Breed selection (for beef cattle)
In beef production, the principle objectives are:
- weight of beef sold per cow mated or per unit area of grazing land
- quality of beef sold per cow mated or per unit area of grazing land
A number of variables influence these production objectives:
 fertility
 structural soundness
 survivability / mortality
 growth rate
 maturity rate
 maternal ability
 environmental adaptation
 carcass characteristics
Genetic variation within breeds
Within breeds, there are variations within the accepted norms. That is, genetic
variability exists so that not all animals in late maturing breeds are large or marble
poorly and not all animals in early maturing breeds are small or have sufficient fat
cover.
For many traits, there may be as much variation genetically within a breed as there is
between breeds.
Variation within a breed is usually an advantage, but is not a pre-requisite to
successful crossbreeding. With Brahmans, for example, there is less variation for tick
resistance than for other breeds. This is a benefit as most Brahmans have a higher
level of tick resistance.
Table 1 – Example only
Dam calving
difficulty
Simmental
Charolais
Blond
D’Aquitaine
Milk production
(B)
Friesian
Jersey
-
Growth rate (A)
Tropical (•)
Brahman
Sahiwal
Africander
Temperate
Maine Anjou
Blond
D’Aquitaine