U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska
Date of this Version
1993
Document Type
Article
Citation
Published in Beef Research Program Progress Report, No. 4, Part 2 (May 1993)
Abstract
Crossbreeding provides an opportunity to improve performance by beef cattle. Breed differences are heritable and can be used to produce superior crossbred cattle. Heterosis results from bringing together unlike genes from different breeds to produce an animal with a level of performance that exceeds the average of the parent breeds. We develop crossbreeding systems to make the greatest improvement in performance possible consistent with a sustainable breeding program. Heterosis and differences among breeds are tools of the trade. In this paper, we combine the results from earlier studies to investigate their practical applications.
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