| Summary: | (1) Background: The F<sub>st</sub> statistic is widely used to characterize between-breed relationships. F<sub>st</sub> = 0.1 has frequently been taken as indicating genetic distinctiveness between breeds. This study investigates whether this is justified. (2) Methods: A database was created of 35,080 breed pairs and their corresponding F<sub>st</sub> values, deduced from microsatellite and SNP studies covering cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, and chickens. Overall, 6560 (19%) of breed pairs were between breeds located in the same country, 7395 (21%) between breeds of different countries within the same region, 20,563 (59%) between breeds located far apart, and 562 (1%) between a breed and the supposed wild ancestor of the species. (3) Results: General values for between-breed F<sub>st</sub> were as follows, cattle: microsatellite 0.06–0.12, SNP 0.08–0.15; sheep: microsatellite 0.06–0.10, SNP 0.06–0.17; horses: microsatellite 0.04–0.11, SNP 0.08–0.12; goats: microsatellite 0.04–0.14, SNP 0.08–0.16; pigs: microsatellite 0.06–0.27, SNP 0.15–0.22; chickens: microsatellite 0.05–0.28, SNP 0.08–0.26. (4) Conclusions: (1) Large amounts of F<sub>st</sub> data are available for a substantial proportion of the world’s livestock breeds, (2) the value for between-breed F<sub>st</sub> of 0.1 is not appropriate owing to its considerable variability, and (3) accumulated F<sub>st</sub> data may have value for interdisciplinary research.
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