The genetic progress made by beef breeds over the last 30 years is astonishing. This progress couldn’t be more evident than in the Angus breed.
The most staggering increase has been in yearling growth. It can be seen that all breeds represented on the graph have increased yearling weight significantly, but none more sharply than the Angus breed which has gone from being among the lowest in 1985 to the second highest in 2007.
This trend for growth represents the fact that producers are still paid for kilograms of beef above all else. The same general trend can be seen for milk with Angus growing from third lowest to second highest. Again, selection pressure has been placed on milk production as producers have been trying to get more weight into their calves.
These trends in genetic progress really up-end many breed stereotypes, if we are all trying to breed cattle with high growth rates & high milk production whilst maintaining birth weight will breeds really be that different anymore?
For more information on these breed trends visit the Beef Magazine website.