Crossbreeding for Beef Production: Experimental Results

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Abstract
One approach to summarizing the research results from cattle crossbreeding studies is to consider the relative importance of breed differences, reciprocal differences and heterosis as they affect various characters. Breed effects as indicated by the maximum differences outlined in this review were of moderate to high magnitude for most of the characters considered. This result implies that selection among available breeds can be an effective means of altering the characteristic requirements and outputs of the beef production system. This conclusion comes as no surprise, since one may consider a breed as a group of animals that exhibit similar performance for some sets of characters. Reciprocal differences of appreciable magnitude were reported for calving rate, calving difficulty and calf survival as characters of the calf, as well as for measures of size and growth. Average heterosis was important for calf survival and for measures of size and growth. Reciprocal differences and heterosis have been reported to affect carcass characters and puberty age of heifers, as well as calving rate and calf weaning weight as characters of the cow. The current recommendation of crossbreeding for most commercial production in the United States may be explained in terms of heterosis for traits usually considered desirable in terms of profitability. However, the flexibility available through crossbreeding to match performance levels to specific conditions must also be considered a real advantage. Breed effects and reciprocal differences constitute major considerations. Copyright © 1980. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1980 by American Society of Animal Science