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ARS Home » Plains Area » Clay Center, Nebraska » U.S. Meat Animal Research Center » Genetics and Animal Breeding » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #336687
Title: Heritability and test duration for water intake in beef cattle

Author
item AHLBERG, CASHLEY - Kansas State University
item KREHBIEL, CLINTON - Oklahoma State University
item RICHARDS, CHRISTOPHER - Oklahoma State University
item PLACE, SARA - National Cattlemen'S Beef Association (NCBA)
item DESILVA, UDAYA - Oklahoma State University
item VANOVERBEKE, DEBORAH - Oklahoma State University
item MATEESCU, RALUCA - University Of Florida
item BRUNO, KELSEY - Oklahoma State University
item ALLWARDT, K - Oklahoma State University
item TAYLOR, A - Oklahoma State University
item BROOCKS, A - Oklahoma State University
item Kuehn, Larry
item WEABER, ROBERT - Kansas State University
item BORMANN, JENNIFER - Kansas State University
item ROLF, MEGAN - Kansas State University

Submitted to: Annual International Plant & Animal Genome Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/2/2016
Publication Date: 1/3/2017
Citation: Ahlberg, C., Krehbiel, C., Richards, C., Place, S., DeSilva, U., VanOverbeke, D.L., Mateescu, R., Bruno, K., Allwardt, K., Taylor, A., Broocks, A., Kuehn, L.A., Weaber, R., Bormann, J., Rolf, M.M. 2017. Heritability and test duration for water intake in beef cattle [abstract]. International Plant & Animal Genome XXV Conference, January 14-18, 2017, San Diego, California. Abstract W133. Available: https://pag/confex.com/pag/xxv/webprogram/Paper25494.html

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Water is an essential part of livestock diets, and water intake in beef cattle has implications for producers in regions where environmental resources are limited. Opportunities for water conservation within beef cattle production systems encompass both genetic selection and management strategies for efficient water usage. To practice selection, reliable phenotypic data collection procedures must be determined and trait heritablities must be estimated. While guidelines exist for collection of feed intake data through automated intake systems, no such guidelines exist for water intake, even though it can be collected through similar systems. In this study, our objective was to establish preliminary test duration for measuring water intake using data on 459 crossbred steers enrolled in 70 day feed and water intake trials at Oklahoma State University. Steers were fed a constant diet and were individually weighed every 14 days. Average water intake for each animal was computed for increasingly large test durations. Phenotypic correlations for each shortened test duration as compared to the full 70 day test were used to establish preliminary minimum test duration. The minimum test durations varied depending on the desired correlation between intakes (0.9, 0.95 or 0.99). Although preliminary, these results indicate that feed and water intake could possibly be collected simultaneously without extending test duration. Future work will involve augmenting these analyses with additional data to be collected in subsequent years of the project, estimating genomic heritability, and analysis of adaptability to environmental stressors and water restriction.