Get
the
Best
from
your
Herd
DeerselecT
is a system of
evaluating the
genetic worth
of a stag that
allows breeders
and finishers
alike to select
for desirable
traits in their
deer herds.
DEERSelect at a glance:
How does it work?
1.
2.
3.
Breeders provide
herd pedigree and
performance data
to DEERSelect via a
DEERSelect bureau
for inclusion in the
DEERSelect database.
DEERSelect analyses
this information,
providing data back
to breeders and
assembles the
‘DEERSelect summary
tables’; lists of key
genetic information on
the national deer herd.
Breeding stags are
listed in DEERSelect
tables along with their
traits of interest and
the accuracy estimate
of those traits. The
tables are updated
every 3 months.
4.
5.
6.
Buyers can identify
which traits are of
most importance
and select stags with
the best combination
of breeding values,
at desired levels
of accuracy for
those traits.
The very best of
the stags identified
nationally can be used
to breed sons and
daughters for natural
service on commercial
deer farms, and to
improve the ‘top tier’
breeding herd further.
The next cut of stags
will be used as natural
service sires to transfer
genetic improvement
into hind herds on
commercial properties.
Image TBC
Case
Study
DEERSelect sire summary tables
The key to DEERSelect are the
sire summary tables which list
breeding values for particular
stags. The information is
provided at no cost to farmers at
http://www.deeresearch.org.nz/.
These tables allow the genetic
performance of progeny tested sires
to be compared after differences in
environment have been removed. The
values are updated every 3 months.
Brightstar Station breeds stags and their
herd is recorded on DEERSelect. Their
herd’s pedigree and performance data
is on the database, and their DEERSelect
bureau provides them with reports which
summarise their animal’s performance and
provides estimated breeding values on all
the animals in their herd.
To track their herd’s pedigree Brightstar
keeps records of mating and verifies calves’
parentage by DNA testing. Brightstar
monitors calf weight and records how
mobs are managed. They are also
considering scanning eye muscle area of
their calves. All of these details are sent to
the bureau for inclusion in the database.
They weigh hinds once a year and
pregnancy scan to assess conception date.
Through DEERSelect Brightstar has access
to records of all their animals and can track
genetic trends in their herd. Brightstar
chooses to share this data with their clients
to demonstrate the worth of their herd.
By working with DEERSelect Brightstar can
also show how their herd and individual
animals rate relative to other stags in New
Zealand. Brightstar uses common sires with
other herds to connect their herd into the
national analysis, normally by choosing the
top ranking sires nationally by AI in their
herd. This gives their client’s access to stags
which are sons of the very best sires.
Listed traits (as of October 2010):
• Weaning weight (WWT) breeding values:
the weight of calves at weaning.
• Yearling weight (W12) breeding values:
the weight of animals in spring.
• Mature (adult) weight (MWT) breeding values:
the mature weight of hinds.
• Mature velvet weight (MVWT) breeding values:
weight of velvet produced by a mature velveting stag.
• Conception date (CD) breeding values (NEW): an
indication of calving date relative to the industry average.
• Economic indexes (NEW): expressions of a combination
of different traits to provide summaries of which
animals will have the greatest impact on profitability
in a given situation.
How to read the sire summary tables
Birth Herd
Current Herd
Birth Tag
CurrentTag No. of
W12 BV MWT BV CD BV Replacement
Terminal
progeny
Index
%
%
%
Accuracy Accuracy Accuracy Early Kill Late Kill
Taupo Red Deer
05/101
Genghis
Kahn
11
13.10
0.84
9.80
0.68
-2.20
0.42
$6.17
$4.39
$14.68
Taupo Red Deer
Taupo Red Deer
04/365
Napoleon
6
16.80
0.80
11.2
0.64
-3.10
0.45
$8.81
$7.03
$19.02
Taieri Deer
Taupo Red Deer
07/555
Arthur
Wellesly
12
13.30
0.84
16.60
0.72
-3.80
0.48
$4.05
$2.25
$15.08
Taupo Red Deer
Taupo Red Deer
06/452
Julius Caesar
39
10.40
0.91
9.90
0.77
-24.0
0.49
$4.40
$1.76
$11.85
OtagoDeer
Nelson Deer
02/125
Alexander
the Great
33
7.50
0.84
11.00
0.70
-2.70
0.45
$1.92
$0.63
$8.63
Napier Deer
Nelson Deer
03/324
Winston
Churchill
9
17.20
0.83
12.40
0.67
-3.20
0.42
$8.17
$5.90
$18.97
Southland Stags
Nelson Deer
07/785
Alfred
24
19.20
0.88
18.50
0.75
-4.00
0.56
$7.20
$5.21
$21.24
Nelson Deer
Nelson Deer
06/329
Arthur
14
10.00
0.84
9.50
0.70
-4.10
0.47
$4.67
$2.36
$11.11
Nelson Deer
Te Anau Red Deer
209/05
Captain
Cook
14
9.00
0.86
9.60
0.73
-2.70
0.51
$3.18
$1.47
$9.82
Wanganui Deer
Te Anau Red Deer
399/07
Lord Nelson
12
13.00
0.84
9.50
0.71
-3.50
0.49
$6.62
$4.47
$14.43
Rangiora Deer
Te Anau Red Deer
289/06
Abel Tasman
33
17.70
0.89
10.80
0.75
-5.30
0.49
$10.17
$7.26
$19.67
Te Anau Red Deer
• Index’s show the relative $ per hind mated achieved
if using a particular stag
• Mature weight – Choosing Genghis Kahn over Arthur
Wellesly would be a good choice if you want to keep
mature weight down.
