PIEDMONTESE ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES PAUS ON THE MOO-VE

Transcription

1 PIEDMONTESE ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES PAUS ON THE MOO-VE Quarterly Newsletter 2017 Issue #2 In This Issue * DNA Testing & Registration..pg.7-8 * Association News..pg.2 * 1st Quarter Board Meeting Min..pg.3 * EPDs Explained..pg.4-6 * Tentative Schedule, Field Days..pg.10

2 *Member News: Board Director, Dan Schafer worked hard and finalized the Piedmontese on-line auction with Addis. Date for the auction is/was May 16th at 8:00 pm CDT. Any updated information and/or results will be on this site and the PAUS website. Both are listed here: If you have any additional questions, please contact the office or Dan at One item that needs to be on everyone schedule in the 2017, is the Annual Field Days event. This Annual Meeting will be hosted by the Schlichtman and Hennerberg families in Beatrice, NE. The dates are Thursday August 3rd thru Sunday August 6th. This is a great central location and will be a wonderful opportunity for many members to attend! There are farm tours and educational trips already planned, and also on the agenda will be some possible By-Laws changes and updates that are important for all members. A generous retired PAUS members has donated approximately 600 straws of semen to the Association. These will be auctioned off at the Field Days event for part of our annual fundraiser on Saturday evening. Don t forget to bring along your own item to donate! This is a once-a-year event that helps to keep the organization moving forward and gives members a chance to learn and chat about their favorite subject, Piedmontese! A mass was sent out a few weeks ago regarding the hotel situation, but I have also inserted that same information in the newsletter as a reminder, along with a tentative schedule. The regular field day packet with all the details and information will be mailed out to you in the coming weeks, as usual. Please watch for those to arrive! Membership is the foundation of our organization and is essential to our continued progress and success. Without the members, we could not exist, so our priority has to be focused on those members who show their support and commitment by renewing their annual membership. Thank you all for your continued support!! Your PAUS Board of Directors Region 1 Region 2 Region 3 Region 4 You are welcome to contact your regional director at any time! 2

3 PAUS Board Meeting: 1 st Quarter UNAPPROVED Minutes Meeting was called to order by President Jamie Hennerberg at 3/8/2016 at 7:04 pm. Board members present: Jamie, Chris, Mike, Ed, Dan, Wayne, Ranay Members present is Julie Green Meeting minutes were read from 4 th Quarter Board meeting by Julie Green. Dan made a motion to accept Mike seconds Minutes approved Treasures Report as Mike reported Bank Balance reported. (includes scholarship fund of $750) (please call the office if you would like to know the amount) Everything looks good as of now Ed makes a motion to accept treasurers report Second by Dan Motion passed Committee Report: Fundraising: Dan- Jones Mountain View Farm donated semen to PAUS, have a storage facility in Michigan. Semen is from unknown bulls at this time. Dan is paying the shipping cost to get the semen and donating this cost to the association. Total Straws about 600 of them. Scholarship: Dan makes a motion to accept Scholarship form Ranay created and updated. Second by Ed Motion passed By-Law: Dan has thought about two changes to by-laws. First change- change number of board of directors by adding one to each region. Second change- change from 2/3 to majority vote. Discussions was held about both topics changes to be presented at Annual meeting to all members. Field Days: Will be held by Hennerberg & Schlichtman on Aug 3-5, 2017 Old Business: Online Sale: Dan S. Has been working with Dennis H. on getting it set up. Tentative date to have sale is May 16, Approx. 25 animals will take about 2 hours to sell. New Business: Considered new bank account, haven t found a good one yet. (Many banks charge a fee to use mobile banking) Will continue with what we currently have as there are no fees. Office can now accept Credit/Debit card payments, but the 3% fee is still valid. Wayne make a motion to share the board meeting minutes (shorten/condense version of them.) To help inform members about the meeting and mark them as approved once they have been approved at the following board meeting. They will be marked unapproved to tentative until approved by board. Second Dan S. Motion passed. Discussion was held about whole herd registry. Discussion was tabled until next meeting. Mike made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:15pm CST. Wayne second the motion. Motion passed. 3

