Gelbvieh and Balancer EPD Averages – Winter 2023

AGA’s EPD’s are based on a National Cattle Evaluation (NCE) collaboration with the American Simmental Association (ASA) and the American Red Angus (ARA). With this collaboration, our EPD’s are on the same base as these breeds, allowing Gelbvieh and Balancer cattle to be compared directly with Simmental and Red Angus cattle. Additionally, DNA testing is currently being incorporated into EPD’s as well. This is still a “work in progress,” as the AGA is learning how to best incorporate individual animals’ genomic testing into the years of hard data, to better calculate their EPDs. As a result, the EPD’s reported in this catalog may change again - before and/or after they are sold.

Maternal Traits

Calving ease direct (CED): Percent of unassisted births, when used on heifers. A higher number is favorable, meaning better calving ease. Milk (Milk): Genetic ability of a sire’s daughters to produce milk, in pounds of weaning weight..

Stayability (STAY): Predicts the genetic difference, in terms of percent probability, that a bull’s daughters will stay productive within a herd to at least six year of age. The Stayability EPD is one of the best measures currently available to compare a bull’s ability to produce females with reproductive longevity.

Growth Traits

Birth weight (BW): Predicts the difference, in pounds, for birth weight of the calf.

Weaning weight (WW): Predicts expected difference, in pounds, for weaning weight.

Yearling weight (YW): Predicts expected difference, in pounds, for yearling weight.

Carcass Traits

Yield grade (YG): Predicts differences in yield grade score. Smaller values suggest that progeny will have a better lean to fat ratio.

Carcass weight (CW): Predicts differences in pounds of hot carcass weight.

Ribeye area (REA): Predicts differences in rib-eye area in inches. Greater ribeye areas are preferable.

Marbling (MB): Predicts differences in the degree of marbling within the ribeye. Greater marbling numbers are an indicator of higher carcass quality grades.

INDEXES - Tools that allow you to select for several EPDs at once, making selections more efficient than selecting on one trait at a time. Some equate those traits into a dollar amount.

Total maternal (TM): Combines growth and milk information to predict weaning weight performance of calves from a sire’s daughters.

Feeder profit index (FPI): Represents how a bull’s progeny will perform in the feedlot, when sold on grade and yield. Well ranking sires for FPI have higher marbling and carcass weight than their contemporaries. Maternal traits are not really a part of this index.

PAP (Pulmonary Artery Pressure) Testing

Quite a few of our customers run cattle at higher elevations, so we started PAP testing our bulls quite a few years ago. Dr. Jeremy Ley of Four Mile Clinic in Canon City has been doing the testing since we began. The following chart is a great tool to help evaluate the level of risk for specific PAP scores at a range of altitudes. (NOTE: These bulls have been raised and fed at home, which is at about 5500’ elevation).PAP RISK FACTOR – based on a development and test elevation between 5500-6000 ft.

For more information on PAP testing, follow the following link (also source for above table): http://guidelines.beefimprovement.org/index.php/Pulmonary_arterial_pressure_(PAP)