Simmental Milk EPD

[kentuckyguy]

I am new to breeding Simmentals and can't help but notice how many bulls have horrible milk EPD's.

Seems like about every bull I want to use ends up with a milk EPD in the bottom 95% of the breed.

Are the daughters out of bulls with a low milk EPD milking good? Lots of breeders are using these bulls extensively so I can't help but think it's not really reliable.

Seems there would have to be some justification for a bull that's been used 4-5 years that has a low milk EPD but I may be wrong.

 

[WinterSpringsFarm]

I don't follow it much. I find milk is highly dependent on the cows nutrition or lack there of. I can honestly say that I haven't had a cow that didn't have enough milk, but, have had a few with to much.

 

[FlyingLSimmentals]

I myself aren't using or buying a bull that reads under 19 on milk, I prefer to keep everything between 20 - 25. I agree lots of the stud bulls have low milk epd, so many must not care.

 

[LJCB]

Someone asked me about this the other day and the only conclusion we could come up with is that maybe the milk is a higher quality and they don't require as much of it. No idea if that's right just a thought.

 

[kentuckyguy]

I don't follow it much. I find milk is highly dependent on the cows nutrition or lack there of. I can honestly say that I haven't had a cow that didn't have enough milk, but, have had a few with to much.

I have had a couple angus cows that didn't milk and it sucks. You end up taking a beating on a cull cow and have a stunted calf.
I haven't ran into it with any Simmentals yet but the lowest milk EPD cow I have right now is 18.

I see lots of bulls I would like to use but with a milk EPD of 10-14 I worry about having problems or even worse selling someone a problem.

 

[Lucky_P]

We had Simmental-influenced cattle since 1984... never had one that didn't have plenty of milk.
You do realize that the Milk epd is not a maternal trait... it's a production trait, and comes with a feed price tag, just like the other production traits... WW & YW.
Don't know that I ever gave any significant consideration to Milk epd when choosing a SM sire... except for trying to find one that wasn't too high!

 

[Franke]

We have a couple cows that are in that 15 range for milk that raise a big calf every year and have consistently been successful as embryo recipients. We did have two cows out of a bull with a 15 milk and they had the smallest calves even with creep feed. No bag and they found themselves out of the herd really quick. The guy we bought the heifers from said the cows he had kept out of that bull didn't milk either. I guess the only way to know is to use or to talk with someone who has experience with that bulls daughters.

 

[76 Bar]

I am new to breeding Simmentals and can't help but notice how many bulls have horrible milk EPD's.
Seems like about every bull I want to use ends up with a milk EPD in the bottom 95% of the breed.
Are the daughters out of bulls with a low milk EPD milking good? Lots of breeders are using these bulls extensively so I can't help but think it's not really reliable.
Seems there would have to be some justification for a bull that's been used 4-5 years that has a low milk EPD but I may be wrong.

EPDs are one of many selection tools and assuredly shouldn't be your primary focus. They need to be judiciously understood per the respective breed and used according to the constraints of your environment, mgt system and ultimate production goals.

 

[kentuckyguy]

I understand EPD's are just a tool and not written in stone.
All I'm trying to get across is if a bull has say 250 progeny and his milk EPD is in the bottom 95% it's hard to be there's not some milking issues with daughters.

 

[MDickinson]

We had Simmental-influenced cattle since 1984... never had one that didn't have plenty of milk.
You do realize that the Milk epd is not a maternal trait... it's a production trait, and comes with a feed price tag, just like the other production traits... WW & YW.
Don't know that I ever gave any significant consideration to Milk epd when choosing a SM sire... except for trying to find one that wasn't too high!

We have bred Simmentals since they were brought to the states. Lucky P is right you don't need or want a cow in the top of the breed for milk EPD around 20 is plenty sufficient to raise a heavy calf and not break the bank feeding her. You have to keep in mind they were originally bred dual purpose so even the bottom half will still milk well. I'm not saying there isn't exceptions, but as a general rule of thumb you don't want to be on the top half if you are worried about efficiency.