Have we seen any progress in Have we seen any progress in breeds selecting for breeds selecting for

temperament?temperament?

2010 NBCEC Brown BaggerOctober 27, 2010

Sherry DoubetAmerican Salers Association

Breeds with Docility EPDsBreeds with Docility EPDs

• American Salers Association

• North American Limousin Foundation

• American Angus Association

• Australia– Limousin– Angus

Scoring SystemsScoring Systems

• Salers– Developed a 1-5 scoring system prior to BIF

• Limousin and Angus– Use the 1-6 BIF scoring system

• Australian Limousin and Angus– Use a 1-5 scoring system

• 1 is calm, 5&6 are aggressive & wild

Data CollectionData Collection

• Salers, Limousin, Aust. Limousin and Aust. Angus allow weaning and yearling measurements

• Angus are using yearling measurements

Number of Records CollectedNumber of Records Collected

• Salers – 163,066

• Limousin – 210,167

• Angus – 94,357

• Australian Limousin – 48,276

• Australian Angus – 22,055

Heritability of DocilityHeritability of Docility

• Salers data - 0.236

• Limousin data – 0.40

• Angus data – 0.37

Have we seen any progress on Have we seen any progress on breeds selecting for breeds selecting for

temperament?temperament?

(or against poor docility)

Genetic Trend - SalersGenetic Trend - Salers

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Year

EPD

Genetic Trend - LimousinGenetic Trend - Limousin

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

EPD

Genetic Trend - AngusGenetic Trend - Angus

• Relatively flat

• Australian Angus – in research phase, none reported

Genetic Trend – Aust. LimousinGenetic Trend – Aust. Limousin

Have we seen any progress on Have we seen any progress on breeds selecting for breeds selecting for

temperament?temperament?

(or against poor docility)

ProgressProgress

• As with most any trait that is heritable and can be measured, we can make progress in selecting for or against it.

ProgressProgress

• Definitely the case with Docility!– Easy trait to see– Easy trait to cull on– Easy to report data

• Breeders have done a great job improving upon the trait.

Ask Justin – You can use EPDs to make Improvement in Docility!