U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska

 

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 Larry A. Kuehn and R. Mark Thallman

Abstract

Expected progeny differences (EPDs) have been the primary tool for genetic improvement of beef cattle for over 40 years beginning with evaluations of growth traits. Since that time, EPDs have been added for several other production traits such as calving ease, stayability, carcass merit and conformation. Most recently, several breed associations have derived economic indices from their EPDs to increase profit under different management and breeding systems.

It is useful for producers to compare the EPDs of potential breeding animals with their breed average. The current EPDs from the most recent genetic evaluations of 26 breeds are presented in this report. Mean EPDs for growth traits are shown in Table 1 (26 breeds), for other production traits in Table 2 (20 breeds), and for carcass and composition traits in Table 3 (21 breeds). Several breeds also have EPDs and indices that are unique to their breed; these EPDs are presented in Table 4.

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