Menu
Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New media
New media comments
New profile posts
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Forums
Cattle Boards
Artificial Insemination (AI) for Cattle
Genomic scores vs EPDs
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Help Support CattleToday:
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Katpau" data-source="post: 1686713" data-attributes="member: 9933"><p>In all honesty, I don't use them to select my replacements yet, but I am a numbers person (retired CPA) and I have huge quantities of actual data going back to when the first registered Angus bulls were used here in the 90"s. I find it fascinating to watch as the genomic numbers change and over time, have come closer and closer to what I am observing from the actual data I have collected. </p><p></p><p>I do demand that bulls I use in my herd have a genomics test. Now that I understand how it works, I no longer worry about seeing those numbers since they are already reflected in his EPDs. At one time I was obsessive about collecting and analyzing these numbers on AI bulls, but those numbers are no longer as readily available, and I am content to let the computers do the work. I do still keep tract of the changes in genomic numbers in my own herd. </p><p></p><p>Most reputable breeders collect and submit DNA on their sale bulls in order to increase accuracy of EPDs with a genomic profile. I feel that if you are a seed-stock producer selling registered bulls, you owe it to the registry to collect all available data including DNA and turn it in to the registry, so that the data can be used to increase the accuracy of EPDs and future genomic profiles. I know there are breeders that don't agree, and they have the right to disagree. I won't buy bulls or semen from them however.</p><p></p><p>I collect and submit DNA on my commercial cows, because I think that it is important data for AAA to have. Insufficient commercial data is probably one of the biggest weaknesses to genomics. When selecting replacements, I still prefer to select heifers based on their mothers, fathers and their own performance and phenotype. I usually select my replacements before running DNA. There may come a time when I trust the genomics enough to select replacements based on genomics, but I am not there yet. It would be an interesting experiment for me to run two herds. One would select replacement based on genomics alone, and the other would use my traditional selection process. I don't have the ability to do that, but it would be fun.</p><p></p><p>When I first started collecting genomic data, I was disappointed in how often it seemed to be wrong,. I had high hopes for it, thinking "You can't fake DNA". Now I understand, that while they may be able to recognize unique SNP's, scientists don't necessarily know what they do. As time goes on, I am finding that those genomic numbers are getting closer to my actual data. There may come a time when I test all potential heifers and select based on genomics in combination with phenotype. I'm not there yet, and that is in part because the most important traits are still not measured with those genomic scores. For me the most important one is longevity. I want a cow that calves as a 2 year old and keeps on calving every 365 days for another 10 years. I also demand good udders and there is not yet an EPD for that in the Angus breed. They say fertility is not highly heritable, but I have certainly found some lines to be less fertile than others. That may be due to defects that result in early abortion. If a cow looses her calf at 1-3 months, all you see is an open or late calving cow. I know AAA is doing some research on that. I think it would help to get more data from commercial cow/calf herds, whose primary focus is selling calves rather than expensive breeding animals.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Katpau, post: 1686713, member: 9933"] In all honesty, I don't use them to select my replacements yet, but I am a numbers person (retired CPA) and I have huge quantities of actual data going back to when the first registered Angus bulls were used here in the 90"s. I find it fascinating to watch as the genomic numbers change and over time, have come closer and closer to what I am observing from the actual data I have collected. I do demand that bulls I use in my herd have a genomics test. Now that I understand how it works, I no longer worry about seeing those numbers since they are already reflected in his EPDs. At one time I was obsessive about collecting and analyzing these numbers on AI bulls, but those numbers are no longer as readily available, and I am content to let the computers do the work. I do still keep tract of the changes in genomic numbers in my own herd. Most reputable breeders collect and submit DNA on their sale bulls in order to increase accuracy of EPDs with a genomic profile. I feel that if you are a seed-stock producer selling registered bulls, you owe it to the registry to collect all available data including DNA and turn it in to the registry, so that the data can be used to increase the accuracy of EPDs and future genomic profiles. I know there are breeders that don't agree, and they have the right to disagree. I won't buy bulls or semen from them however. I collect and submit DNA on my commercial cows, because I think that it is important data for AAA to have. Insufficient commercial data is probably one of the biggest weaknesses to genomics. When selecting replacements, I still prefer to select heifers based on their mothers, fathers and their own performance and phenotype. I usually select my replacements before running DNA. There may come a time when I trust the genomics enough to select replacements based on genomics, but I am not there yet. It would be an interesting experiment for me to run two herds. One would select replacement based on genomics alone, and the other would use my traditional selection process. I don't have the ability to do that, but it would be fun. When I first started collecting genomic data, I was disappointed in how often it seemed to be wrong,. I had high hopes for it, thinking "You can't fake DNA". Now I understand, that while they may be able to recognize unique SNP's, scientists don't necessarily know what they do. As time goes on, I am finding that those genomic numbers are getting closer to my actual data. There may come a time when I test all potential heifers and select based on genomics in combination with phenotype. I'm not there yet, and that is in part because the most important traits are still not measured with those genomic scores. For me the most important one is longevity. I want a cow that calves as a 2 year old and keeps on calving every 365 days for another 10 years. I also demand good udders and there is not yet an EPD for that in the Angus breed. They say fertility is not highly heritable, but I have certainly found some lines to be less fertile than others. That may be due to defects that result in early abortion. If a cow looses her calf at 1-3 months, all you see is an open or late calving cow. I know AAA is doing some research on that. I think it would help to get more data from commercial cow/calf herds, whose primary focus is selling calves rather than expensive breeding animals. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Cattle Boards
Artificial Insemination (AI) for Cattle
Genomic scores vs EPDs
Top