Change of Procedure Suggested
Committee members discuss potential changes to BIF guidelines for collecting feed intake data.
by Nicole Lane, Angus Journal® intern
BILOXI, Miss. (June 11, 2015) — The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) plans to revise current guidelines on collecting feed-intake data, researchers told attendees of a technical breakout session in Biloxi, Miss., at the organization’s 47th annual convention. Mark Enns of Colorado State University, Matt Spangler of the University of Nebraska and Bob Weaber of Kansas State University suggested updates to adapt BIF recommendations to align with new research.
Decoupling body weight gain from feed intake may offer a way to shorten the test length needed to establish feed efficiency predictions, said Mark Enns of Colorado State University.
BIF created the Feed Intake Guidelines Committee to analyze the current guidelines and assess what changes could be made to improve the efficiency and usability of testing for feed efficiency. The committee identified current challenges, including the length of the warm-up period, length of test for accurate measurement of feed intake and body weight gain, proper contemporary group assignments, and use of embryo transfer data.
“It appears there may be an opportunity based on historical research and some of the research that is being published that we can shorten test length if we decouple body weight gain from feed intake,” Enns said.
The shortest testing cycle the current system allows is 91 days (including an acclimation period of 21 days). New guidelines could shorten test time to 56 days. All three presenters referenced research by Kelli Retallick that observed how the cattle industry could go about decoupling feed intake to shorten the amount of time animals spend on test. Making this change would reduce the cost of testing animals for feed efficiency, increase the number of animals that could be tested per year and increase the accuracy of a feed efficiency expected progeny difference (EPD).
Shortening test length will allow the industry to leverage the plethora of postweaning gain records that already exist in national cattle evaluation, said Matt Spangler, University of Nebraska.
The cattle industry has been successful at collecting weight data, leading to an abundance of information on postweaning gain. The committee plans to leverage this data in the guidelines to achieve its goals and decouple the process. Feed efficiency is a trait that has higher variability in data as it is collected in multiple ways and in numerous scenarios. The revised guidelines would help provide clear instruction for contemporary group assignment and create a more standardized warm-up period.
“The committee thinks that we can not only decouple feed intake and weight records on test, we think when we do that we can shorten the length of the test to get dry-matter intake records and leverage the plethora of postweaning gain records that already exist at NCE,” said Spangler.
The Feed Intake Guidelines Committee plans to present its recommendations to the BIF board of directors at its mid-year meeting in November. It is expected that the new guidelines will be voted upon at that time.
Enns, Spangler and Weaber presented at a joint technical breakout session of the Cow Herd Efficiency and Adaptability Committee and the Live Animal, Carcass and End Product Committee.
The 2015 BIF Annual Convention was hosted by Mississippi State University and the Mississippi Extension Service June 9-12 at the Beau Rivage Casino and Hotel in Biloxi. The Angus Journal and LiveAuctions.tv provide comprehensive online coverage of the event at www.BIFconference.com. Visit the Newsroom for summaries, proceedings, PowerPoints and audio of the sessions; the Awards page for announcements of award winners; and the Photos page for photo galleries of the tour stops.
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