Breeding and Genetics: Beef Cattle Breeding and Genetics.

The article presents abstracts of various papers related to animal breeding that were presented during the symposium held on July 27, 2005 in Cincinnati, Ohio, which was organized by the American Dairy Science Association, the American Society of Animal Science, and the Canadian Society of Animal Science. One of the papers discussed is "Educating Beef Cattle Breeders on the Use of Genomic Technology for Quantitative Traits," by W. Shafer. Individuals with little or no technical expertise make the majority of beef cattle breeding decisions. Even so, due to an extensive educational effort and the technology's effectiveness, the decidedly technical expected progeny differences have become common currency in beef cattle breeding--evolving into the primary tool for affecting additive change in a population. Another paper discussed is "Using Appropriate Genetic Evaluations to Make Better Selection Decisions," by D. Garrick. Genetic change is easy to achieve by selection. Selection on expected progeny differences (EPD) provides a predictable response in the characteristics described by the EPDs. Genetic improvement is more difficult to achieve than genetic change as selection typically results in simultaneous change in a number of characteristics. Some of the characteristics for which EPDs are available are economically relevant traits that directly influence income or expenses.