SRBeef":s8nif8ub said:
I am not an experienced cattleman however my experience so far is that EPD's are VERY helpful.
I just had my first calf crop out of a Huth bull T021. The vet and I just worked/weighed the herd on Friday and one of the bull calves born on 4/18 now weighs 185 lb and looks like my next herdsire. All 8 calves were born in a 21 day period. Lightest was 65 lb heaviest was 87 lb. Calving ease EPD's turned out to be very accurate in real life. I have trouble not bragging about T21 but I am amazed at his performance so far. I know 8 calves isn't much compared to most of you. There will be more next year.
It looks to me like EPD's, from a reliable honest breeder, can be very helpful. Obviously you need to look at the bull also but I trust a good breeder will not be selling EPD's only.
Jim
Jim, to throw a little water on your "EPDs" argument, I'd like to point out that you told us that you told Jerry Huth that you wanted a calving ease bull, first and foremost, and HE pointed you to this bull. Rather than the EPDs working, I'd say it was more likely the knowledge that the breeder had in his own cattle.
Your bull still has the same low accuracy EPDs that he had - and all EPDS with those kind of accuracy levels are UNRELIABLE!! No doubt the reliability of them has been enhanced by your personal experience - in your mind, but also keep in mind that 8 calves won't move the accuracy levels much - even if you report them. And there's nothing wrong with bragging about the bull if he's doing the job you wanted him to do!
To further prove my point about EPDs, I will make a counter case. I've had 7 calves from my new herd bull from Star Lake. Now HE sports a hefty +5.9 BW EPD and a - 5.8 Calving ease EPD.
http://www.herfnet.com/online/cgi-b...56&5=2B3C2B3C3A&6=5A5D5C25232726202F&9=5D5B5E
Only 1 of the 7 calves I've had from him would have weighed over 80 lb. at birth. And most would have been in the 60s! Two were from heifers. All were born unassisted. So, in MY mind right now, I've once again found a "calving ease" bull whose EPDs are contrary from "real life" experience.
And I'm kinda "high" on him right now, too! He's doing MORE than I thought he would, although it's still too early to tell how the calves are going to grow. I bought him to cross on the daughters of my Keynote bull and those are good calves, but I've got a couple of calves out of Pure Gold daughters that look like "home runs" at this point.
THE TRUTH IS...neither your or my experience is really reflective on the RELIABILITY of EPDs taken on their own. To begin with, we'd really need some calves from a highly proven sire to be born in the same peer group to "prove" any accuracy in what we've observed.
I have based my belief that "EPDS are unreliable on all unproven Hereford bulls!" from a whole body of observation - watching how the EPDs have evolved on many different bulls as progeny data has come in.
Just because it might "work" in one case doesn't make the EPDs on unproven bulls any more reliable.
George