Ranking of Nellore animals in cattle championships: genetic parameters and correlations with production traits

Records of 17,141 Nellore cattle participating in cattle championships, born from 1994-2009, were used to estimate genetic parameters between animal rank in cattle championships, evaluated from weaning to 36 months of age as repeated traits, and growth, fertility, and carcass traits, evaluated at 365 days of age as single traits. Two traits were defined for animal rank in cattle championships: value 1 was attributed to animals ranked from 1st to 3rd place within the age category, and value 0 was assigned to the remaining animals (TOP3). Value 1 was attributed to animals ranked from 1st to 5th place within the age category and value 0 was assigned to the remaining animals (TOP5). The (co)variance components were estimated based on Bayesian inference under a 2-trait threshold-linear animal model. The posterior means of heritability estimated for TOP3 and TOP5 were 0.182 ± 0.010 and 0.260 ± 0.012, respectively, and their repeatabilities were 0.341 ± 0.007 and 0.400 ± 0.007, respectively. High-ranking animals generally presented higher breeding values for body weight, height, body length, and heart girth. The phenotypic correlations indicate that judges of cattle championships primarily rank animals based on weight and heart girth.