Composite Breed Research Paper

A new breed of cattle called the M&M Master (short for Milk & Meat Master) will be created by using four existing breeds, which are Angus, Hereford, Holstein, and Jersey and will be raised in Northeast Louisiana. The Angus and Hereford breeds will intermate to produce offspring that will intermate with the offspring of the Holstein and Jersey breeds to create a new breed that could be used for both beef and dairy production. Each breed will evenly contribute 25% to the new composite breed, which includes contributions to the composite breed’s traits as well as its advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage of using both Angus and Hereford is that both are known for their excellent meat quality, so their overall benefit for the composite
breed will be that they will slightly improve the meat quality. Some other advantages of the Angus breed are that it lowers the average age at first calving while also increasing the live weight of the composite. Although Angus has excellent meat quality, a disadvantage is that it produces a significantly lower amount of milk than Holsteins so it would greatly lower milk production of the composite breed. Even though the Hereford breed would improve the meat quality, it would have more negative contributions to the composite than positive contributions, which include decreased milk production and lifespan as well as increased age at first calving.
An advantage of the Holstein breed is that it’ll positively influence milk production and benefit the composite breed by increasing the overall amount of milk produced. Although Holsteins are an excellent breed to use for increased milk production, there are downsides which are it’ll increase the percentage of calving difficulty and birth weight of the composite breed. Jerseys are a breed known for their advantageous low birth weights and calving difficulties as well as their extended lifespans. Therefore, the Jersey breed will contribute more advantages than disadvantages to the composite since it would decrease birth weight and calving difficulty while simultaneously increasing the composite lifespan. Even though there are more pros than cons for the Jersey breed, there is a con for this breed to consider, which is that it has a low live weight and would, therefore, lower the overall live weight of the composite
breed.
The composite breed will have a brindle like colored physical appearance with a reddish/brown base color, some areas darker and/or black, and white extremities.
The reddish color/tint would be contributed by the Hereford breed, the brown color from the Jersey breed, the darker/black areas from Angus and Holstein breeds, and white extremities from the Hereford and Holstein breeds. The predicted birth weight of the composite breed will be about 91 lbs., which is calculated by averaging of all the breeds’ birth weights, multiplying the average by the heritability (15%), and adding the heritability difference to the average. The birth weights of each breed are: Angus and Hereford each weigh 78.7 lbs., Holstein weigh 90 lbs., and Jersey weigh 68.6 lbs. (Herring; “Facts About Holstein Cattle”). The composite will have a live weight of about 1,705 lbs. which is calculated by averaging of all the breeds’ live weights, multiplying the average by the heritability (15%), and adding the heritability difference to the average. The live weights for each breed are: Angus weighs 1,681 lbs., Hereford and Holstein both weigh about 1,500 lbs., and Jersey weighs 1,250 lbs. (“Breeding Angus Cattle”; “Facts About Holstein Cattle”; “Hereford”; “Jersey Dairy Cattle”). The calving difficulty for the composite breed will be about 4.2%, which is calculated by averaging each breed’s calving difficulty, multiplying the average by the heritability (15%), and adding the heritability difference to the
average. The Jersey calving difficulty of 1% lowers the high calving difficulty of Holsteins, which is 7.9% and the Angus and Hereford contribute a 2.9% calving difficulty, which ultimately lowers the composite calving difficulty (Herring; “Facts About Holstein Cattle”).
As mentioned before, milk production of the composite breed will be greatly impacted mostly since both the Angus and Hereford breeds are used mainly for beef production rather than dairy. Thus, the composite breed will produce about 13,323 lbs. (~1549 gallons) of milk per year. The composite’s milk production is calculated by averaging the amount of milk produced for each individual breed per year, multiplying the average by the heritability (15%), and adding the heritability difference to the average. Milk production for each breed per year is: Angus produces 3,650 lbs. (~424 gallons), Hereford produces 3,285 lbs. (~382 gallons), Holstein produces 24,958 lbs. (2,902 gallons), and Jersey produces 14,449 lbs. (~1680 gallons) (“Danish Jersey Breed Information”; “Facts About Holstein Cattle”; Lindquist). The composite breed’s predicted age of first calving is about 31 months while the lifespan is about 21 years. The composite’s age of first calving is calculated by averaging each breed’s first calving ages, multiplying the average by the heritability (15%), and adding the heritability difference to the average. The ages at first calving for each breed are: Angus calves at 25.5 months, Hereford calves at 31 months, Holstein calves at 26.8 months, and Jersey calves at 25.8 months (“Breeding Angus Cattle”; Dakay; “Why Jerseys”). The composite’s lifespan is calculated by averaging each breed’s lifespan, multiplying the average by the heritability (15%), and adding the heritability difference to the average. The lifespans for each breed are: Angus lives an average of 18.5 years, Hereford lives an average of 13.5 years, Holstein lives an average of 15 years, and Jersey lives an average of 25 years (“Facts About Holstein Cattle”; “Hereford”; Ramsey; “The Average Life Expectancy of Jersey Cows”).
Research conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison by Daniel M. Schaefer concluded that the meat quality of the Holstein breed is no different than beef obtained from beef breeds such as Angus or Hereford because tests determined that taste and juiciness were not affected by breed (Schaefer). Therefore, the composite breed’s meat quality will be so little impacted by the Holstein and Jersey breeds that the difference is negligible and will be just as tender, juicy, and tasty as any other beef breed. Each breed can adapt to a wide range of environments and climates that include intense hot and/or cold temperatures ranging from -40 degrees Fahrenheit to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (“Breeding Angus Cattle”; “Hereford”; “Facts About Holstein Cattle”). Each breed contributes to the composite breed’s adaptability to environments and/or climates, which makes it perfect to raise in Northeast Louisiana since the weather typically changes from day to day. The weather change in Northeast Louisiana is beneficial to the composite because the temperatures are rarely ever extremely cold or hot and it rains often providing water to ensure the crops for the composite breed are grown and ready for consumption.
In conclusion, the M&M Master is beneficial since it has a dual purpose of milk and meat production. Even though the composite is the overall best choice for production, its constituent breeds contribute all their disadvantages as well as their advantages to the composite. Some breeds have disadvantages such as low milk production or high birth weights and calving difficulties that may slow down production, but one breed’s disadvantage is another breed’s advantage. One breed may lack or bring down the average for one trait, but another breed makes up for it since it provides a more than average statistic/production rate. Other breeds have advantageous traits such as high lifespan, live weight, and milk production or low birth weights and calving difficulties. Each breeds’ disadvantages and advantages combined average out and result in a composite breed that is an all-around excellent and perfect choice for an animal that can be used for both meat and milk production.