Full recording may help gene selection
Full recording may help gene selection
RECORDING all animals in registered pedigree beef herds in France makes genetic selection more efficient, says French Limousin Society technical director, Herve Chapelle.
But there is no evidence that genetic improvement is any faster than in the UK, where only 10-15% of registered Limousin herds are recorded, MLC beef technical manager, Duncan Pullar, told FW.
Since 1980, pedigree registered beef herds in France had recorded all animals for characteristics such as birth weight, weaning weight, muscle development, skeletal size and maternal traits, said Mr Chappelle.
"For efficient selection, accurate data is needed. The BLUP model cant correct bad data. If all herds were not fully recorded, breeders may choose to record only the top third of animals, giving a misleading impression of their herds genetic merit."
But full recording was expensive, costing up to £9 an animal plus £5 a head for registration and up to £33 for each certificate, he added.
Although full recording in the UK would be the ideal, unlike France, there is no government money to help. In addition, it would not necessarily translate into faster genetic progress, believed Dr Pullar.
"Full recording offers more chance of finding the best animals, but genetic progress depends on only a small proportion of the total population of a breed. Whatever the numbers of animals recorded, it is top breeders breeding the best animals that will push forward genetic progress." *