Fast forward to today, and the prediction of the advancements in developing polled genetics that rank higher on the genetic rankings is a reality. Searching the top-ranking daughter proven and genomic lists across many indexes in the Holstein and Jersey breeds, one does not need to look far down the lists to find polled genetics in the top 50 and top 100 lists.
As a born and raised “dairy person” who has also become a registered beef breeder in the last decade, I was in awe with my first calf crop. As the calves hit the ground in the first year of our cow-calf operation, I was armed with dehorning paste, ready to tackle the job of horn removal as soon as possible after birth. Not finding horn buds or even scurs on any of the calves, I did additional research to discover that finding beef cattle that carry the horned gene is nearly the opposite of the dairy.
As beef-on-dairy has expanded across the U.S., the frequency of the many dairy-beef crossbred calves born polled is commonplace. Dehorning is a task that remains low on the list of enjoyable duties on a dairy, and consumer perception surrounding calf management remains a topic that we must continue to handle with care. Polled genetics expanding in the dairy population could help us to cross this dehorning task off the “to-do” list permanently.
In a decade from now, might we reflect on this article as “the days when we talked about horned genetics” in dairy cattle? It is certainly possible, as we can now see a polled future without the large genetic merit trade-off.
