Developing twinning cattle for commercial production

Abstract

Long-term selection programs in the United States and New Zealand have developed twinning herds. In Nebraska, the United States Meat Animal Research Centre population had a calving rate of 1.56 per parturition in 2004. They have shown that the location of ovulation has an important effect on the success of pregnancy and that ovulations ≥3 are probably undesirable. These cattle have issues associated with calving difficulty and calf survival, which present challenges for commercial application. Intensive management using existing technology and/or future genetic improvement to address these traits are required to realise the potential benefits to beef production systems.