At the recent Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio, the American Angus Association and Merial's IGENITY division announced a breakthrough in beef cattle genetic advancement.
Angus Genetics Inc.® (AGI) a subsidiary of the American Angus Association, and IGENITY, a division of Merial, publicly rolled out the first genomic-enhanced expected progeny differences (GE-EPDs) derived from a High Density Whole Genome Scan with 50,000 markers (HD WGS).
These GE-EPDs are powered by the new high-accuracy IGENITY profile for Angus that includes 14 economically important traits. The high-accuracy IGENITY profile for Angus is the only genomic test available that provides GE-EPDs for young animals, resulting in significantly improved accuracies for Angus EPDs.
On January 27 in San Antonio, Jennifer Daniels, Marketing Manager for IGENITY in an interview with Taylor Brown explained that the increase in accuracy from incorporating the high-accuracy IGENITY profile for Angus is equivalent to adding about 16 progeny to a weanling bull’s marbling EPD. For young bulls with ultrasound, incorporating the IGENITY profile is comparable to adding an additional 12 progeny on top of ultrasound data. This could dramatically shorten generation intervals, allowing producers to make much faster genetic progress.
CLICK HERE to listen to Taylor Brown's radio report with Jennifer Daniels.
Through the comprehensive DNA offering from IGENITY, Angus producers can receive analyses on 14 economically important traits, including the most comprehensive list of GE-EPDs:
• Marbling
• Percent choice (quality grade)
• Docility
• Ribeye area
• Yield grade
• Average daily gain
• Fat thickness
• Heifer pregnancy
• Feed efficiency
• Carcass weight
• Stayability (longevity)
• Yearling weight
• Tenderness
• Maternal calving ease
Plus the option to test for coat color, NH and AM in the same sample.
The IGENITY profile for Angus is the only DNA profile used by AGI in the formulation of GE-EPDs. And the AGI/Merial partnership is the beef industry’s only source for marker-assisted EPDs.
Last summer, AGI and IGENITY entered into an agreement to provide American Angus Association members with GE-EPDs. The partnership marks the first time in the industry’s history that beef producers have access to GE-EPDs for multiple traits at once — and all derived from a breed-specific Angus profile. The introduction of HD WGS is being touted as the partnership’s most recent — and perhaps most innovative — development for the industry.
POSTED BY: Taylor Brown