Gelbvieh breed released their new EPD's this week. As I thought this may be horrendous for some and a God send for others. The Calving Ease EPD has completely changed. I am a Purebred Gelbvieh Breeder and have been preached to for years to pay close attention to the calving ease EPD and not the actual Birth weight. I have been told by many at the AGA this EPD was the real deal. The last couple years it has been fluctuating considerably. To the point that it really had no value. You could by a Bull that had a calving Ease EPD of 108 (average was 104 and 109 was considered a heifer Bull). The next year the average goes up to 108 and the Bull is a 107. Heifer Bulls are now deemed to be 111 or higher. All the while this Bull has exceptional calves and never a problem. At this point how can anyone have faith in this system.
Fast Forward 1 year to now. New EPD's, proposed to be much more accurate. Not an index anymore. Gelbvieh average is 8, 10 is top 25%, 13 top 5%. This same Bull is now a 2. Bottom 95%. What a frickin joke. Try and sell his calves when you have been concentrating on calving ease for 6 years and known for it. On the flip side I randomly picked a Bull out of Gelbvieh World magazine that had a CE of 100 (very poor ce) he is now a 12. Top 10% of the breed. WTF? I am going to tell my customers it is a BS tool. What else can we do?
Fast Forward 1 year to now. New EPD's, proposed to be much more accurate. Not an index anymore. Gelbvieh average is 8, 10 is top 25%, 13 top 5%. This same Bull is now a 2. Bottom 95%. What a frickin joke. Try and sell his calves when you have been concentrating on calving ease for 6 years and known for it. On the flip side I randomly picked a Bull out of Gelbvieh World magazine that had a CE of 100 (very poor ce) he is now a 12. Top 10% of the breed. WTF? I am going to tell my customers it is a BS tool. What else can we do?