04/21/1995

Kriese Decoding EPDs for Alabama Cattle Producers

AUBURN, Ala. - Translating science into action can be difficult. Just ask cattle producers who want to use expected progeny differences (EPDs), but can't quite figure out how to apply the code. An Auburn University scientist is helping decipher that code.

Lisa Kriese, assistant professor of animal and dairy sciences at Auburn with a joint appointment in research and extension, spends her time educating producers about what EPDs are and how they can be used, and also trying to expand their usefulness.

An EPD is a numerical tool that is a combination of the animal's own performance records (birth and weaning weights) and any available performance information from their progeny and ancestors.

"EPDs try to estimate which genes an animal has that will be passed on to their offspring," Kriese explained. "The more information we have on an animal, the better prediction we have about how their progeny will perform."

Kriese grew up on a registered Hereford farm in Liverpool, N.Y., and earned her undergraduate degree in animal science from Cornell. Her interest in genetics was sparked by an undergraduate class in an animal breeding, and she went on to get her master's degree in animal breeding from Kansas State and the Ph.D. in animal breeding from the University of Georgia. Her Ph.D. work focused on developing technology for EPDs, and she continued that work as a post-doctoral fellow at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay County, Nebraska, for a year before coming to Auburn in 1993.

Kriese's research at Auburn has focused on proving that EPDs work, or don't and improving the data base on which EPDs are based so that producers can have a more precise picture of their genetic options. This eventually may help improve the accuracy of EPDs.

Kriese explained that EPDs were taken from theoretical jargon to applied tools by Larry Benyshek, a University of Georgia animal scientist who applied state-of-the art technology to genetic information and established the first EPDs for Brangus and Limousin cattle in 1983. It took several years for cattle producers to understand and begin to use EPDs, but many have found that EPDs can have a significant impact on their breeding programs.

"Breeders are finding that they can change their cattle by using EPDs as one of the tools for genetic selection," said Kriese. "We are beginning to see breeders throughout the United States say this. They are saying 'I thought I was at the top genetically and, by using EPDs, I found out I was not.'"

Most purebred cattle organizations have established EPDs for their breed, but perhaps the next logical step is to formulate across-breed EPDs. This will allow direct comparison of purebred animals across breeds, which is not currently possible.

The first step in this process is to determine the strengths of each breed and how the breeds can be compared to one another. The next step is figuring out ways to account for environmental differences. For example, certain breeds will perform better in the Southeast than in other regions of the country because the breed is better adapted to this region. Right now, EPDs do not take that into consideration.

Kriese is particularly interested in investigating the feasibility of across-breed EPDs. "We are working hard to establish across-breed beef cattle differences as seen in the southeastern United States," she explained.

Until those breed differences can be established, Kriese still has a lot to do as an educator. "Most of my extension work is aimed at helping commercial cattle producers apply EPDs so they can select genetically superior stock that will improve their operations," she explained. "We still have such an education process to go through. I am getting questions from county agents and producers that suggest that they still don't understand how these work. Not even all the scientific community understands them, much less the producers."

Kriese also is in charge of Auburn's Bull Test program and sale, which she admitted can be a perplexing event for producers, but can also help them gain information about their animals that they could never obtain on the farm.

"Education is a big part of the Bull Test program as well," Kriese said. "We probably collect 30 pieces of information on each bull and all that information can be overwhelming to the potential buyers and the sellers. They get this catalogue and see all these numbers and they often wonder what numbers they should look at so they can pick the best bull for their needs."

If Kriese's research and extension efforts are successful, however, EPDs may someday be a universal language understood by all producers and that results in better cattle in their pastures and greater profits in their pockets.

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News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
Contact Katie Jackson, 334-844-5886 or smithcl@auburn.edu

April 21, 1995