Productive longevity (PL) is a concept that blends cow longevity with reproductive performance quantified by the number of calves regularly produced over the defined lifespan. Specifically, PL was defined as the number of calves consecutively and regularly produced from the second to the eighth parity at 9 yr of age, assuming the first calf was produced at roughly 2 yr of age. Genetic selection for PL can improve producers’ profit by identifying animals with higher genetic merit to produce more calves regularly, and consequently reduce replacement rate and related costs. The purpose of this study was to develop a data screening strategy and a statistical model to predict genetic merit for PL in a multibreed beef cattle population. Selecting bulls with high genetic merit for PL should yield on average 1.2 additional progeny per daughter compared to bulls with low genetic merit. Moreover, when assessing the predictive performance of PL, it was observed that having approximately the first three calving dates contributing to PL are good indicators of cows’ posterior performance. Such results highlighted the benefits and importance of PL for beef cow-calf producers to inform selection decisions, especially when incorporated into economic selection indexes to maximize profitability.

Read the full article in the Journal of Animal Science.