Estimates of genetic parameters for carcass traits in Finnish Ayrshire and Holstein-Friesian

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1 Livestock Production Science 64 (2000) locte/ livprodsci Estimtes of genetic prmeters for crcss trits in Finnish Ayrshire nd Holstein-Friesin Pivi Prkkonen, Ann-Elis Liinmo, Mtti Ojl 1 * University of Helsinki, Deprtment of Animl Science, P.O. Box 28, FIN Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finlnd Received 26 Februry 1999; received in revised form 23 August 1999; ccepted 24 August 1999 Abstrct The im of this study ws to estimte genetic prmeters for slughter weight, nd crcss fleshiness nd ftness in Finnish Ayrshire nd Holstein-Friesin bulls nd heifers. Animl model, sire model nd sire mternl grndsire model were tested for their suitbility to evlute young sires in progeny test. There were records on nimls slughtered in two slughter houses during period of 20 months. Effects of yer-month of slughter, ge t slughter, sex nd breed were sttisticlly significnt, nd herd ccounted for bout 20 57% of the totl vrition in the dt. Estimtes of heritbility in the different breed by sex dt sets were in rnge of for slughter weight, for fleshiness nd for ftness, wheres the corresponding within herd heritbilities vried from 0.15 to 0.29, 0.29 to 0.39 nd 0.12 to 0.29, respectively. There ws positive genetic correltion of between slughter weight nd fleshiness, wheres ftness ws not geneticlly correlted with the other studied trits. All within herd correltions were high, from 0.55 to 0.93, nd phenotypic nd environmentl correltions were lso high or moderte. In the estimtion of (co)vrince components, sire model nd sire mternl grndsire model were preferred to niml model due to computtionl requirements, nd sire mternl grndsire model to sire model due to the possibility of including the sire pth of mternl pedigree Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Beef production; Crcss qulity; Heritbility; Genetic correltion 1. Introduction production trits re tken into ccount only indirectly (e.g., INTERBULL, 1996). In Finlnd, young In Finlnd nd mny other Europen countries, bulls to be used in rtificil insemintion re evlumjor prt of beef is produced s by-product of ted bsed on their own yerling weight or growth t diry production. The breeding progrms of diry test sttion (Ojl, 1984). Previously, live weights of cttle seldom involve crcss qulity, nd beef diry cows were lso reported in bull evlution (Hietnen nd Ojl, 1995). Growth nd live weight re correlted with crcss trits but the correltion *E-mil ddress: nn-elis.liinmo@niml.helsinki.fi (A.-E. Liinmo) my not be strong enough to improve the poor beef 1 Present ddress: Animl Production Reserch, Agriculturl producing bility of Finnish diry breeds. Reserch Centre of Finlnd, FIN Jokioinen, Finlnd. Crcss qulity evluted t slughter houses / 00/ $ see front mtter 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S (99)00144-X

2 204 P. Prkkonen et l. / Livestock Production Science 64 (2000) predicts beef producing bility better thn growth or nimls ccording to the Europen cttle identificlive weight. In ddition, using progeny results leds tion system s the first compny in Finlnd. The to improved relibility compred to individul me- period of dt collection covered 20 months from the surements of young bulls. However, crcss dt hs beginning of Jnury 1996 to the end of August not been vilble for niml breeding becuse During tht time more thn hed of slughter houses hve trditionlly used their own cttle were slughtered in the two prticipting identifiction system, nd it hs not been possible to slughter houses. Pedigrees were obtined from the combine this system with other cttle registers. In the dtbse of Agriculturl Dt Processing Centre new Europen cttle identifiction system introduced including prents nd grndprents for the slugin Finlnd in the beginning of 1995 the sme identity htered nimls registered within milk recording follows n niml from birth to crcss, thus en- system. The pedigree dt set included over bling environmentl nd pedigree informtion to be nimls. merged with crcss dt. Sixty-three percent of slughtered nimls were Crcss trits of cttle, e.g., slughter weight, Finnish Ayrshires (Ay) nd 26% Holstein-Friesins fleshiness nd ftness, hve been studied consider- (HFr). Other breeds nd their crosses were too rre bly, nd most of the trits hve been found to be of in the dt set for estimtion of genetic prmeters, high or moderte heritbility (Wilson et l., 1976; nd it ws lso considered importnt to study crcss Koch, 1978; Lmb et l., 1990; Robinson et l., trits in the most common breeds tht produce the 1990; Arnold et l., 1991; Gregory et l., 1994; mjority of beef. Thus, only purebred Ay or HFr Wheeler et l., 1996). However, the results cn not crcsses were included in the nlyses. be esily generlised into Finnish cttle popultion, Dt ws further limited to bulls nd heifers tht becuse most of the studies hve involved beef were slughtered t the ge of 300 through 899 dys, breeds which re only of mrginl importnce in with crcsses required to hve slughter weight of Finlnd. Moreover, definitions of crcss trits nd t lest 130 kg. Cows were excluded from the the models used in nlyses differ in vrious coun- nlyses in this study becuse cow informtion will tries (e.g., Jones et l., 1994; EU-ROP, 1995; Hrris not be included in the possible crcss qulity et l., 1995; United Sttes Deprtment of Agricul- indices. ture, 1997). The prerequisites for incorporting The dt ws divided in subsets to study whether crcss trits into Finnish diry cttle breeding the fctors ffecting crcss trits nd their genetic progrm re estimtion of genetic prmeters nd prmeters differ in different breeds nd sexes. The development of n pproprite evlution model for primry subsets were Ay bulls (AyB) with , crcss trits in Finnish cttle popultion. HFr bulls (HFrB) with 8711, Ay heifers (AyH) with The im of this study ws to investigte the fctors 5328 nd HFr heifers (HFrH) with 1918 crcsses. ffecting crcss trits in Finnish Ayrshire nd These subsets were nlysed with ll the models nd Holstein-Friesin, nd to estimte heritbilities in methods used in this study. Combintions within dt sets divided by breed nd sex. In ddition, sexes nd breeds were considered in combined performnce of niml model, sire model nd sire subsets of Ay nd HFr bulls (AyHFrB), Ay nd HFr mternl grndsire model were compred in order to heifers (AyHFrH), Ay bulls nd heifers (AyBH), nd find the model best suited for prcticl evlution of HFr bulls nd heifers (HFrBH). Finlly, ll nimls crcss trits in Finnish diry cttle breeding pro- were nlysed together (AyHFrBH). These combined grm. dt sets were nlysed only with niml model using univrite nlysis. The trits studied were slughter weight, nd 2. Mterils nd methods crcss fleshiness nd ftness. Slughter weight is mesured within 2 h from slughter, nd it is the Dt for nlyses ws collected from Northern nd weight of crcss without hed, hide nd bdominl Centrl Finlnd in two slughter houses owned by orgns, minus 2% of hot crcss deduction. Fleshi- Lihkunt Oyj, which begn to identify slughtered ness nd ftness re judged subjectively ccording to

3 P. Prkkonen et l. / Livestock Production Science 64 (2000) Europen Union SEUROP clssifiction system (EU- ROP, 1995). In Finlnd, fleshiness is judged in 11 clsses: P 2, P, P1, O2, O, O1, R2, R, R1, U nd E, from worst to best respectively. Ftness is judged in five clsses numbered from 1 to 5, with clss 1 being the lenest nd clss 5 the fttest. In this study, fleshiness ws trnsformed to numbers so tht the clsses from P 2 to R 1 were replced by numbers from 1 to 9. Due to the lck of subclsses in y U nd E, they were numbered s 11 nd 14, 1 gek 1 cl1 m1 ijklmn respectively. Figs. 1 nd 2 illustrte frequency Smpling (GS) method with MTGSAM softwre (Vn Tssell nd Vn Vleck, 1995). For comprison of methods lso sire models were nlysed with GS method. The following niml model ws ssumed in nlysing the within breed nd sex dt subsets AyB, HFrB, AyH nd HFrH: 5 m 1 slughter house 1 yer-month ijklmn i j distributions of fleshiness nd ftness in the dt, where yijklmn5record of slughter weight, fleshiness respectively. or ftness, m 5overll men, slughter housei5fixed Dt editing nd preliminry nlyses were done effect of ith slughter house (i51,2), yer-month j 5 on WSYS nd WSYS-L softwre (Vilv, 1992; 1997). fixed effect of jth month of slughter ( j51 20), For estimtion of vrince nd covrince compo- gek5fixed effect of kth ge clss (k51 14), cl5 nents two methods were used. Animl models nd rndom effect of lth herd, m5rndom dditive sire models were solved by VCE4.0 softwre genetic effect of mth niml, nd ijklmn5rndom (Groeneveld, 1997) using Restricted Mximum residul effect. When nlysing combined dt sets Likelihood (REML) method. Sttisticl significnce AyHFrB nd AyHFrH, lso breedo5fixed effect of of contrsts between different levels of fixed effects oth breed (o51,2) ws included, nd in dt sets in mixed models ws tested by F-test in PEST AyBH nd HFrBH sexp5fixed effect of pth sex softwre (Groeneveld, 1990). Sire mternl grndsire ( p51,2) ws included. When nlysing ll nimls, models could not be solved using VCE4.0 due to the dt set AyHFrBH, both breed nd sex were in- 1 multiplier ] 2 in the incidence mtrix Z. Thus, esti- cluded in the model in ddition to the previous mtes of vrince nd covrince components from fctors. sire mternl grndsire models were solved by Gibbs There were two slughter houses with 55% of Fig. 1. Frequency distribution of fleshiness in bulls nd heifers.

4 206 P. Prkkonen et l. / Livestock Production Science 64 (2000) Fig. 2. Frequency distribution of ftness in bulls nd heifers. crcsses coming from the bigger one. The originl different trits (i,i9 51,2,3 nd i ± i9 ) were ssumed 20-month dt collection period ws retined in 20 to be cov(c i,c i0) 5 Is ci,i9, vr( i, i9) 5 Asi, i9 nd clsses for yer-month of slughter becuse there cov( i, i9 ) 5 Is i,i9. ws no logicl connection between the consecutive Heritbility ws estimted s the proportion of the 2 months or the sme months in different yers. Rther dditive genetic vrince of the totl vrince, h thn using ge t slughter s covrite it ws s /(s 1 s c 1 s ). Within herd heritbilities (h w) clssified in 14 clsses (1510, 11 nd 12 mo, 2513 were estimted s hw5 s /(s 1 s ). mo, 3514 mo,..., mo, nd 25 mo In sire model, the genetic effect of n niml ws nd to 30 mo of ge). substituted by the genetic effect of sire, nd in sire Slughtered nimls originted from 6740 herds, mternl grndsire model the sme section ws 1 with qurter of herds hving only one observtion substituted by the genetic effect of the sire nd ] 2 of in the dt. Dividing dt in subsets further incresed the genetic effect of the mternl grndsire. the proportion of smll herds in the dt subsets. The All observtions were kept in nlyses when using herds with few crcsses could not be left out the niml model. With the sire model, only sires without losing considerble mount of informtion, with five or more progeny t the dt set were so it ws decided to keep ll the herds in nlyses s included, nd with sire mternl grndsire model rndom smple of herds in the re. sire or mternl grndsire ws ccepted only if it The distributions of rndom effects were ssumed existed in pedigree of t lest two slughtered multivrite norml with zero mens nd vr(c) 5 nimls. The restrictions decresed the number of Is c, vr() 5 As, nd vr( ) 5 Is. When using observtions but even more they decresed the multitrit models, the expected vlues of rndom number of sires thus incresing the number of effects nd the covrinces between them were progeny per sire (Tble 1). The effect of restrictions ssumed zero. The vrince of ech rndom effect on prmeter estimtes ws studied by compring the for the three trits (i51,2,3) ws ssumed to be solutions obtined using niml model both for the vr(c i) 5 Is ci,i, vr( i) 5 As i,i nd vr( i ) 5 Is i,i. unlimited dt sets nd the dt sets limited for sire The covrinces between the rndom effects in mternl grndsire model.

5 P. Prkkonen et l. / Livestock Production Science 64 (2000) Tble 1 Number of slughtered nimls (N) nd sires (S) in different models nd dt subsets Breed, Animl Sire Sire mternl sex model model grndsire model N S N S N S AyB HFrB AyH HFrH AyB Ayrshire bulls; HFrB Holstein-Friesin bulls; AyH Ayrshire heifers; HFrH Holstein-Friesin heifers. The results from different methods were compred 3. Results by solving sire models both by REML nd GS methods. When using GS method, the slughter The verge slughter weight for bulls ws 273 kg house, the yer-month of slughter nd the ge t nd for heifers 203 kg (Tble 2). Crcsses of HFr slughter were given flt prior distributions. MTGSAM bulls were on verge 10 kg hevier thn crcsses softwre provides inverted Wishrt distribution for of Ay bulls, while in heifers the difference between the prior distribution of vrince nd covrince breeds ws 8 kg. The verge fleshiness of ll components. Strting vlues were derived from the crcsses ws 4.3, i.e., between clsses O2 nd O. models solved by REML method. The convergence Thus n verge crcss hd profiles from stright to criterion of Guss Seidel itertion ws GS concve, nd verge muscle development (EU-ROP, lgorithm ws repeted for rounds sving the 1995). Crcsses of bulls were clssified on verge solutions of every 30th round. Thus, the smple size one grde better thn crcsses of heifers, nd HFr in point estimtion ws 934. ws clssified 0.3 grdes better thn Ay. The verge Tble 2 Number of observtions (N), mens (x), stndrd devitions (s), coefficients of vrition (V%), nd minimum (Min) nd mximum (Mx) vlues of studied trits in different dt subsets Trit/ Breed, sex N x s V% Min Mx Slughter weight, kg AyB HFrB AyH HFrH Fleshiness AyB HFrB AyH HFrH Ftness AyB HFrB AyH HFrH AyB Ayrshire bulls; HFrB Holstein-Friesin bulls; AyH Ayrshire heifers; HFrH Holstein-Friesin heifers.

6 208 P. Prkkonen et l. / Livestock Production Science 64 (2000) ftness of ll crcsses ws In clss 2, crcs- estimted to be low, t most 0.21, in AyB, HFrH nd ses re slightly ft covered with flesh visible lmost AyH. Corresponding estimtes from HFrH were everywhere (EU-ROP, 1995). Crcsses of heifers outside this rnge; however, the structure of HFrH were on verge 0.5 grdes ftter thn crcsses of dt set ws poor due to the lrge number of herds bulls. HFr heifers were lso ftter thn Ay heifers, nd sires compred to the smll number of records. but there ws no difference between breeds in bulls. All within herd correltions were high, especilly Slughter weights s well s fleshiness nd ftness the correltions between slughter weight nd fleshigrdes tended to decrese during the 20 month ness or ftness tht were up to depending observtion period. However, the trend ws neither on the dt set (Tble 5). There ws little difference liner nor similr in different dt subsets. The between phenotypic nd environmentl correltions, differences between yer-months were sttisticlly of which the correltion between slughter weight significnt (P.0.05) in ll dt subsets. The verge nd fleshiness ws the highest ( ), the ges t slughter vried between months s well. exception being gin the dt set HFrH. On verge, the nimls were slughtered t the Restrictions on dt for sire nd sire mternl ge of 18.5 months. Heifers were 1.5 months older grndsire models removed records with little or no thn bulls t slughter, nd HFr nimls were connection with other records. Restrictions did not, slughtered 0.5 months younger thn Ay nimls. however, ffect estimtes of heritbility by more Slughter weight incresed from the youngest to the thn 0.01 units when differently restricted HFrB nd oldest ge clss by 115 kg in bulls nd by 90 kg in AyH dtsets were nlysed with niml model. heifers. Fleshiness nd ftness incresed lso with Thus results from different models re comprble, ge. Improvement of fleshiness ws fster in bulls lthough the dt sets used in the nlyses were not but gin of ft ws fster in heifers. In most dt exctly the sme. The results for sire models tht subsets, however, the heviest crcsses with the were obtined either with REML or GS methods highest fleshiness nd ftness grdes were not in the from the sme dt sets did not differ from ech oldest ge clss. other either, showing tht results by different meth- Estimtes of heritbility for slughter weight were ods gree with ech other (Tble 6). No mtter wht reltively low in ll dt subsets, vrying from 0.07 model or method ws used, the estimted to 0.14 (Tble 3). Respective estimtes of within heritbilities nd frctions of totl vrince due to herd heritbility were somewht higher, from 0.15 to herds in the three biggest dt sets were lmost the Heritbilities in HFr dt sets were lower thn sme, differences being in the bounds of stndrd heritbilities in Ay dt sets. Vrition between herds errors of the estimtes. cused pproximtely one hlf of the totl vrince in slughter weight. Fleshiness ws estimted to hve heritbility of 4. Discussion , within herd heritbility of nd the frction of totl vrince due to herds of 0.20 The dt used in this study represented well the 0.26, depending on the dt set used in the nlyses overll crcss qulity of ll the bulls nd heifers (Tble 3). Estimtes of heritbility for ftness were slughtered in Finnish slughter houses in 1996 bout the sme mgnitude s for slughter weight, (TIKE, 1997). Only in fleshiness crcsses in this vrying between 0.08 nd 0.16 in different dt sets. study were 0.20 units poorer thn the verge in the Estimted within herd heritbilities for the trit were whole country. This difference ws probbly due to from 0.12 to 0.29, nd the herds cused bout 23 the exclusion of beef breeds from the dt set in this 47% of the totl vrince of ftness. study. Estimtes of genetic correltion between slughter Demnd for beef in Finlnd vried somewht weight nd fleshiness were from 0.65 to 0.66 in during the dt collection period. This cused uneven AyB, AyH nd HFrH, nd 0.38 in HFrB (Tble 4). numbers of nimls to be slughtered in different Genetic correltions between slughter weight nd months nd the verge ge of nimls t slughter ftness, nd fleshiness nd ftness, insted, were to fluctute. At the highest month, 3254 nimls

7 P. Prkkonen et l. / Livestock Production Science 64 (2000) Tble 3 2 Number of records (N), number of herds (n), estimtes of heritbility (h ) nd their stndrd errors (se h2), estimtes of within herd 2 2 heritbility (h ), nd herd effects (c ) nd their stndrd errors (se ) for studied trits from univrite nlyses with niml model w c Trit/ Breed, sex N n h 6seh2 hw c 6sec2 Slughter weight AyB HFrB AyHFrB AyH HFrH AyHFrH AyBH HFrBH AyHFrBH Fleshiness AyB HFrB AyHFrB AyH HFrH AyHFrH AyBH HFrBH AyHFrBH Ftness AyB HFrB AyHFrB AyH HFrH AyHFrH AyBH HFrBH AyHFrBH AyB Ayrshire bulls; HFrB Holstein-Friesin bulls; AyHFrB Ayrshire nd Holstein-Friesin bulls; AyH Ayrshire heifers; HFrH Holstein-Friesin heifers; AyHFrH Ayrshire nd Holstein-Friesin heifers; AyBH Ayrshire bulls nd heifers; HFrBH Holstein-Friesin bulls nd heifers; AyHFrBH Ayrshire nd Holstein-Friesin bulls nd heifers. were slughtered in the two prticipting slughter Trditionlly the crcss qulity hs been better in houses, wheres t the lowest month the number ws Finnish Friesin thn in Finnish Ayrshire, but imonly 671. The mximum difference between monthly porttion of Holstein to the Finnish Friesin populverge ges t slughter ws 33 dys. Since in some tion hs wekened crcss qulity of Finnish Holmonths it ws not possible to get ll nimls stein-friesin compred to Ayrshire (Liinmo, slughtered t the plnned ge, prt of the nimls 1997). In this study, percentge of Holstein genes grew over imed finishing point nd gined ft. A mong the slughtered nimls ws not tken into significnt prt of overged nimls my however ccount, but in the HFr dt, crcsses were still hve been put on restricted feeding, s they neither hevier nd hd higher grdes in fleshiness nd gined ft nor improved in fleshiness scores. Pos- ftness thn Ay crcsses. Breed differences in sibly this is why neither the heviest crcsses nor fleshiness nd ftness were lrger in heifers thn in the highest verge fleshiness nd ftness grdes bulls. Heifers were more susceptible to gin ft with were in the oldest ge clss. ge, nd differences in crcss qulity between sexes

8 210 P. Prkkonen et l. / Livestock Production Science 64 (2000) Tble 4 Tble 5 Estimtes of genetic prmeters for studied trits from multitrit Frctions of totl vrince due to herds on digonl with stndrd nlysis with niml model errors, within herd correltions bove digonl with stndrd b errors, nd environmentl correltions below digonl estimted Breed, sex / Trit Trit by multitrit nlysis with niml model AyB Breed, sex / Trit 1 Slughter weight Trit 2 Fleshiness AyB Ftness Slughter weight Fleshiness HFrB Ftness Slughter weight Fleshiness HFrB Ftness Slughter weight Fleshiness AyH Ftness Slughter weight Fleshiness AyH Ftness Slughter weight Fleshiness HFrH Ftness Slughter weight Fleshiness HFrH Ftness Slughter weight Fleshiness Heritbilities on digonl with stndrd errors, genetic correl- 3 Ftness tions bove digonl with stndrd errors, nd phenotypic correl tions below digonl. AyB Ayrshire bulls; HFrB Holstein-Friesin bulls; AyH b AyB Ayrshire bulls; HFrB Holstein-Friesin bulls; AyH Ayrshire heifers; HFrH Holstein-Friesin heifers. Ayrshire heifers; HFrH Holstein-Friesin heifers. estimted heritbilities for slughter weight nd incresed with ge. The different development of fleshiness nd ftness mesured in SEUROP-scores sexes is in greement with erlier reports (e.g., Berg hve been , nd , nd Butterfield, 1976). respectively (de Jong, 1997), nd 0.25, 0.26 nd Estimted heritbilities, especilly for slughter 0.30, respectively (Vn der Werf et l., 1998). weight nd ftness, were reltively low. Estimted Estimted correltions reveled positive genetic within herd heritbilities, however, were in rnge of connection between slughter weight nd fleshiness. heritbilities estimted in previous studies, in which Ftness ws not geneticlly connected with other the herd hs been tken s fixed effect. Min crcss trits. These correltions re fvourble for emphsis in studying crcss trits hs been on beef work towrds the breeding gol of crcsses with breeds. In Hereford nd some other beef breeds, high fleshiness nd low ftness tht give the type of heritbility of crcss trits hs been estimted to be beef fvoured by consumers t the present. Genetic moderte (Wilson et l., 1976; Koch, 1978; Lmb et correltion between fleshiness nd slughter weight l., 1990; Robinson et l., 1990; Arnold et l., 1991; my however be somewht overestimted, for lrge Gregory et l., 1994; Wheeler et l., 1996). In diry crcsses pper more musculr thn smll crcsses breeds, Kenttmies (1983) estimted heritbilities for nd my thus unintentionlly grde better thn smll slughter weight in Finnish Ayrshire bulls s crcsses of corresponding qulity. Both the pheno nd in Friesin bulls s In the typic nd environmentl correltions nd especilly sme study, estimtes for fleshiness were the correltions within herds show tht ftness tends in Ayrshire nd in Friesin, nd for to increse with slughter weight nd fleshiness. ftness nd in Ayrshire nd Hence mngement nd feeding seem to hve key Friesin, respectively. In lrger dt sets of Dutch position in the production of nimls of high crcss Blck nd White nd Dutch Red nd White bulls, qulity. Crcss qulity cn, however, be ltered by

9 P. Prkkonen et l. / Livestock Production Science 64 (2000) TABLE 6 of dt sets in multitrit nlyses, other lterntives Heritbilities of studied trits from different types of multitrit were lso considered. Sire model is the simplest models model for estimting breeding vlues for sires, if the b Trit/ Breed, sex Model 1 Model 2/ 2b Model 3 only group of nimls for which the breeding vlues Slughter weight for crcss trits need to be estimted is sires AyB 0.12/ themselves. However, there re lso reltionships on HFrB / mternl side through common grndsires, nd those AyH / HFrH / cn not be tken into ccount by sire model. In tht spect, better option could be the use of sire Fleshiness mternl grndsire model. However, in this study AyB 0.20/ there were only minor differences in estimted HFrB / vrince nd covrince components or their pro- AyH / HFrH / portions between different models. For the ske of computtionl resources, sire or sire mternl grn- Ftness dsire models re often preferred to niml models, AyB 0.14/ nd sire mternl grndsire models, in turn, re HFrB / preferred to sire models s they include the sire pth AyH / HFrH / of mternl pedigree. Nevertheless, estimted breeding vlues for crcss trits in cows my lso be of Model 1: Animl model, REML method (three trits in AyB interest in herd level. For tht reson niml model, could not be solved by niml model due to limits in computtionwhenever it is computtionlly fesible, might be the l resources). Model 2: Sire model, REML method. Model 2b: Sire model, GS method. Model 3: Sire mternl grndsire model, most suitble model for prcticl evlution of GS method. crcss trits. b AyB Ayrshire bulls; HFrB Holstein-Friesin bulls; AyH The type nd size of dt in this study gve Ayrshire heifers; HFrH Holstein-Friesin heifers. relible estimtes for genetic prmeters, nd might therefore be suitble lso for the estimtion of the mngement chnges only within the limits of the breeding vlues. Obtining estimtes of breeding genetic potentil of the niml which, in turn, cn be vlue for crcss qulity trits for young AI-bulls further improved by breeding. does not lengthen genertion intervl, becuse the When estimting breeding vlues for crcss trits beef producing progeny re slughtered lredy of Ay nd HFr young bulls it might be fesible to before the milk producing dughters complete their nlyse the crcss dt of their offspring for both first lcttion. Moreover, Liinmo nd vn Arendonk breeds nd sexes together, even though there were (1998) hve shown tht genetic improvement in some differences in genetic prmeters between crcss trits does not retrd genetic response in milk breeds nd sexes. Combining the two dt sets might production trits. Thus breeding for crcss qulity reduce the number of herds with one or few crcs- in diry cttle seems quite fesible option for ses, nd thus improve the structure of dt. However, improving the overll economy of cttle producing in this study this effect ws not strong when breeds sector. were combined, s the mjority of herds represented Nevertheless, there were some indequcies in the only one breed. On the other hnd, heifers comprise dt, one of them being the short time period of only 20% of crcsses, nd crcss qulity estim- observtions. As Finnish diry herds in milk recordtion could be solely bsed on bulls. Combining sexes ing verge bout 15 cows (FABA, 1996), there ws my, however, be of vlue in predicting ftness more consequently lrge mount of herds with only one ccurtely, s heifers provide dditionl informtion or few crcsses in the dt. An even more serious on ftness while most of the bulls were grded s 2. defect ws tht the dt did not cover whole country. Animl model ws fitted to the dt first becuse Regionl differences cn somewht be eliminted of its property to tke ll the reltionships into with sttisticl model used, but dt collected from ccount. Since there were problems due to the sizes n re covering the country more widely would

10 212 P. Prkkonen et l. / Livestock Production Science 64 (2000) represent ll the young AI-bulls used better, nd Reltionship between USDA nd Jpnese beef grdes. Met Sci. 39, provide them more slughtered progeny thn Hietnen, H., Ojl, M., Fctors ffecting body weight nd regionl dt. In fct, the bulls with lrge numbers of its ssocition with milk production trits in Finnish Ayrshire progeny were populr progeny tested bulls, nd some nd Friesin cows. Act Agric. Scnd. 45, of the young bulls hd only few progeny in the dt. INTERBULL, Sire evlution procedures for non-diry- Thus it is not fesible to estimte breeding vlues for production nd growth nd beef production trits prcticed in vrious countries. Bull. no. 13, Int. Bull Evl. Serv., Uppsl, young AI-bulls until there is dt vilble from Sweden, 201 pp. more slughter houses. Jones, S.D.M., Thorlkson, B., Robertson, W.M., The effect of breed type on beef crcss chrcteristics nd Cndin crcss grde. Cn. J. Anim. Sci. 74, Conclusions de Jong, G., Genetische prmeters voor slchtkenmerken bij melkkoeien, blnke klveren, rose klveren en vleesstieren. NRS , NRS, Arnhem, The Netherlnds. 21 pp. Crcsses of Finnish Ayrshire nd Holsteining slughter trits in beef production experiments in Finlnd. Kenttmies, H., Geneticl nd environmentl fctors ffect- Friesin bulls clssify typiclly in fleshiness in Journl of the Scientific Agriculturl Society of Finlnd 55, grdes O nd O2 nd in ftness in grde 2, crcsses of heifers being of poorer qulity. How- Koch, R.M., Selection in beef cttle. III. Correlted ever, there is vrition in crcss qulity due to both response of crcss trits to selection for wening weight, genetic nd environmentl effects. As diry breeds yerling weight nd muscling score in cttle. J. Anim. Sci. 47, provide most of the beef in Finlnd, min concern Lmb, M.A., Robinson, O.W., Tess, M.W., Genetic prmeshould be on improving mngement in beef pro- ters for crcss trits in Hereford bulls. J. Anim. Sci. 68, duction nd introducing crcss qulity index in breeding progrm of diry breeds. The ltter is Liinmo, A.-E., Effect of Holsteiniztion on crcss qulity possible when the ntionl cttle identifiction sys- trits of Finnish Friesins. Book of Abstrcts 48th EAAP, Vienn, Austri. p. 81. tem is in use in ll mjor slughter houses in the Liinmo, A.-E., vn Arendonk, J.A.M., Combining selection country. for crcss qulity nd milk trits in diry cttle. Proc. 6th World Congr. Genet. Appl. Livest. Prod., Armidle, Austrli. 25, References Ojl, M., Fctors influencing growth of Ayrshire bulls tested t sttion. Act Agric. Scnd. 34, Robinson, D.L., Schneeberger, M., Sivrjsingm, S., Ukkonen, Arnold, J.W., Bertrnd, J.K., Benyshek, L.L., Ludvig, C., M., Brwick, S.A., McDonld, C.A., Tier, B., Hmmond, K., Estimtes of genetic prmeters for live ultrsound, ctul Sundstrom, B., Genetic evlution for crcss trits in crcss dt, nd growth trits in beef cttle. J. Anim. Sci. 69, Austrlin beef cttle. In: Proc. of 4th World Congr, Gen. Appl Livest. Prod, Edinburgh, pp Berg, R.T., Butterfield, R.M., In: New Concepts in Cttle Vn Tssell, C.P., Vn Vleck, L.D., A mnul for use Growth, Sydney University Press, p MTGSAM. A set of fortrn progrms to pply Gibbs smpling to EU-ROP, Community scle for the clssifiction of crcs- niml models for vrince component estimtion. United ses of dult bovine nimls. Office for Officil Publictions of Sttes Deprtment of Agriculture, Agriculturl Reserch Serthe Europen Communities (EU-ROP), Luxembourg. vice. URL5http:// chuch.gsci.colostte.edu/ cvntss/ FABA, Kotielinjlostuksen tilstokirj (Sttistics of niml mtgsm.html. 85 pp. breeding). Finn. Anim. Breed. Assoc., Vnt, Finlnd, 61 pp. TIKE, Crcss clssifiction sttistics of bovine nimls. Gregory, K.E., Cundiff, L.V., Koch, R.M., Dikemn, M.E., Informtion Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture nd Forestry Koohmrie, M., Breed effects, retined heterosis, nd of Finlnd (TIKE). estimtes of genetic nd phenotypic prmeters for crcss nd United Sttes Deprtment of Agriculture, Stndrds for beef met trits of beef cttle. J. Anim. Sci. 72, crcsses. URL5http:// stndrds/ beef- Groeneveld, E., In: PEST User s Mnul, Institute of cr.pdf. Animl Husbndry nd Animl Behviour, Federl Agricultur- Vilv, V., WSYS-D. Dept. of Anim. Sci., Univ. of Helsinki, l Reserch Centre, Germny, p. 73. Finlnd. Groeneveld, E., In: VCE4 User s Guide nd Reference Vilv, V., WSYS-L. Dept. of Anim. Sci, Univ. of Helsinki, Mnul, Institute of Animl Husbndry nd Animl Behviour, Finlnd. URL5http:// xiron.pc.helsinki.fi/ guide/ wsysl/ Federl Agriculturl Reserch Centre, Germny, p. 49. wxnew.html Hrris, J.J., Lunt, D.K., Svell, J.W., Hwkins, E.W., Orme, L.E., Vn der Werf, J.H.J., Vn der Wij, L., Groen, A.F., de Jong, G.,

11 P. Prkkonen et l. / Livestock Production Science 64 (2000) Constructing n index for beef chrcteristics in diry Wilson, L.L., McCurley, J.R., Ziegler, J.H., Wtkins, J.L., cttle bsed on crcss trits. Livest. Prod. Sci 54, Genetic prmeters of live nd crcss chrcters from progeny Wheeler, T.L., Cundiff, L.V., Koch, R.M., Crouse, J.D., of Polled Hereford sires nd Angus-Holstein cows. J. Anim. Chrcteriztion of biologicl types of cttle (Cycle IV): Sci. 43, Crcss trits nd longissimus pltbility. J. Anim. Sci. 74,