Animal Sciences Commons^™

Comparison Of Different Functions To Describe Growth From Weaning To Maturity In Crossbred Beef Cattle, Madeline J. Zimmermann, Larry A. Kuehn, Matthew L. Spangler, R. Mark Thallman, Warren M. Snelling, Ronald M. Lewis

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Cow mature weight (MWT) has increased in the past 30 yr. Larger cows cost more to maintain, but their efficiency—and thus profitability— depends on the production environment. Incorporating MWT effectively into selection and mating decisions requires understanding of growth to maturity. The objective of this study was to describe growth to maturity in crossbred beef cattle using Brody, spline, and quadratic functions. Parameter estimates utilized data on crossbred cows from cycle VII and continuous sampling phases of the Germplasm Evaluation Program at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center. The MWT were estimated at 6 yr from the fitted parameters obtained …