ABSTRACT
Growth of young cattle on forages and pastures has a major effect on the profitability
of the stocker cattle industry. The objectives of this study were to estimate heritability
of performance traits and additive genetic correlations of pairs of traits in Brahman
and Brahman-influenced (0.25 or 0.5 Brahman) stocker cattle on rye (Secale cereale) + ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) (RRG; n = 2,031) or bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] (BER; n = 1,322). Data from 1986 to 2014 at Overton, Texas, for BW, ADG,
and BCS were analyzed for each stocking season. Main effects included stocking rate
(3 levels), proportion of Brahman inheritance (3 levels on RRG: 0.25, 0.5, 1; 2 levels
on BER: 0.25 and 1), supplementation status, and contemporary groups. Stockers receiving
supplement were heavier (P < 0.001) from both RRG (365.3 ± 4.2 kg) and BER (363.8 ± 3.0 kg) compared with nonsupplemented stockers (348.1 ± 2.5 and 343.9 ± 2.7 kg, respectively). Within each breed group, BW and ADG means were greater (P < 0.003) for low stocking rates. Heritability estimates for BW and ADG were 0.56 ± 0.05 and 0.1 ± 0.06, respectively, on RRG. Estimates of additive genetic and phenotypic
correlations were 0.69 ± 0.13 and 0.59 ± 0.02, respectively. Heritability estimates for BW, ADG, and BCS of
stockers on BER were 0.5 ± 0.1, 0.11 ± 0.09, and 0.27 ± 0.1, respectively. Additive
genetic correlation of BW and BCS during BER was large (0.61 ± 0.17), but estimates
for the other pairs of traits did not differ from zero.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
February 20,
2017
Received:
October 13,
2016
Identification
Copyright
Copyright © 2017, American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists. All rights reserved.
