Whole Herd Reporting Committee

Data Quality
According to Colorado State University’s (CSU’s) Mark Enns, commercial cattlemen expect seedstock suppliers to be accountable for what they sell. For that to happen, Enns says data submitted to the national genetic evaluation program must be accurate and a true reflection of the cattle population.

Stressing the importance of whole-herd reporting, Enns said selective reporting (representing only a portion of the herd) results in biased data. As a result, poor-performing animals may be made to look better, while superior performance may be penalized.

“You get biased EPDs (expected progeny differences), inappropriate ranking of animals and less reliable predictions for traits,” Enns said.

For reliable data, Enns said breeders must emphasize complete and accurate reporting and appropriate grouping of contemporaries to minimize differences due to environmental factors.

Bruce Golden, also from CSU, explained how data submitted for national genetic evaluation is “filtered” prior to calculation of trait EPDs. Golden said filtering systems identify improper data, including extreme or fabricated values. Approximately 25% of all data submitted is filtered out as “noncontributing information” and eliminated.

Decision Support Tool
Keith Long, of New Mexico’s Bell Ranch, addressed commercial producers’ expectations regarding information that breed associations provide to assist with seedstock selection. According to Long, cattlemen would benefit from increased genetic analysis and new tools to simplify decision-making.

“I can’t assimilate 15 to 20 trait EPDs in my head. We need a way to combine them into a selection index tailored to your own ranch,” explained Long.

Development of EPDs for additional traits is fine, he added, as long as they are linked to profitability. Long would particularly like to see an EPD for annual cow cost. However, EPDs should be components for calculating a single number that is useful for making animal comparisons.

“In a perfect world,” Long stated, “we would have whole-herd reporting by every (breed) association. All databases would be sent to a central location, annually, for calculations of EPDs, including across-breed EPDs. And all the numbers, including selection indices, would be available over the Internet.”

The American International Charolais Association (AICA) is addressing the commercial cattleman’s concern regarding EPD overload. According to Association staffer Robert Williams, a decision-support tool will soon be available to producers seeking Charolais bulls for terminal breeding programs.

AICA has developed a selection index that combines a variety of economically important traits into a single value. When the new service becomes available, via the Internet, producers will enter production, marketing and management criteria for their specific operations to access bulls ranked according to their potential for enhancing profitability.