Genetic aspects of longevity in Angus and Hereford cows

Thirty years and 23 yr of life history data from a Hereford herd in Arizona and an Angus herd in Wyoming, respectively, were analyzed. Longevity averaged 4.21 +/- .06 for years from first calving to disposal (FST), 7.40 +/- .06 for years from birth to disposal (AGE) and 3.46 +/- .06 for lifetime number of calves weaned (NUM) in Herefords and 4.49 +/- .13 (FST), 6.68 +/- .12 (AGE) and 3.66 +/- .11 (NUM) in Angus. In the Hereford herd, heritability estimates for traits measuring longevity, estimated from daughter-dam regression and paternal half-sib analyses, ranged from .16 to .26. In the Angus herd, heritability estimates from daughter-dam regression ranged from .03 to .05. In the Hereford herd, genetic correlations of birth weight and weaning weight with longevity, from daughter-dam regression, were negative and generally of low magnitude, whereas genetic correlations between weaning condition score and longevity were positive and moderate. Analogous estimates from paternal half-sib analyses all were positive and moderate to high. Phenotypic correlations between early life traits and longevity traits in Herefords all were near zero. In the Angus herd, curves for age-specific survivorship and age-specific survival rate varied markedly among sires. This study suggested the existence of moderate genetic variation for longevity traits in beef cattle. None of the traits expressed early in life that were examined would, however, be reliable predictors of genetic or phenotypic merit for longevity.