4 : An EPDs: Why a nd Jennifer Minick Bormann, Assistant Professor Animal Breeding and Genetics Department of Sciences and Industry Kansas State The best way to understand Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) is to use an example. Double A Ranch and Double Z Ranch each have a young bull that they are trying to sell. In this production system, assume that weaning weight (WW) is the most economically important trait. AA Superbull's calves average 500 lbs. at weaning, and ZZ Profitmaker's calves average 750 lbs. at weaning. Which bull should you buy? At Double Z Ranch, they wean and weigh calves at an average of 220 days of age. At Double A Ranch, they wean and weigh calves at an average of 160 days of age. Which bull should you buy? Adjusting the weights can help to answer the question. Weights can be adjusted to account for environmental effects that are predictable. For example, weaning weights are adjusted to a common age of 205 days, and are adjusted to account for the age of the dam. Calves out of 2 and 3 year old cows are given a bonus so they can be fairly compared to calves out of mature cows. So, after adjusting, AA Superbull s calves have an adjusted WW of 630 lbs. and ZZ Profitmaker's calves have an adjusted WW of 545 lbs. Which bull should you buy? Now suppose you find out that at Double A Ranch, cows and calves are summered on lush Midwestern pasture with a temperate climate, have access to barns as needed, and calves are creep fed and implanted. Double A also has a cow herd that has been selected for many generations tor superior growth. At Double Z Ranch, cows and calves run on southwestern range with a high degree of heat stress. There is no shelter and calves are not creep fed or implanted. The cows are just average for growth. Which bull should you buy? The answer is: WE DONT KNOW!!! In this situation, it is impossible to separate genetics from environment. We can t tell if Superbull is better than Profitmaker because he is genetically superior, or because his calves received favorable environment and management. Using raw data, or even adjusted data or ratios, it is impossible to compare animals across herds because of different management, environment, and average genetic level. Now suppose that each herd bred half their cows to their young bull and half to the same popular AI sire. At Double A Ranch, the average adjusted WW for calves of AA Superbull was 630 lbs. and for calves of AI Popular was 620 lbs. When all the calves are born on the same farm and fed and managed together, Superbull is 10 lbs. heavier than AI Popular for WW. At Double Z Ranch, the average adjusted WW for calves of ZZ Profitmaker was 545 lbs. and for calves of AI popular was 540 lbs. When all the calves are born on the same farm and fed and managed together, Profitmaker is 5 lbs. heavier than AI Popular for WW. So, by comparing both young bulls to AI Popular we can see that on average, AA Superbull's calves should be 5 lbs. heavier than ZZ Profitmaker's calves at weaning. EPDs: Basic Principles Reprinted from Piedmontse Profile August 2005 EPDs use deviations from group average to figure out how genetically superior an animal is to others in the group. EPDs can't predict how a sire will perform in your herd because all management/environment is different. EPDs predict the average difference between two sires in your herd. Calculation of EPDs uses the relationship matrix, which accounts for every animal in the breed and how they are related to each other. This enables the EPD for a bull to be adjusted for the genetic merit of the cows he was bred to. It doesn t matter if you breed one bull to all good cows and one to all bad cows. If those cows are in the database, the calculation will take them into account. The relationship also allows for genetic ties between herds that don't use AI. If, for example, Double A Ranch and Double Z Ranch didn t use AI Popular, but used sons of his in natural service, we could still compare the two herds. The accuracy would be lower than if they had used the same bull, but the comparison could still be made. EPDs use several sources of information about an animal. All information from their pedigree is used, including collateral relatives like full and half-sibs and cousins. An animal s own record is a very important piece of information that is used. Finally, all progeny records, including grand-progeny, are used in the calculation. 4

