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Superintendent
David Davis
21262 Genoa Road
Linneus, MO 64653
Phone: 660 895-5121
FAX: 660 895=5122
Email: DavisDK@missouri.edu

Forage Systems Update
Vol 15, No. 4

Disposition or temperament of beef cattle is a concern for many beef producers. This is especially true for operations that utilize family members for labor to complete many of the day-to-day duties associated with beef production. No doubt, many a father and husband has worried about his wife and children handling cattle during calving and processing. Aside from the safety of handlers of beef cattle, does disposition affect production traits related to farm profitability? Other research has been done in Australia and the southern US that shows a reduction in feed intake, gain and meat tenderness. Interest in the genetic improvement of temperament has been expressed by producers in Missouri so a project was undertaken using cattle at Missouri Agricultural Experiment Stations. The first phase was to describe the phenotypic effects of disposition on gain during a back-grounding program. That experiment is described below.

Data were collected on high-percentage Angus steers (n=111) with known pedigree, to determine the effect disposition has on average daily gain (ADG) and weight gain (WG) during the short-term post-weaning growing period. Disposition was measured by pen scoring (PS) (1 gentle, 5 aggressive) and exit velocity (EV) (ft./sec). Exit velocity was measured using infrared electronic triggers to start and stop an electronic recording device to time a steer as it traveled a fixed distance (6 ft.) upon exiting a squeeze chute. Data was recorded on EV when the on-test weights were recorded, vaccinations for clostridial diseases and BRDC given, and the steers fit with electronic identification (EID) and visual ear tags. Pen scores were also recorded when the off-test weights were collected and blood drawn. Steers were gain tested for 55 days on farm and had a 534 lb. average on-test weight, 702 lb. off-test weight, average WG of 168 lb. and average ADG of 3.05 lb./day. Exit velocity averaged 7.4 ft./sec while PS averaged 2.09. The estimated effect of EV on WG was -11.9 lb./sec. Pen score, when EV was included in the model, was not a significant source of variation in WG. Exit velocity was correlated with PS r = 0.36 and WG r = -0.24. Pen score was correlated with WG r = -0.21. While the correlations between EV and WG were not significantly stronger than correlations between PS and WG, as an objective measure of temperament, EV was more desirable for explaining temperament effects on WG. Increases in EV (faster flight times) were negatively associated with WG during a short-term post-weaning growing period.

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