Canada’s beef production system is working at an improved feedback-mechanism to cow-calf producers on carcass quality traits. Why? Because, ultimately, it’s the cow-calf producer making genetic pairings and selections, but it’s the feedlot operators seeing the results and often receiving the feedback on carcass quality. As the Beef InfoXchange System (BIXS) 2.0 moves into place, and as genomics begin to factor in more prominently in the EPD equation, cow-calf producers and the entire value chain stand to gain from more informed and precise genetic selection in regards to beef carcass quality.
In this episode of the Beef Research School, Bruce Holmquist, general manager of the Canadian Simmental Association, discusses the danger of choosing breedings based on too narrow a trait window and how to use Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) with an eye to dam influence.
Holmquist explains how DNA technology is playing a role in providing genetically enhanced EPDs (GE-EPD) which offer greater accuracy at a younger age, a key piece of the genetic puzzle when selecting yearling bulls.
In this video, Holmquist offers tips on ways and means of tracking your success as a cow-calf or feedlot operator, the disadvantages and pitfalls of not using all the selection tools at your disposal and how genomics is and will continue to play a role in increasing the accuracy of EPDs.
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