5 Every animal has a true genetic merit, which we can't measure. An EPD is our best guess at that animal s genetic merit. Accuracy measures how close our estimate (EPD) is to the actual genetic merit, and ranges from 0 to 1. This depends partly on the heritability of the trait. Heritability measures how much of the variation in the trait is controlled by genetics and how much is controlled by the environment. In general, carcass traits are highly heritable, growth traits are moderately heritable, and reproductive traits are lowly heritable. Accuracy also depends on the amount of information available on an animal and how that information is distributed. For example, if the only thing we know about a bull is his grand sire s WW, that bull will have a WW EPD, but the accuracy will be extremely low (probably < 0.1). Conversely, if we know the WW of his parents, himself, 50 half-sibs, and 100 progeny, his accuracy will be extremely high (probably > 0. 9). Accuracy is an indicator of how much an EPD will change. As a bull with an accuracy of 0.1 gets more and more progeny, we would expect that his EPD could change (for better or worse) quite a bit. If a bull has an accuracy of 0.9, we would expect that no matter how many more progeny records we get, his EPD won't change very much. EPDs are only as good as the information that goes into them. If inaccurate records go into the calculation, the resulting EPDs will be inaccurate as well. Correct animal identification, parentage assignment, and performance recording are essential. Proper contemporary grouping (CG) is critical to ensure an accurate evaluation. Every measurement recorded (birth weight, weaning weight, etc.) needs to have a proper CG attached to it. CG is defined as a group of same-sex animals that have been managed the same since birth. All animals in the group should have received the same opportunity to perform. For example, if some calves are creep fed and some aren t, they need to be reported as two different CG. If a few bulls or heifers are pulled out of a larger group to be fitted for a sale or show, they need to be reported as separate CGs. Complete, whole-herd reporting isn t required for EPD calculations, but it does result in better estimates. To get the most accurate and unbiased EPDs it is important to report all calves. Some producers only report their best calves in an attempt to look good. However, only reporting the best calves undervalues your best sires. The following example (adapted from the Beef Improvement Federation's " Guidelines for Uniform Beef Improvement Programs, 81 edition) uses ratios, but EPDs behave the same way because they both work with deviations from the group average. Suppose a producer has 10 calves with the following adjusted WW and ratios. (Ratios are calculated by dividing an animal's record by the average of its CG.) To get true EPD's you would need to report all of these calves data. Adj. Adj If that producer had only reported his 5 best calves to the association, the data would look like the right chart. Notice the difference in the ratios on the best calves. His very good calves are still the best of the group, but their ratios (and therefore EPDs) are less than they should be. Calves 3, 4, and 5, which were above average in the whole group, now appear to be below average. EPDs are the only way to make comparisons between cattle from different herds. They have been around in some form in beef cattle since the early 1970s, and their value has been proven time and again in many species. Seed stock producers need to utilize EPDs in order to make genetic progress, and to market their bulls to commercial producers. 5

6 EPDs: How do I participate? Once an association decides to have a genetic evaluation performed for their breed, producers need to know how they can participate. For the basic growth evaluation, EPDs are calculated for birth weight, weaning weight, yearling weight, milk, and total maternal. The records needed to generate these EPDs need to be reported at birth, weaning, and yearling. A critical piece of information to the calculation of EPDs is the contemporary group (CG). This is a group of same-sex animals that were born together and have been managed together since then. All animals in the group should have the same opportunity to perform. For example, if some calves are creep fed, and some are not, they need to be reported as separate CGs. If a producer is testing a group of bulls, and pulls a few out to fit for a show or sale, they need to be reported as separate CGs. The following information needs to be reported after the calving season. ranch code/membership number calf ID -unique identification of the calf sire and dam -registration numbers of sire and dam of calf age of dam -age of the dam of the calf CG -group within the ranch that the calf born into sex -calf sex birth date birth weight The following information needs to be reported after the calves are weaned. ranch code/membership number calf ID CG -group within the ranch that the calf was weaned with (may not be the same as birth) sex -some calves that were bulls at birth may be steers by now wean date wean weight The following information needs to be reported at yearling. ranch code/membership number calf ID CG -group within the ranch that the calf was weaned with (may not be the same as wean) sex -some calves that were bulls at weaning may be steers by now yearling date yearling weight 6

