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
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
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