Steer Planet - Show Steers and Club Calves Forum

Is this all going to come down to validating MarkT�s  G9 theory? 

What theory......same one as Enticer,

The only people who even hint that Shorthorns are unadulterated are the native breeders. However when you consider that: forms of double muscling were around in the 19th century, and that a number of the breeds exhibiting " this and that"-(Particularly Maines) are directly descended from Shorthorns ; then its not as much fun as a witch hunt-its an acknowledgement by most of the persons responding to this thread that you need to have an idea of "what you got"-And breed accordingly.- Cows 101

Wasn't Enticer the non * bull that pure pure pure. What is his status......

All over the place-He was so diverse he may have been sold 10 or 15 times

Curious what this means

I have lots to learn yet about myostatin, but it does appear that it is not something new in the Shorthorn breed. Some breeders in the UK have told me, that double muscling in Shorthorns can be traced back to the very early days of the breed. When I was in Scotland a few years ago, old time breeders told me that double muscled calves appeared occasionally back then.  They say that some of the breeds that evolved from Shorthorn blood, such as the Belgian Blue and Maines, got the double muscling traits from the myostatin strains passed on by their Shorthorn fore fathers. I have also read that myostatin is found in many breeds. It appears that Shorthorns may have more cases of it than some others. So far, I have only tested about 20 animals for myostatin and the results have been all over the map. I started testing my donors and my present herd sires and I am hoping to get some more done soon. I have found it almost impossible to predict which animals will be carriers and which will not. I have had myostatin carriers from genetics from all parts of the world- some straight Canadian, some US,and some Aussie bloodlines. I have had completely clean animals from all these different bloodlines as well.
The British Shorthorn society has recently passed a rule that ET calves can only be registered if they are from parents that carry one or less myostatin strains. ET calves from a parent with more than one myostatin strain can be registered only once they are tested and found to only have one or no strains. I have talked with one breeder from the UK and he says that they are walking very carefully in regards to myostatin, as it is not just a negative condition. He says that myostatin is also linked to tenderness in beef, and that is why some packers are paying a premium for myostatin carriers. Like most of these things, everyone has a theory and it gets confusing trying to sort through to the truth. I have found some of the research articles confusing as well, and some contradict each other. I am spending two weeks in Ireland and England in early August and I am hoping to find out more from their expertise in this area. I have not tested any of my former herd sires yet, but I am pretty certain some will prove to be myostatin carriers. I may be surprised, but that is what I am thinking right now. Like Scot mentioned, I have only had two double muscled calves in my herd, and strangely, both were from bloodlines I bought to add to my herd. The first one came from a cow I purchased in Alberta many years ago. Straight Canadian beef breeding, but the calf was line bred to a known myostatin carrier we know of today.  The second was from a set of embryos I purchased a few years ago. Again, both sire and dam were Canadian beef breeding and also like Scot mentioned, both these calves topped the market when I sold them. I did not have any calving issues from either one of these calves. Both females calved by themselves and the calves were extremely good looking until they got a bit older and the heavy muscling began to appear.
Like many others, I am scrambling to learn as much as I can about this condition, and I hope I can sort through the truth and the fiction and find out how to deal properly with it. It appears that one strain of myostatin may result in more calving and muscling issues than the others. I need more proof if this is actually true or not as well.
A commercial bull buyer who has purchased several bulls from me over the years, also purchased a Speckle Park bull in 2018. He told me that the Speckle Park breeder told him that he should not breed his Shorthorn cross cows to the Speckle Park bull because he could end up with some double muscled calves. He did breed 4-5 Shorthorn cows to the Speckle Park bull and all the calves are normal. I have never heard this from anyone else, but I guess there may be a chance this is true. Speckle Park are derived from blending Shorthorn and Angus bloodlines back in the 60s. I also have had an Angus breeder tell me that he had a purebred Angus calf that was double muscled a few years ago as well. If this is the case, it makes me wonder how significant myostatin is in other breeds? I have read that double muscling can be also found in Simmental as well. Again, I am not sure how common this is. Lots to learn yet!

GAFA MOCHICAN is in Hot Commodity's pedigree.  In our pastures the cows expect calves by 3 myostatin untested AI sires with Mohican in the pedigree this fall.  Since there are many Shorthorns with Maine genetics in them in the U.S., on the pedigree as well as some whose breeders "forgot to write it down," there is urgency for DM/myostatin testing!  Many breeders are also using Canadian cattle tracing back to Mohican.  Using non-carriers should be a priority. 

I salute the Canadian breeders for their leadership and doing the right thing!  Our Homeplace Hot Commodity 1625 is being tested.  Testing sooner saves money.  What is the turn-around time for myostatin testing?  Is there still time to test cattle for this fall's sales?   

If the myostatin gene carriers are significantly better carcasses.......is there potential for a branded beef line? If genetic tests get cheaper....you would have a way to dna select a superior tasting beef product.

if better means devoid of marbling but tender, then you are going to have to compete with the pied branding.