7 DNA Testing and Registration with PAUS. Our Association has been conducting testing on Piedmontese, since its inception. To keep the integrity of the breed and the excellent qualities they produce, this testing has been implemented into the regulations of the organization. The PAUS Association relies heavily on the Breeder to properly identify and maintain accurate records of each animal and their offspring, along with the DNA testing results. Although the testing has been around for quite some time, the advancement of technology has left some confusion over this DNA process, and the identification of animals, so this article might be helpful to explain some of the details. The first and original type of testing was blood typing. This method is no longer conducted and no longer valid with the advancements that have been made in the industry and cannot be used today for any verifications. The next method of DNA testing format was called STR or Microsatellite. This test is conducted using approximately 10 sets of DNA markers in a 2 Number format and can still be used today for verification. Example Figure 1. (Figure 1) Marker 1: Marker 2: 181/ /139 The current and best form of testing used is called SNP. This test uses about 90 to 100 sets of DNA markers in a 2 Letter format and therefore, is much more accurate. Offspring will receive one letter from each parent and the computer will run each set of markers, section by section, to compare to each parent and calculate all possible scenarios for the offspring. Example Figure 2. (Figure 2) Marker 1 DAM S DNA G T SIRE S DNA A C AG AT CG CT There are 4 Possible offspring DNA scenarios. The calf will have only one of these. The computer calculates each of these options on every DNA marker for 90 to 100 markers in a fraction of a second. This type of testing is called exclusionary testing and the DNA markers of sire, dam, and offspring must be in the computer system for parent verification to be conducted. If one of the three is missing, a complete verification cannot be done. The computer cannot tell who the parents are if no suggestion has been made by breeder or operator. If the possible sire or dam have not been SNP tested or if there is an entry mistake, the results will come back as not on file indicating the computer cannot find any SNP DNA markers on that animal in the computer system. If a possible sire or dam comes back as excluded, that means the computer has DNA markers for that animals in the system, but the markers do not match to the offspring as a potential parent. If one parent is dead or has been sold, and was only tested by the old STR method, sometimes both tests are needed to qualify offspring and get them registered because the results of these two tests are so different, that they cannot be compared to each other. While great advances have been made on the DNA side to assure accuracy, the lab still relies completely on the breeder s identification of the animal and proper records. The animal tattoo becomes very critical at this point, as it is a permanent identification for the life of the animal and can never be changed. Cows lose ear tags all the time and most owners like to think that they can recognize each animal, but that is not always the case. Because Geneseek is an independent lab and the information you submit goes through several people and into their computer system for future reference, ALWAYS use the animal tattoo number in the Animal ID column on the DNA submission form whenever possible. This is very helpful to keep confusion down between breeder, DNA lab, PAUS office, and future owner(s), if at 7

8 some point the animal moves on to another farm. It also helps to prevent future tests from being conducted. There have been some cases at GeneSeek where the animals tested have not matched up to the animals on the registration papers, because animal id s have been changed, or ear tags lost, a data entry mistake or miscommunication. If you send in a hair sample to Geneseek for testing with animal ID of XYZ 12A, and the office receives a registration application for animal with an ID of XYZ 12C, it will be assumed that this is not the same animal, as the numbers do not match. Sometimes animals that are already registered will need to be re-tested to get their SNP markers into the computer system. Locating the tattoo number on currently registered animals is as simple as looking at the registration paperwork and copying down that same number to the Animal ID column when filling out your DNA form. On babies or animals not yet registered, please tattoo the animal BEFORE you submit hair or have a plan in mind on what tattoo you are going to assign to that particular animal and stick with! Do not change the number! Again, this only causes confusion and problems for finding and identifying that animal in the future. There are some errors, however, that are unpredictable, as we humans can sometimes make mistakes. There have been some cases of the registration number being off by one digit as the form shows a registration number of and it was entered into the GeneSeek system as If this is not caught and corrected, the DNA results will be assigned to the incorrect animal and all future testing of offspring could be affected. If we have the tattoo number to go by along with the registration number, you will have something to fall back on to double check that the hair submitted to GeneSeek and the DNA results get assigned to the correct animal. Do not randomly make up Animal ID numbers when sending hair to GeneSeek. To date, GeneSeek has 9,524,982 samples in their system and growing on a daily basis. Keep that in mind when submitting your samples and remember, you are the only one who sees your animals, and all other parties are relying on you to keep accurate identification records and to double check for errors. Things for watch for in 2017 from your Piedmontese Association! New updated Association Logo New Piedmontese Breed Standard Guide Book Your association is continuing to move things forward to promote the breed and to help its members get the word out about the wonderful qualities of the Piedmontese! Below is a list of what has been accomplished in the last year! Newly updated website Newly updated Classified page Updated Brochure Handouts available for Members only Updated Scholarship Form Lowered the Cost of Advertising for Members Increased Response Time on DNA Results and Registration Papers A few months ago, a question was asked of members for ideas on a new name for this newsletter and none were submitted. If anyone has a recommendation for the name change or if you have any suggestions on promotional ideas that will help with our progress, please contact your Regional Director or the PAUS office. We would love to hear more member input on how we, as an Association, may be able to better serve you! 8

