The Cattleman August 2008 - The Benefits of a Cross

The Benefits of a Cross

With $6 corn and diesel approaching $5 per gallon, efficiency in cattle is more important than ever. This month, we take a back-to-basics look at crossbreeding programs as an opportunity to breed in growth & hardiness when it matters most.

By KATRINA WATERS

Cattlemen are taking every step possible to make the best of the hard times caused by record-high input costs. One way to increase efficiency is genetically, often through crossbreeding to create the best cattle for production environment and chosen market.

Dr. Jason Cleere, assistant professor and Extension beef cattle specialist with Texas A&M University, is a big proponent of crossbreeding systems and choosing the right cattle for the right environment. He frequently speaks on the subject at producer education programs across the state.

Breed types

Before jumping into crossbreeding systems, it is important to understand what positives and negatives different breeds bring to the mix. Although many breeds of beef cattle are raised in Texas, the majority fall into one of three breed type categories: American, British or Continental.

The American breeds include Brahman, a straight Bos indicus breed, as well as Santa Gertrudis, Beefmaster, Brangus, Red Brangus, Simbrah and Braford. Cleere says the positives of the American breeds include heat tolerance, insect resistance, disease resistance, overall hardiness and longevity. They also offer good milking potential and overall maternal ability.

“The American breeds are heavily used as maternal-type genetics in the Gulf Coast region because of their tropical adaptation,” Cleere continues.

He says on average, the down side to the American breeds can be that they do not marble as well as the British breeds. Also, there is some limitation as to how far north they can go into the feeding industry.

The British breeds, which include Angus, Red Angus, Hereford, Polled Hereford, and Shorthorn, tend to be higher marbling cattle and exhibit good carcass merit from a quality grade standpoint. They also offer maternal qualities like good milking and are usually easier fleshing. From a cutability standpoint, however, a British breed carcass may be lighter muscled with more external fat than a Continental breed carcass, he explains.

The third major breed type, Continental, includes many of the breeds that came over in the 1960s and 1970s, like Charolais, Simmental, Limousin, Chianina, Gelbvieh, Maine-Anjou, and Braunvieh.

“The reason those cattle were imported into the U.S. was because the Continental breed types are larger framed, faster growing cattle that are also more heavily muscled. You get more red meat yield and higher cutability. Growth, performance, extra red meat yield – big positives for that particular breed group,” Cleere says.

He says some of the possible negatives include lower marbling than the British-type cattle and they may not be as maternal as other breed types.

“However, that doesn’t say that there are not moderate, easy fleshing Continental cattle out there. But typically the ones we use in the crossbreeding situations we’re using because of their growth and muscling potential — pounds at weaning, basically,” Cleere says.

What’s to gain from crossbreeding?

Cleere says there are two primary reasons why the nation’s cow herd shifted from primarily straightbred commercial cow-calf operations 50 to 60 years ago into crossbreeding situations — breed complementarity and heterosis.

Breed complementarity is the idea that if you breed a Hereford to a Brahman, you get the benefits of both breeds and create a cow that is suited to your production conditions and environment.

Heterosis, or hybrid vigor, is a boost in performance in cattle as the result of crossbreeding different genetics.

Cleere says the more dissimilar breeds are, the greater the level of heterosis there is. So, a Brahman crossed with a Hereford will have higher levels of heterosis than an Angus back on a Hereford.

He says that is another big positive from the American breeds is the amount of hybrid vigor or heterosis that they offer.

“It is about double what you would see in a traditional British x Continental cross or a Hereford with an Angus,” Cleere says.

He says with crossbreeding producers increase cattle performance (as with weaning weights, for example), but also make those cattle hardier and more disease-resistant. He says other noticeable improvements would include gradually better fertility, overall reproductive performance and longevity.

“One thing that I always try to relate to producers to try to get an understanding of what heterosis is,” Cleere says, “is it is basically also considered an outcross. So, if you think of it in those terms, it is just the opposite of inbreeding.

“If you inbreed cattle, of course you increase your chances of -genetic problems. But, more importantly, you typically get inbreeding depression or a decrease in performance — like in weaning weight and so on. And those cattle aren’t as disease resistant. Whereas with crossbreeding, heterosis is just the opposite of inbreeding."

The efficiency factor

Cleere says it all boils down to efficiency, which often comes from having the right cow for the right environment.

“I think we have to look at how important it is to match our cattle to our environment — we’ve talked about that for years, but I think it is even more important now when we look at input costs where they are,” he says.

"In the past, we’ve been able to feed and fertilize inefficiencies out of cattle. We could afford some of those inefficiencies in the operation. But now that our supplements are going to be $300-$400 per ton — and with fertilizer as high as it is — we have to really focus on efficiencies in our operation.

“I think the cow is an important efficiency factor. We need to make sure that cow has a calf every year, she weans a heavy calf every year, and she does all that with the least amount of inputs as possible. I think that is an extremely important factor. That’s where that crossbred cow is. She is just more efficient."

Purebreds are invaluable to the system

That said, for the system to work purebred cattle are still a necessity, even to a commercial operation using crossbreeding systems.

"We have the purebred cattle so we can have those foundation genetics to continue to make those crossbred animals,” Cleere explains.

"And the other reason is because some of our breeds we can treat as more of composite type breeds as well; for example, the Brangus or Santa Gertrudis and so on. We can pull genetics out of those to make good crossbred maternal type cattle. It kind of simplifies the system a little.

“Maintaining those purebreds is extremely important in the beef industry because we have so many different production systems. And then we have several different markets that we’re trying to put these cattle into as well. It is all about putting the genetic pieces together to get a cow that is adapted to the environment and then ultimately breed her to a bull that produces a calf that fits whatever market you’re in. And that market could be a high red meat yield, a high growth market or it could be a carcass quality-type market."

[Editor’s note: For more on heterosis, see this month’s Rancher’s Management Guide.]

"Benefits of a Cross" is from the August 2008 issue of The Cattleman magazine.