Heart failure in cattle can develop in animals of any age, breed, or altitude, explained Isabella Kukor, a PhD candidate at Colorado State University, during her talk at the 2024 Beef Improvement Federation Symposium in Knoxville. Her presentation, “Heart Score Comparisons between Finished Beef and Beef on Dairy Animals,” highlighted how breed makeup affects heart health risks in feedlot cattle.
Assessing Heart Health in Feedlot Cattle
Kukor outlined a scoring system to assess heart damage in cattle, where a score from one to five rates heart health—from a healthy heart to severe damage likely leading to premature loss. A score of three or above indicates animals at higher risk of heart failure. Her research team applied this method to compare heart health in beef breeds (such as Angus and Simmental) against a DairyX group (crosses with Holstein, Jersey, Angus, and Simmental) to see which types of animals were more susceptible to heart issues in finishing.
The findings showed that beef breeds were more prone to higher heart scores, with 50% of animals scoring between two and three. DairyX cattle, on the other hand, typically had lower scores, averaging between one and two. For heart scores indicating risk (three or higher), 29% of beef animals fell into this category, compared to only 16% of DairyX. Kukor noted that dairy influence tends to correlate with lower heart scores, adding, “Incorporating dairy breeds generally results in healthier heart scores than increasing beef influence.”
Implications for Breeding Strategies
Kukor emphasized the importance of these findings for breeding strategies, suggesting that rather than focusing on specific breed combinations, producers might consider overall animal type. For example, adding dairy genetics may result in healthier heart scores, though producers may need to balance this benefit against the typically higher carcass weight associated with beef breeds.
Producers will need to decide whether the potential health advantage of dairy genetics is worth a possible reduction in carcass weight in terminal crossbreeding.
Please click here to watch Kukor’s full presentation.
