Beef cattle breed societies worldwide maintain pedigree information on their registered animals tracing back many generations. This extensive data facilitates the estimation of the expected relationship between individual pairs. Concurrently over recent decades, advancements in genotyping technologies have allowed for precise calculations of the actual relationships among any given pairs and the genetic diversity in the entire population. To thoroughly compare expected (pedigree-based) and observed (genotype-based) relationships, we utilized the Angus Australia database, focusing on a specific group of 10,309 genotyped offspring born between 2013 and 2023, from 269 bulls and 646 dams with at least 100 and 10 progeny, respectively. After examining over 62 million animal pairs, we found that discrepancies are infrequent and due to either errors in pedigree documentation or genotyping inaccuracies. Our study reveals the genetic diversity and breeding management decisions occurring in modern Australian Angus breeding programs. Furthermore, our approach constitutes a robust method for evaluating inheritance theory with implications for the broader community of animal scientists and producers.

Read the full article in the Journal of Animal Science.