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We certainly have been given a broad topic to discuss. We will attempt to outline some of the programs and tools available to our industry that can assist producers in making decisions that will improve their well-being.
As is usually valuable when looking into the future, I would like to first take a few minutes to review where our industry has come from as new technology and tools have evolved into the technological advancements of today.
Data and information are the crucial elements necessary for selection and improvement. As has been said many times, you can’t improve it if you can’t measure it. We see an evolution from the beginning of “measurement” in livestock some 240 years ago. A brief look at the history of the advancements in selection tools in the beef industry follows:

There is a void
As you can see, most of our efforts toward genetic improvement have taken place with definition and measurement in the purebred business. The AHIR program has grown since its slow inception in 1958 from simply providing an adjusted weaning weight to providing a system with data that approaches 10 million animal records generating EPDs on 18 traits. The explosion of reliable information characterizing the Angus breed has helped to elevate the use of Angus genetics in the commercial industry to the level we see today.
According to the latest figures supplied by the National Pedigreed Livestock Council (NPLC), more than 270,000 animals recorded by the American Angus Association account for about 38% of the total beef cattle registrations last year. More than 70% of those registrations had performance data submitted through the AHIR program, evidence of the acceptance of the evaluation of Angus seedstock that go into the beef industry each year.
Still, with all these advancements in genetic evaluation and prediction, there is a tremendous void in knowledge of the commercial beef cattle population in this country. The latest U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inventory figures would look at about 33.5 million beef cows in this country.
We know very little about these cows, except that there is a tremendous amount of diversity in both genetics and production environments. With some 843,000 beef cattle operations in this country, one must remember that more than 90% of those operations have less than 100 cows, and they do account for more than one-half of the total number of beef cows.

Narrow the gap
We as an industry are entering a new realm. Technology breakthroughs will allow us to measure better the potential consumer satisfaction and the ultimate value differences related to the end product. The challenge to tie this information back to the ranch level and ultimately to the genetics that are responsible for that consumer experience — good or bad — is not a simple or inexpensive one.
That scenario brought to our attention the tremendous void found in the commercial cattle industry to characterize the nation’s cow herd. Applying the old saying, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure,” has led to the development of many exciting tools and systems for the commercial cattle industry. A need to go beyond simply measuring gross pounds of a commodity product has led to innovations in how we manage, measure and market cattle today.
A couple of examples of the need to identify the variation in a commercial herd can be exhibited in some dramatic trials. The 1999 Iowa Beef Center (IBC) Grid Demonstration Project evaluated 66 groups of cattle with complete carcass data and found the following:

Researchers involved in the Texas A&M University Ranch to Rail Project have found similar results over a five-year period. That project has shown the average net return per head for the 1,197 participating ranches ranging from a positive $307.03 to a negative $310.01, a difference of $617.04 — more proof of the need to identify the tremendous variation found in the beef cattle population, then take the necessary steps to improve the consistency of our production units.
The data distributions found in projects such as these give us a picture of what areas we need to improve, but analyzing the complete data set gives us a clearer picture of what steps may be needed to make improvement.
For example, identifying a certain percentage of cattle that fall into the Yield Grade (YG) 4 category tells us that we definitely need to improve the cutability of a set of cattle. However, we still need to look at all the components that go into developing that yield grade to make the quickest improvement.
Were the ribeye areas too small? Were the carcass weights too heavy relative to the amount of muscle? Was the excess fat due to genetics or mismanagement in the feeding phase?

Commercial predictions
As we consider how we get this information, a couple of needs become very apparent. First, we must capture data on an individual basis to make the most progress. That involves a need for a universal identification (ID) system and having the ability to track the data through the various segments of the industry. One piece at a time, we must use the individual records to identify the outliers, and thus improve our production systems.
The need for those tools led to the creation of the Angus Beef Record Service (BRS), which was implemented in the fall of 2000. Angus BRS incorporates the ability to identify animals individually within a recordkeeping system for commercial cow-calf operations, while using the concepts of measurement, evaluation and improvement that have built the AHIR program into the largest beef cattle performance database in the world.
Angus BRS gives producers with mountains of data and information the ability to have that data managed, massaged and presented as tools that can increase the value of the cattle in their herds by identifying where selection can improve their program. By evaluating information in the reproductive phase, the production phase and the end-product phase, we truly can characterize the breed, biological type and genetics of the cattle that excel in a particular environment or management situation.
As we are able to quantify and identify the variation in the commercial industry with systems like Angus BRS, we will build a database that will in turn allow us to make predictions for the future performance of our cattle. Just as EPDs are now provided as a genetic prediction tool for seedstock used in the industry today, in the future we will build models that will offer predictions on commercial cattle for the economically important traits in the beef industry.
Imagine being able to purchase a set of feeder cattle with estimated dollar differences (E$Ds) for feedlot performance and end-product value. How about analyzing sets of replacement females for your herd that carried accurate E$D predictions for the value of their future progeny? These tools would provide a clear picture of the true value of a set of cattle in our industry.

Modern science
There are many other new technologies that will assist in meeting the needs of the commercial beef cattle industry. New ID methods, including the use of electronic ID (EID) devices, biometrics and tracking systems, will help further expand the increased production of process- and source-verified beef products — most of which will be marketed in one of the ever-increasing number of branded beef programs we see today.
Electronic handling of data will become a more widely used method of efficiently managing information in both the purebred and commercial industries. At the American Angus Association, the number of registrations and performance data submitted by breeders via electronic methods continues to increase. By eliminating a point of data entry with electronic transfer, accuracy improves. The expanded use of EID and the further automation of data collection at the ranch, feedlot and packing levels will build tremendous “mounds” of data that will become invaluable for continued improvement in our industry.
New technology tools like DNA will see multifaceted use in our industry. First, from an identification standpoint, economical development of parent-verification tests will assist genetic evaluations in expanding their databases as multisire data can be pinpointed to the exact bull that produced an individual calf. In addition, the use of marker-assisted selection has the ability to enhance the current NCE procedures as we are able to incorporate that information into genetic evaluations.
Marketing programs and systems that will benefit the producer continue to develop. Communication efforts with tools such as the Internet have expanded the reaches of marketing both registered and commercial cattle. An example is the Angus Resource Clearinghouse Network (ARCNet), which provides producers an opportunity to list detailed information about feeder cattle or commercial females for sale free of charge on the Association Web site.

An exciting future
Change invokes a certain level of excitement, and we are experiencing some exciting times in our industry. Most exciting is watching the transition to an industry that is willing to evaluate the contribution each segment is making and that is even more willing to initiate change to improve the product that becomes a meal option for a consumer somewhere in the world.
The members of the American Angus Association have recognized the importance of remaining focused on both the consumer and the commercial cattle producer. That commercial cow-calf producer is actually the consumer of registered Angus seedstock, and the continuous development of tools and programs to enhance the profitability of those producers will help to keep Angus genetics at the forefront of our industry in the future.an Moser is an assistant professor in the department of animal sciences and industry at Kansas State University. Moser is also the breed association liaison for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Carcass Merit Project, a research project studying the genetics of beef tenderness in 14 breeds of cattle. He is active in the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) and the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS), and is a member of the newly formed Beef Cattle Ultrasound Technician Annual Proficiency Testing and Certification (APTC) Governance Committee. Moser’s research is focused on the use of ultrasound in cattle evaluation for carcass characteristics and the effects of selection for carcass traits on cow reproduction and efficiency.

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