9 No. 1 Bull at Spring 2017 Bull Test DJHF 3XD Sire: SAS Thunder Dam: DJHF 22XW 75% Piedmontese BW 79 lbs. Thank you, Lone Creek Cattle Co., for the recent purchase of bulls coming off the 2017 Spring group. We had the No. 1 ranked bull (pictured above) out of the same crossbred cow that had the No.1 bull in We also had the number 6, 8, 13, 14 and down the line, but were very pleased to have 5 out of the top 15 bulls from a group of 250. We are glad that Lone Creek is offering the bull test to help improve the breed. Thank You Dennis & Jeanette Hennerberg Slow-Cooked Sirloin Prep: 20 min. Cook: 3-1/2 hours 1 boneless Piedmontese sirloin steak (1-1/2 Ibs) 2 medium onion cut into 1-inch chunks 1 medium green pepper, cut into 1-inch chunks 1 Can (14-1/2 oz) reduced sodium beef broth 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce Dash Crushed red pepper flakes 1/4 tsp dill weed 1/4 tsp dried thyme 1/4 tsp black pepper 2 TBSP cornstarch 2 TBSP water In a large nonstick skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray, brown beef on both sides, place onion and green pepper in a 3-qt. slow cooker. Top with beef. Combine the broth, Worcestershire sauce, dill, thyme, pepper and red pepper flakes; pour over beef. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or until meat reaches desired doneness and prepare choice vegetables. Remove beef and keep warm. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; gradually stir into cooking juices. Cover and cook about 30 minutes longer or until slightly thickened. Return beef to the slow cooker; heat through. Yield: 6 servings. Nutritional Analysis: 1 serving equals 199 calories,6g fat (2g saturated fat), 68 mg cholesterol, 305 mg sodium, 8g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 26g protein 9

10 2017 PAUS Field Days Tentative Schedule August 3 rd, 4 th & 5 Th Diller, NE Hosted by: Dennis and Jeanette Hennerberg, Stacy and Chris Schlichtman & Family Jamie and Kristen Hennerberg & Family Thursday August 3 rd 12:30 or 1:00pm - Board Meeting at Dennis and Jeanette s home: Rd, Diller, NE :00 or 3:30pm - Tour of Diller Locker Company: 601 Commercial St., Diller, NE :30pm - Tours of the Hennerberg and Schlichtman Farms 6:30pm - Evening meal at Dennis and Jeanette s house. * Garret Stewart, a local Veterinarian, speaking Friday August 4 th Breakfast on own 8:30am - Meet and head to Lincoln 9:30 11:30am - Tour of Geneseek Labs 4131 N 48 th St, Lincoln NE (?) - Lunch at Lone Creek Cattle Company 3:00pm - Head back to Beatrice (?)6:00pm - Dinner at Valentinos Saturday August 5 th Breakfast on own 9:00am - Speakers in Holiday Inn Banquet Room: 4005 N 6 th St, Beatrice, NE Rick Pfortmiller Marco Bona from Italy (Anaborapi) John Genhoe 12:00 - Lunch in Holiday Inn Banquet Room 2:00-4:00pm - Annual Meeting 6:00pm - Banquet 7:30pm - Auction (don t forget to bring your donated items) Sunday August 6 th If anybody would like to tour the farms, someone would be around to assist them. Please let us know. 10

11 Hotel information for Field Days Rooms need to be reserved sooner than later. There is a celebration going on in a neighboring town that will take up the majority of the hotel rooms in Beatrice!! You will need to mention PAUS cattle association when reserving rooms. Holiday Inn Express: 4005 N 6 th St, Beatrice, NE There is a block of rooms (25) here and this is also where Saturday s meeting, speeches and banquet will be held. Headquarters for the majority of the weekend. Rooms need to be reserved by 7/15/17! 10 King rooms and 15 Double Queens $ tax Victorian Inn: 1903 N 6 th St, Beatrice, NE Have rooms maybe, but wouldn t block rooms for under $ tax EconoLodge: 3210 N 6 th St, Beatrice NE Double Bed : $ tax Travelers Lodge: 3500 North 6 th St., Beatrice, NE King room: $55 + tax 2 Beds : $50 + tax Single bed : $45 + tax *All hotels are within a few miles of each other on the north edge of Beatrice.* 11

12 PAUS 6134 NW Thiel Dr Kidder, MO PLACE STAMP HERE Year Codes 2014 B 2015 C 2016 D 2017 E 2018 F Your herd prefix plus the year code must be tattooed in the calf s ear with its individual calf number. Example: PC12E Contact Us! Piedmontese Association of the United States Office: 6134 Nw Thiel Dr Kidder, MO Phone: Fax: Pauscattle@yahoo.com Web: Please note that the letters I, O, Q & V are not used as a year code. PIEDMONTESE ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES