Thursday, July 5, 2018

Frequently Asked Questions

What does F1, F2, F3, etc mean?

F1 (first cross) is 50% Speckle Park and 50% another breed. When you cross that F1 female with a purebred Speckle Park bull, you get an F2 Speckle Park, with 75% Speckle Park content and 25% another breed. Then, when you cross that F2 female with a purebred Speckle Park bull you get an F3 calf (87.5% Speckle Park, 12.5% another breed). Then when you cross that F3 female with a purebred Speckle Park bull you get an F4 (93.8% Speckle Park). F4 is considered full blood but never able to be registered as the herd book in Speckle Park is closed. Registered Speckle Park cattle can only be born from two registered parents.

The Speckle Park International (SPI) guidelines at present explain this using the Canadian system and not what is commercial understood in Australia, with the latter being the shown in the following table:

Conversion Table, F Status to Percentage
F1	1/2	50%
F2	3/4	75%
F3	7/8	87.5%
F4	15/16	93.8%

*** F4 is deemed “full blood” but unregistrable as the Herd Book for the Speckle Park breed is closed. Registrable stock must be the product of a registered sire AND dam.

How do I find out pedigree information about a particular registered Speckle Park?

Click on the Animal Register tab on the menu bar for this website, and it will take you through to the Speckle Park Animal Register. You can search for member studs by location, and you can search for animals by various characteristics (calving year, male/female, sire/dam, colour, etc).

If you would like to research JAD Speckle Park seedstock, type “JAD” in the “Name:” section, and then refine your search to our location by clicking on the “Breeder Located:” drop-down menu, and selecting “in CENTRAL/WESTERN NSW (2800-2999)”. This will show only JAD-bred bulls and females.

What does “TRAITS ANALYSED” mean when I’m looking at Breedplan data?

Breedplan data is pulled together through various calculations utilising both genetic linkages and physical data submitted by the breeder. We at JAD Speckle Park highly value Breedplan as a selection tool (one of several). To ensure accuracies are as high as can be, we provide 10+ different physical data submissions to Breedplan for each animal. The amount of physical data contributing to the formation of Breedplan data can be found underneath the Breedplan table for a given animal, next to the heading ‘TRAITS ANALYSED’. We get frustrated when we see other studs speak poorly about Breedplan as a selection tool, citing low accuracies, but when we look up their animals, they have often only submitted a Birthweight (BWT) for their animal(s). Of course the accuracies are going to be low! Stud producers owe it to their clients to put in some effort, submit raw data, and do their bit to ensure this well-recognised performance recording system has integrity – for everyone’s benefit.

View the ‘Getting Started with Breedplan’ document to learn more about this performance recording system.

Just what are the breeds that make up Speckle Park?

If you search Wikipedia for this information, you will be told that Speckle Park is “a truly Canadian breed developed from three British breeds: Teeswater Shorthorn, Aberdeen Angus, and a British White.” This is incorrect. In fact, the British White breed was not even in Canada back when Speckle Park were developed! When it comes to answering this question, we suggest you read this document:

Honour The Source – Speckle Park Heritage
The Cow That Jumped Over The World – The FIVE Breeds that Made up Speckle Park

Regardless, we don’t get too hung up on this question as the breed is well-stabilised now. The breed became a distinct breed in Canada on July 6, 2006, and was introduced to Australia in 2007. The recognised breed society for Australia and New Zealand, Speckle Park International, was established in 2008.

What are the Q-Select Tests that you’re having done, which include Leptin testing?

We are going the extra mile to help our clients know more about the bulls they buy – and improve our own in-house decision-making – by having all cattle DNA tested in Canada through the Quantum Genetix Q-Select DNA Tests. We have had to go to Canada for this testing as we were unable to find an equivalent set of tests here in Australia.

Q-Select focuses on beef production traits that are economically important. Each genetic marker has undergone extensive peer reviewed research studies, and the economic traits that have been associated with each genetic marker have been proven through rigorous large scale testing. The four genotype performance traits reported are: Leptin, PMCH, CRH, and IGF2.

A few more words on Leptin:

A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), found in the Leptin gene, has been shown to have a large impact on several performance and quality traits of economic importance in beef production.

Some of these traits include:

– Weaning weight
– Cow milk production
– Accumulation of backfat
– Yield Grade and Quality Grade
– Feed Intake

Historically, breed and herd improvement has been achieved through visual inspection and choosing animals based on phenotype. Producers have been selecting for genetic variants associated with performance traits, albeit with less accuracy and precision than current technology provides. Genetic testing identifies the variants associated with performance and quality traits allowing producers to accurately and precisely select desirable traits.

Leptin is a hormone that regulates feed intake, energy expenditure and whole body energy balance. A SNP in the Leptin gene has been associated with several economically important traits including milk production, weaning weight, backfat, marbling, quality grade, yield grade, dry matter intake, and days on feed. There are three Leptin variants:

– CC (lean) animals have less fat and therefore, are less economically favourable
– CT animals are economically intermediate
– TT (fat) animals have more fat and therefore, are more economically favourable

Additional reading: Q-Select Informational Summary

What is myostatin?

There are a number of myostatin genes in cattle, which are responsible for expressing more/extra muscle growth, with nt821 being most relevant in the Speckle Park breed. We do not see the presence of this gene as anything other than a positive for the breed, and all of our seedstock are tested for presence of the gene so we can use that knowledge in our joining decision-making. Results from myostatin testing of the nt821 gene will be reported in JAD Speckle Park’s sale catalogues as either Non Carrier (NC) or Carrier (C). We will never market animals containing a double copy of the gene. Click here to learn more about myostatin.

Where can I learn more about Breedplan?

There are a number of excellent resources for Breedplan, including:

Also, it would be well worth one hour of your time to watch this excellent webinar recording, courtesy of RaynerAg:

If you have a question that we have not covered here, please feel free to get in touch. Contact Us.