Carcass epd's?

[tom4018]

How much do you let carcass epd's play in your decision on picking bulls? Right now our calves go to the salebarn but might change in the future as I know someone that we may be able to go thru to ratain ownership. Out last bull had pretty good carcass number, esp. RE, and I really like his calves.

 

[dun]

All else being equal that is the final deal maker/breaker.

 

[greenwillowhereford II]

I primarily agree with Dun.

 

[Brandonm22]

There are so many good bulls out there to select from, that I don't know why you would select a bull that wasn't in the top 40% of his breed for marbling and ribeye area. I am not sold on the backfat EPD as I think selecting hard for leanness is going to hurt the stayability and longevity of that bull's daughters. You want easy fleshing mama cows; although you would like Yield Grade One market steers. Some breeds have carcass weight epds and I would shy away from trait leaders there if I am keeping back heifers since I think a high carcass weight EPD is probably indicative of a high mature weight cow which I would rather not be breeding for. Now if you are buying a purely terminal sire (all calves go to the slaughter market) the only thing more important than the carcass epds would be the growth traits. In a terminal scenario you probably want a bull in the top 20-25% of his breed for weaning weight, yearling weight, marbling (IMF), REA, backfat, AND carcass weight if you can find him. I think eventually we will move towards a maternal line where heavy emphasis is placed on longevity, stayability, fertility, etc and a terminal sire line where heavy emphasis is placed on muscling, marbling, growth, tenderness, cutability, etc but we are still trying to find a way to quantify all of those traits.

 

[sizmic]

Just remember carcass epd's are completely up in the air until there is significant accuracy under them. There aren't many bulls in many of the studs that have a significant acc., by significant, I mean .65 or higher.

I am a firm believer in testing one's stock though, by all means, send some out and see how they do.

I am preparing my fouth group to go out tomorrow. It's nice to get a check with some data instead of sending a check to get ultrasound data, and it's hard to argue with the numbers that come off the rail.

Sizmic

 

[jscunn]

Sizmic,
I for one would be interested in knowing the results of your steers. Keep us informed.