The cattle industry has always had an interest in getting more information on the performance of the animals being produced. Now days, technology has been integral in helping producers make significant progress in mining this information. While most producers are familiar with using EPDs, or expected progeny differences, to help evaluate bulls in trait selection for their herds, extension beef specialist Dr. Bob Weaber says producers are now capable of even more insight into the performance of their bulls, even before they begin breeding, with the next generation of EPDs - “genomics.”
Weaber told Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays that “The genomics evolution has really been a substantial one from both the seedstock view,” he said, “but even more importantly maybe to the commercial producer.”
According to Weaber, genomics add accuracy to our EPD predictions, allowing breeders to understand certain traits of their stock, such as feed intake, feed efficiency and cow longevity for example, much earlier in their lives, which ordinarily would have taken a longer time or be much more expensive. Weaber says this does two things for producers.
“One, it allows us to avoid making mistakes,” he points out. “Secondly, it allows us to really understand the value of increased accuracy of predictions - so we’re more confident in our breeding and purchasing decisions.”
Click here to see more...