated breeding season and subsequently higher weaning rates. However, past survey results of cow-calf producers indicate low adoption rates of the BSE. To better understand the rationale of these decisions by producers, a financial evaluation by means of a capital budgeting model was developed to calculate the net present value (NPV) of two different herd management strategies; one that performs BSE to one that does not. Because there are various sources of uncertainty in cattle production, a Monte Carlo simulation analysis was employed to estimate the differences between the expected NPV of these two strategies. Simulations were conducted across a range of plausible fertility differences from using BSE and revenues were generated from the resulting calf outputs and herd replacements. Additionally, the length of the breeding season and the cow:bull ratio were varied to capture a typical range of heterogeneous production systems. For each scenario considered, the results indicated that the likelihood of improving profitability by performing BSE increases as breeding season length decreases and cow:bull ratios increase, despite the relative increase in associated costs from hiring veterinarians to perform BSE. These results are largely driven by the increase in total weight of calves weaned and a decrease in costs associated with the replacement of non-pregnant cows. Overall, these findings provide a plausible financial explanation for why cow-calf producers with different management strategies are more/less willing to perform BSE.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf024"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12086538/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144102813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}