• Conception Date – Alfred carries genes with potential
for his daughters to calve 4 days earlier than stags
with a zero BV.
• Choosing Abel Tasman over Winston Churchill is
recommended if you are breeding replacement hinds
in a herd achieving an early kill profile.
• The accuracy figure shows data for Julius Caesar is
more reliable than Napoleon’s because he has sired more
progeny. But if you want to increase 12-month weight
you should still use Napoleon in preference to Julius
Caesar as he has a higher Yearling weight BV.
Selection information
The genetic advantage
Breeding Values (BV or EBV)
DEERSelect allows farmers to
systematically assess and select
expected genetic improvements
for their herds. Working alongside
stockmanship, this system gives
farmers the advantage of using
genetic evaluation to breed animals
with the best combination of
production traits for their environment.
A breeding value (BV) is a measure of
an animals genetic merit for a particular
trait, half of which will be passed on
to its progeny. While we will never know
the exact BV for performance traits,
it is possible to make good estimates
or Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs).
The higher productivity that comes
from breeding with genetically
superior animals is fixed in the
genetic makeup of animals and is
passed on to the next generation
so that the improvements are
permanent and cumulative.
A fawn gets half of its genes from the
stag and the other half from the hind.
So, if we had the choice of two stags,
with 12-month weight BVs of +12 kg
and +8 kg, the first stag will pass on an
impact of +6 kg to his offspring, while
the second will pass on +4 kg.
How can this help me?
Genetic Improvement can increase
performance & economic returns
Early
conception
date
+ Yearling
= EARLY
VENISON
weight
Excellent
Moderate
mature
weight
+ mature
= VELVET
velvet
PROFIT
Excellent
weight
EBVs are expressed in units of production
(kg of liveweight), so are directly related
to expected impacts on performance.
The offspring of the +12 stag is expected
to be 2 kg heavier at 12 months of age
than those of the +8 stag (i.e. half of
the difference in BV).
The absolute value of any EBV is not critical,
but rather the differences in EBVs between
animals. Particular animals should be
viewed as being “above or below the
breed average” for a particular trait.
Accuracy (Acc%)
Index
BVs are always an estimate – However,
the more information we have the more
confident we are that the BV is accurate
and close to the true breeding value.
‘Acc%’ is an indication of how confident
we are in the accuracy of the EBV.
A selection index is a comprehensive
way to simultaneously assess potential
benefits of breeding across a number
of traits. Each trait is weighted in a way
to maximize profitability.
BVs with accuracies of 80%+ are
excellent indications of true breeding
value. BVs with accuracies of 60-80%
are moderate indicators of true breeding
value – adding more information may
cause some changes in breeding value
estimates. BVs with accuracies less than
60% are indicative of breeding value,
and may change significantly with
additional information.
As a rule, animals should be compared
on EBVs regardless of accuracy. However,
where two animals have similar EBVs the
one with higher accuracy could be the
safer choice.
Economic indexes are interpreted in
a similar way to EBVs and are measured
in units of dollars of profit per animal
(hind or calf). Just as the relative value
of traits differs between production
systems, indexes also differ between
production systems.
Image TBC
(This image would need
retouching on right)
Current traits
DEERSelect focuses on breeding
values for traits of economic
importance. These include
conception date, growth and velvet.
Additional traits will be added to
provide more accurate measures
of total on- farm profitability.
Conception date (CD)
Conception date (CD) compares
the date that a hind is expected to
conceive relative to the industry average.
