Across-Breed EPD Tables For The Year 2016 Adjusted To Breed Differences For Birth Year Of 2014

Authors

L. A. Kuehn, Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, USDA-ARSFollow
R. M. Thallman, USDA-ARSFollow

Date of this Version

2016

Document Type

Article

Citation

From: 2016 Beef Improvement Federation Annual Meeting & Symposium, June 14 - 17, 2016, Hilton Garden Inn, Manhattan, Kansas.

Comments

Copyright 2016 L. A. Kuehn and R. M. Thallman

Abstract

Factors to adjust the expected progeny differences (EPD) of each of 18 breeds to the base of Angus EPD are reported in the column labeled 6 of Tables 1-8 for birth weight, weaning weight, yearling weight, maternal milk, marbling score, ribeye area, fat thickness, and carcass weight, respectively. An EPD is adjusted to the Angus base by adding the corresponding acrossbreed adjustment factor in column 6 to the EPD. It is critical that this adjustment be applied only to Spring 2016 EPD. Older or newer EPD may be computed on different bases and, therefore, could produce misleading results. When the base of a breed changes from year to year, its adjustment factor (Column 6) changes in the opposite direction and by about the same amount.

Breed differences change over time as breeds put selection emphasis on different traits and their genetic trends differ accordingly. Therefore, it is necessary to qualify the point in time at which breed differences are represented. Column 5 of Tables 1-8 contains estimates of the differences between the averages of calves from sires of each breed born in year 2014. Any differences (relative to their breed means) in the samples of sires representing those breeds at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USU.S. Meat Animal Research Center) are adjusted out of these breed difference estimates and the across-breed adjustment factors. The breed difference estimates are reported as progeny differences, e.g., they represent the expected difference in progeny performance of calves sired by average bulls (born in 2014) of two different breeds and out of dams of a third, unrelated breed. In other words, they represent half the differences that would be expected between purebreds of the two breeds.