Can anyone explain the term"EPD"?

[splinter ridge farm]

Can anyone assist me and break down in detail and explain "EPD" statistics. How do you interpret them and how can they be used as a productive tool? These statistics are for something valuable I'm sure...Thanks!

 

[showing71]

Can anyone assist me and break down in detail and explain "EPD" statistics. How do you interpret them and how can they be used as a productive tool? These statistics are for something valuable I'm sure...Thanks!

Hopefully someone else can help to explain it better to you, I have a jumble in my head of different ways to explain it and I can't find the right way to. Each breed has EPDs, and they each mean something different and use different data to calculate them. My suggestion is to go to different breed sites and look. If you have a breed you are specifically looking into, go to their website. They usually have each EPD meaning and what goes into it. Since I know the Red Angus website well, here's a link that explains EPDs (I think) very well- http://redangus.org/genetics/ranchers-guide-to-epds

 

[Avalon]

Here is an explanation from Angus Semen service. http://agonline.com/angus4u/sirecarc.asp Simply stated EPD's help us to predict a most likely outcome of offspring. The higher the accuracy of the EPD the closer you will be. for instance We use birth EPD's especilly when breeding 1st time heifers. I want to be as sure as possible that the first calf will be light and come easy Therefore I'm looking for A high "CED" Calving ease direct # and a low or tolerabley low "BW" Birthweight EPD #. This way I've done as much homework as possible to know that I will not have a calving problem. Then again if I'm selling primarily to feedlots I'll be looking for the highest weaning weight EPD. Or say I know my cows dont milke well and I want to add genetics that have a bit higher milk then I will be looking at that milk # breeding them to something to add to what I have.