The data is taken by ultra sound scanning
of the foetus only where the hind has
been exposed to a stag on or before
10 March. CDs are reported where the
accuracy is greater than 40%: Where
accuracy is 40% – 60%, the information
is indicative and is being driven by
pedigree connections; accuracies of
60% – 75% are a reasonable indication;
accuracies greater than 75% are a good
indication of true merit and these stags
will have a number of daughters with
conception date records.
Growth traits
Weaning weight (WWT)
compares the weight of calves
at weaning.
Yearling weight (W12)
compares the weight of animals
in spring. Yearling weight is closely
related to carcase weight, so should
receive emphasis if purchasing for
venison production.
Mature (adult) weight (MWT)
compares the mature weight of hinds
(i.e. 3+ years). This trait is an indicator
of how much feed is required to maintain
an adult animal. Although it is expressed
on a breeding hind basis, it is closely
related to mature weight of adult stags
as well. Growth traits are expressed
as kilograms of liveweight.
Mature velvet weight (MVWT)
compares the weight of velvet produced
by a mature velveting stag. Values are
expressed as kilograms of velvet cut at
optimal time. This should be considered
along with likely impacts on velvet grade
when comparing animals.
Case
Study
Highmountain is a commercial farm who
want to keep the genetics in their herd
ticking over to improve the herds capital
value. By looking at the DEERSelect
genetic trends for the Brightstar Station
herd Highmountain have identified that
Brightstar’s herd is going in the direction
that they want. Highmountain purchases
a number of stags from Brightstar each
year, and selects these stags based on their
individual DEERSelect BVs. Highmountain
is happy with this arrangement, as they
know that by purchasing stags from the
top 25% in Brightstar’s herd the genetic
progress in their own herd will track
closely behind that of Brightstar.
Blueriver station also wants to breed a
high quality commercial hind herd, but
enjoy measuring and recording performance
on some of their own animals. Blueriver
purchases semen from Brightstar’s top
stags and from other stags on the top of the
DEERSelect list. Blueriver uses their semen
across their best hinds, to develop their own
little ‘elite’ herd from which they breed their
own stags. They use these stags across their
2,000 hind herd by natural service. Their
‘elite’ herd has about 100 hinds, all recorded
on DEERSelect, and they use the DEERSelect
BVs to choose their stags and hinds for their
elite herd. Blueriver doesn’t really aim to
breed the next big stag to make the top
of the DEERSelect national list – But in
time they hope that by continually using
the industry’s top stags (regardless of who
bred them) their elite herd will be almost
as good as the best herds in the country.
Economic indexes
Economic indexes allow for
simultaneous selection for
more than one trait. These are
combined into one numeric value
often expressed as $ per animal.
DEERSelect has chosen to present
3 indexes for 3 different situations.
Replacement – early kill systems:
•Where daughters are kept as replacement
hinds and the farm is targeting a spring
kill to achieve schedule premiums.
•12-month
weight and early calving have
a higher economic value, with some
downward pressure on mature hind size.
•Early
kill is defined as a farm with an
average slaughter date of 6th October
for stags and 6th December for hinds.
Replacement – late kill systems:
•Where daughters are kept as replacement
hinds but the farm is killing later.
•Greater
relative emphasis is placed
on maintaining a lower mature weight,
with less emphasis on growth and
early conception.
•Late
kill is defined as a farm with an
average slaughter date of 6th December
for stags and 6th February for hinds.
Terminal sire systems:
•No
daughters kept as replacements.
•The
main economic value is gained
from extra growth and there is no
benefit obtained from daughters
calving earlier or keeping mature hind
size down and so these traits receive
zero weighting in the index.
•In
future the terminal index might also
include indicators of yield, this facility
is under development (probably
available in late 2011).
VISIT www.
deeresearch.
org.nz TO VIEW
THE DEERSELECT
SUMMARY
TABLES AND
START GAINING
A FARMING
ADVANTAGE.
Further information
DEERSelect Summary Tables
are available online at
www.deeresearch.org.nz
For more information regarding
DEERSelect please contact:
AgResearch Limited
Jason Archer
Phone 03 489 9138
Mobile 029 489 9138
[email protected]
Jamie Ward
Phone 03 489 9186
[email protected]
Genetic Gains bureau
Julia Aspinall
Phone 03 216 3455
Fax 03 216 3405
[email protected]
www.genetic-gains.co.nz
NZ Performance Recording
Services bureau
Ken Moore
Phone 03 338 8078
Fax 03 338 7823
[email protected]
www.nzprs.co.nz