5 minute read
Embracing the Power of Genomic Markers and Breeding Values
It is hard to believe we are selling stocker bucks, getting ready to wean fawns, and planning for this falls breeding season to make the best combinations for next springs fawn crop. Another season has past, with a new one starting!
I hope when you are planning you breeding for next season you are looking heavily at your CWD genomic markers and breeding values (GEBV). I am not saying to go out and cull drastically or to only buy semen from certain bucks. What I am saying is start looking at your markers and breeding values, so you can use that information as a tool to help make future breeding decisions. How aggressive you get will depend on each farms risk tolerance. I personally am breeding for antlers, body size and health, while at the same time doing my best to breeding towards the most negative score I can and working in better markers for S, H, and K (anything away from GG). Notice I do not favor GEBV over Markers or Markers over GEBV, they go together and cannot be separated! The same goes for S, H, and K, genetic diversity is healthy, but breed for the most negative score possible! We have made whitetail bucks over 4 ft wide; how long will it take us to breed -- 0.8 breeding values and GG free herds?
The big boost in resistance breeding is going to happen once everyone embraces it and starts testing their herds. With most states paying for the genetic testing, which also will give you parentage, there really is no reason not to be pulling tissue punches every time you have your hands on your animals, until your whole herd is complete. Yes, hair and horn can work, but if the animal is available, tissue samples are the best to work with. You can order tissue tubes and the applicator gun from a link on the NADR website or directly from NeoGen. If you have deer that have already been entered into the registry, there is a discount price if you would like them to pull the stored sample and run it for the CWD susceptibility. Not every sample will have enough DNA left but many of them will, especially if they were taken with a tissue tube. Lastly, I would encourage everyone to go examine their semen inventory and look for those foundation bucks that are in the background of todays best markers and breeding values. If you have plenty of straws you can send in an unused straw prior to breeding season, but if not, you can always send in the used straw (I also like to send the cut off end) after breeding season. I promise there are some great Marker and GEBV bucks sitting in everyone’s tanks. Remember what I said earlier, the more options we have to breed with the more diverse our industry will be.
I would like to switch to Hemorrhagic Disease, this includes both EHD and Bluetongue. They are both in the Orbivirus family, so very related, yet totally separate diseases. The good part is the vector is the same midge, so your fogging and misting and mud control measures will apply to both. The bad part is the EHD vaccine will give little to any benefit against Bluetongue. The good news is Medgene labs is working on a Bluetongue vaccine. If you are not vaccinating for EHD, I would strongly suggest it. Now is the time to start, as it is a preventive not a treatment. Once an outbreak is hitting your farm it is too late. If your area has never been hit by EHD, make sure that you visit with your customers and hunt ranches to see if they are in EHD areas. There is nothing more value added than selling animals that stay alive once they arrive in a new area.
I would like to toot the NADeFA horn a little. These past couple of months have been very wearisome, while working with state and federal agencies, to help farms clear quarantines and get animals moving before hunt season. We have had some great success, and we have had disappointments. I was feeling a little down after one of the farms was denied, until the owner said to me “we did everything we can do, and no matter how much we try, we are not always going to be able to change the opinions of those working against us”. That is so true, and many times I dwell on the failures without celebrating the successes. We have gained a lot of ground and did a lot of good, but there are circumstances that sometimes are out of our control. What we can and will continue to do, is work for better rules and regulations to remove some ammo from the agencies that are working against us. At the same time, we need to embrace the technology and tools that we have been working for such as live testing and genetic resistance. I am excited about pending blood tests and vaccines that are being worked on while you are reading this. We have technology on our side!
In closing, I would like to draw attention to the success of the stocker buck auctions. WOW, the prices were record setting. The end market for our animals is the strongest ever!
As always, feel free to call me if you are having issue with your state, or just to answer any questions you may have.
