Co-operator herds growing the carcase data for reference population

The accuracy of GEBVs relies not only on the number of records in the reference population, but also the quality of that data.

There are several ways to collect the data, some more useful than others:

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• Structured R&D projects – collect good quality, wellstructured data, particularly useful for hard to measure traits we can’t get any other way. However, these projects are often quite expensive to fund.

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• Breeder records – a cost effective way to utilise data recorded as part of normal practice in stud breeding programs. It has the advantage of being directly recorded on the animals that selection decisions are targeted at. The disadvantage is that it is usually limited to easy to record traits and means things like carcase traits are not being collected.