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Muddy pens can negatively affect welfare and performance of feedlot beef cattle. In some regions with temperate weather, plastic greenhouse covers, above the entire pens are used to fatten cattle in a clean and dry environment. The objective of this research was to investigate effects of greenhouse roofed pens on beef cattle feedlot performance in temperate weather. Data were collected from a feedlot located in Central Mexico between 2016 and 2019. The study included 1,062 closeouts of pens with 68,305 crossbred bulls fed in pens with or without a greenhouse roof. Feeding ranged from 82 to 210 d, depending on the initial weight of cattle, which ranged from 255 to 511 kg. For each pen, average daily dry matter intake (DMI; kg of DMI·animal−1·d−1), average daily gain (ADG, kg·animal−1·d−1), and feed efficiency (G:F, ADG/DMI) were measured. Factorial analyses were performed to test the interaction and main effects of initial weight grouping (light, medium, and heavy), roof, and season as fixed effects, and year as a random effect. None of the three-way interactions were significant (P > 0.51). There was no initial weight grouping × roof interactions for DMI and ADG (P > 0.31). There was (P = 0.03) an initial weight grouping × roof interaction for G:F, as pens of all initial weight groups had greater (P < 0.01) G:F in pens with greenhouse roof than its counterpart in pens without greenhouse roof, but the advantage was greater for pens with light cattle (0.178 vs. 0.166; P < 0.01). There was no initial weight grouping × season interactions for all variables (P > 0.39). There was no roof × season interaction for DMI (P = 0.47), but there were interactions for ADG and G:F (P < 0.01). The ADG was not different (P > 0.13) during summer and autumn based on the roofing system, but pens with greenhouse roofs had greater ADG during spring (1.70 vs. 1.61) and winter (1.68 vs. 1.64; P ≤ 0.01). The G:F was greater (P < 0.01) in all seasons for pens with a greenhouse roof, with the most prominent advantage during spring (0.173 vs. 0.160). There were main effects for cattle initial weight grouping and roof for all variables (P < 0.01). Season affected DMI and G:F (P < 0.01). Pens with greenhouse roofs had decreased DMI (9.70 vs. 9.86), greater ADG (1.67 vs. 1.63), and increased G:F (0.173 vs. 0.166) compared to pens without greenhouse roofs (P < 0.01). Pens with greenhouse roofs in feedlots located in temperate regions positively affect beef cattle performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Institute of Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Research in Mexico has been active for decades in researching genetic improvement in beef cattle. This review uses master theses, congress papers and scientific articles published from 1987 to 2020 to summarize much of the relevant research, and addresses research challenges and outlook over the short-, medium- and long-term in this area. Research done over the last 34 yr has evaluated the productive and reproductive performance of Bos indicus and Bos taurus x Bos indicus beef cattle raised under tropical conditions. Multibreed genetic evaluations have been done for Simmental-Simbrah and Charolais-Charbray populations in Mexico. Analyses have quantified the importance of maternal effects on growth traits, and estimated heritability and genetic correlations for growth and reproductive traits in male and female Bos taurus and Bos indicus animals. The genotype-environment interaction has been confirmed to influence expression of weaning weight in Simmental cattle. Age adjustment factors have been developed for maternal age for weights at birth and weaning, and prototypes of national genetic evaluation were developed for stayability and heifer fertility. Genetic diversity has been quantified for Simmental, Charolais and Simbrah populations, and SNPs identified that are associated with growth traits in Simmental and Simbrah populations. Short-term goals include development of selection indices and prediction of the genetic merit of carcass traits. Over the medium-term, emphasis is needed on genomic evaluations for tolerance to heat stress, residual feed intake and health traits, while in the long-term the goal is to make interbreed genomic predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Se evaluaron seis alternativas para definir grupos contemporáneos (GC) en la evaluación genética nacional para peso al destete de bovinos Suizo Europeo en México. Los GC se formaron mediante la combinación de tres tamaños mínimos (3, 7 ó 10 registros) y su consideración como efecto fijo o aleatorio. Los modelos incluyeron los efectos aleatorios: genético directo y materno, su covarianza, y ambiente permanente. Además, se consideraron los efectos lineal y cuadrático de la covariable edad de la vaca al parto. Los GC se formaron combinando los efectos de año y época de nacimiento, condición de crianza, hato y sexo de la cría. Las seis alternativas de GC se compararon mediante: estadísticos descriptivos de los valores genéticos predichos y sus exactitudes; (co)varianzas y parámetros genéticos; y asociaciones entre los valores genéticos predichos, y entre las exactitudes correspondientes. Para los efectos genéticos directos, los promedios de exactitud fueron ligeramente mayores considerando GC como aleatorio en lugar de fijo, mientras que para los efectos genéticos maternos no hubo diferencias. Las exactitudes mayores se obtuvieron con un mínimo de siete registros por GC. Tanto para efectos genéticos directos como maternos, los estimadores de heredabilidad más altos se observaron con el tamaño mínimo de siete registros por GC, independientemente si los análisis lo consideraron como efecto fijo o aleatorio. La mejor alternativa de definición de grupos contemporáneos fue considerar un mínimo de siete registros y su inclusión como efecto fijo en los análisis genéticos para esta raza en México. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six alternatives of contemporary group (CG) definition for the genetic evaluation of weaning weight of Braunvieh cattle in Mexico were evaluated. Different alternatives of CG definition were formed by combining three minimum CG sizes (3, 7 or 10 records) and its consideration either as a fixed or random effect. The models included the direct and maternal genetic effects, their covariance, and permanent environment as random effects, and the linear and quadratic effects of cow age at calving as a covariate. The CG were formed by combining the effects of year and season of birth, calf's rearing condition, herd, and calf sex. The six alternatives of CG definition were compared using the descriptive statistics of the predicted breeding values and their accuracies, (co)variances and genetic parameters, and both the correlation between the predicted breeding values, and between their corresponding accuracies. On average, the accuracies of the direct genetic effects were slightly higher when CG was considered fixed than when it was fitted as random effect. For the maternal genetic effects there was no difference. The highest accuracies were obtained with a CG size of at least seven records. For both, the direct and maternal genetic effects, the CG size of seven records produced the highest heritability estimates, regardless of CG being fitted as fixed or random effect. The best alternative of contemporary group definition was a minimum of seven records and its inclusion as a fixed effect in the model for the genetic evaluation of this breed in Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charolais calf records provided by the Mexican Charolais Breeders Association for an eight year period (1997-2005) were analyzed to estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters for birth weight (n=39,821), weaning weight adjusted to 205 d (n=39,556), and postweaning gain (n=21,831). Estimates of (co)variance components were obtained by REML with an EM algorithm and single-trait animal models. Maternal permanent environmental effects were unimportant for birth weight and postweaning gain and were not included in the final model. Estimates of direct heritability were 0.22, 0.33, and 0.45 for birth weight, adjusted weaning weight and postweaning gain, respectively. Estimates for the corresponding maternal component were 0.16, 0.17, and 0.14. Estimates of total heritability and direct-maternal genetic correlation were 0.12 and -0.65, 0.16 and -0.72, and 0.20 and -0.84 for birth weight, adjusted weaning weight and postweaning gain, respectively. For adjusted weaning weight, the estimated maternal permanent environmental variance (28.93 kg²) accounted for 4 % of the estimated total phenotypic variance (765.43 kg²). Expected response to single-trait selection for growth traits of Mexican Charolais cattle would be lessened due to highly negative direct-maternal genetic correlations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]