Economic values for fertility, growth, carcass, and meat quality traits for seedstock and cow-calf operations in the Southeastern United States

Abstract

This study aimed to estimate trait-specific economic values for use as weights in economic selection indexes for Brahman and Angus–Brahman beef cattle operations. Economic values (EVs) were derived for fertility, growth, and carcass traits using the UF Purebred Brahman and the UF Multibreed Angus–Brahman (MAB) herds as a reference population. Bioeconomic models were developed using herd variable costs, revenues, and management data collected from February 2024 to May 2025. The BRA herd is a seedstock production operation focused on the breeding and marketing of registered, genetically superior purebred animals, providing genetic material to support the long-term sustainability of the beef cattle industry. In addition to the BRA herd, a simulated scenario was developed to represent a broader range of seedstock operations in the Southeastern United States. Offspring from the BRA herd and the seedstock scenario were either sold at weaning or yearling, retained as replacements, slaughtered for carcass evaluation, or sold for breeding purposes. The MAB herd is a cow-calf operation that focuses on breeding cows to produce one healthy, marketable calf per cow per year, supplying the beef industry with enough and high-quality meat. In addition to the MAB herd, three simulated scenarios were developed to represent a broader range of cow–calf operations in the Southeastern United States. Offspring from the MAB herd and from the simulated scenarios were either sold at weaning or yearling, retained as replacements, or marketed to a meat processor. EVs were estimated as the expected change in profitability resulting from a one-unit change in performance of a specific trait, while holding all other traits constant. EVs were estimated for calving success-to-sale (CSS), age at first pregnancy (AFP), weaning weight (WW), yearling weight (WY), weight at 15 months of age (W15), weight at 18 months of age (W18), dressing percentage (DP), USDA quality grade (QG), and USDA yield grade (YG). In the BRA herd and the simulated seedstock scenario, calving success-to-sale was the most economically important trait, followed by AFP, DP, QG, WY, YG, W15, and WW. In the MAB herd and the three simulated scenarios, calving success-to-sale was also the most highly valued trait, followed by AFP, DP, QG, YG, and growth traits. The relative importance of growth traits in the MAB herd and simulated scenarios varied by marketing endpoint, highlighting the need to align selection for growth traits with revenue-generating sale strategies. In conclusion, trait specific economic values enable selection strategies for improving the efficiency of genetic progress. Overall, the results support data-driven breeding decisions to optimize productivity, profitability, and genetic progress through multiple-trait selection.