With national herd rebuilding starting to gain some traction as droughts begin to ease, many breeders are looking for the bull that will take their herd to the next level. As seedstock breeders, it is critical to study your herd and identify areas for improvement, which will allow you to identify the next sire to use. Utilize EPDs provided by ABBA to identify a bull with genetic potential that is greater than your current herd for a given trait, which will improve your calf crop and bottom line. If you want to select for many traits at once, consider using the $BULL or $QUEEN index, designed to produce calves that are terminally or replacement oriented. HIGH EPD VALUE ISN’T THE FULL STORY Selecting a high EPD value isn’t the full story though. Because we can’t know with full certainty what an animal’s true EPD is, we pair them with a level of accuracy. These accuracy values tell us how confident we can be in a prediction of a given animal’s genetic merit. Accuracy levels are determined by the number of records provided for an animal and their relatives, as well as the heritability of the trait in question. For example, we can better predict the birthweight of a particular sire’s calves if we have the weights of many of his previous offspring. As more data is added, we become more sure of our estimates, and accuracy is increased. TRAIT LEADER REPORTS For the Trait Leader reports published in this edition of the magazine, we utilize a minimum of 0.4 accuracy on the BIF scale. This means that for a trait like Birth Weight, herd sires must have the equivalent of 33 progeny records with birth weights! With that level of certainty, you can be sure that your selection will steer you in the right direction. I would like to thank The Brahman Journal for working with us to publish these Trait Leader reports, where we hope to help you identify the right bull to maximize progress in your herd. For more information on how to use EPDs to increase the performance of your herd, or any other questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at ajknowles@brahman.org.
BULL TEST UPDATES
ABBA is hosting the 10th annual Bull Development Program, hosted by Texana Feeders in Floresville, Texas. This year’s program kicked off on April 2nd with 62 bulls in the pen from 10 breeders being weighed, measured for hip height, scrotal circumference, parasite load, and exit velocity. Bulls will be evaluated again with a carcass ultrasound on May 17th. We have tentatively scheduled a Bull Development Field Day for August 1st to officially wrap up the program and view the bulls, so stay tuned for more information! Bulls will be available by private treaty throughout the program, and will come with 100K genotype and horn/poll tests. Contact A.J. at ajknowles@ brahman.org for more information on the bulls or the program today!
