Pedigree Accuracy

[blacksnake]

I have often wondered how accurate the pedigrees on cattle really are. I think there are more mistakes that a lot of people realize. Over the last year or so I have found mistakes in purebred breeders catalogs a total of three times. Each time the discrepancy was discovered when the Genestar data was included. By looking at the Genestar results it was evident that the bull listed as the sire could not be correct. Each time I contacted Bovigen and the producer. bovigen stood by their results and the lot in question was removed from the sale by the producer. I am not saying these are intentional mistakes, but just mistakes. Since I found three in such a short period of time and it is impossible to spot mistakes based upon the Genestar data in 99% of the animals, I wonder how many mistakes are not caught. Just got me to scratching my head on the issue.

 

[Frankie]

I have often wondered how accurate the pedigrees on cattle really are. I think there are more mistakes that a lot of people realize. Over the last year or so I have found mistakes in purebred breeders catalogs a total of three times. Each time the discrepancy was discovered when the Genestar data was included. By looking at the Genestar results it was evident that the bull listed as the sire could not be correct. Each time I contacted Bovigen and the producer. bovigen stood by their results and the lot in question was removed from the sale by the producer. I am not saying these are intentional mistakes, but just mistakes. Since I found three in such a short period of time and it is impossible to spot mistakes based upon the Genestar data in 99% of the animals, I wonder how many mistakes are not caught. Just got me to scratching my head on the issue.

I've seen some breeding operations that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I think it's important to talk to the breeder, ask questions, get a feel for whether you are comfortable with them. But everybody makes mistakes. Will they stand behind the cattle if there is a mistake? Years ago there was a story circulating about an Angus cow bought for a lot of money, kept on the ranch for flushing. When the first heifer out of the flush was DNA typed to be flushed, they found out she wasn't sired by EXT. Eventually they traced down a bull who was still a calf at his dam's side (waiting to be flushed) at the same facility. They DNA tested him and found he was the sire of the heifer, not EXT. It was probably an expensive lession for all concerned. But errors like that shouldn't do much damage to a breed. About the only way for an individual animal to actually make an impact on the breed is through AI or flushing and I think most breeds require DNA testing of those animals.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Each breed association has different rules in place to try to "reduce" the incidence of pedigree errors. Like Angus, the Simmental breed requires all dams for flushing & bulls for AI to be DNA tested. Also, they randomly pick so many head each year & require testing.
Like Frankie said, you have to rely on the integrity of the breeders and if they stand behind their program.

 

[LoveMoo11]

I suppose just like any other paperwork, there is room for error. And unfortunately there are some dishonest breeders out there. Stick with those you trust who have an excellent reputation.