Red Angus feature

A Tool to Improve All Aspects of the Beef Supply Chain

by Ryan Bolt, Director of Breed Improvement, reprinted courtesy of the Red Angus Association of America

In the fall of 2019, the Read Angus Association of America (RAAA) conducted a survey of members and commercial cattlemen. One of the biggest take-aways from

this survey was the finding that a majority of those surveyed used Red Angus to improve both terminal and maternal traits in their herds. While there are genetic predictions for these traits, it is often difficult to look across the EPD profile and determine which animal will be the most profitable. This is where economic selections indexes are helpful. These indexes economically weight the EPDs for each animal and helps identify what combination of EPDs will be most profitable.

When we think about indexes, there are generally several types that are available. It can be strongly argued that the most useful of these indexes are those that weigh and combine traits that are economically important across all phases of beef production.

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ProS Index

Previously, this overall index for Red Angus seed stock was called HerdBuilder. This index was maternally focused but did provide for some selection pressure for traits that occur in the feedlot and the rail.

With the updates indexes, a new and improved index will be introduced that will cover traits from conception to harvest. This index will be called “Profitability & Sustainability” (ProS). The ProS index is a combination of the updated HerdBuilder and Gridmaster indexes. In the past two issues of the Red Angus magazine, I provided a more in-depth look at these two indexes.

The traits included in the ProS index are: Calving Ease Direct, Calving Ease Maternal, Weaning Weight, Milk, Mature Weight, Heifer Pregnancy, Stayability, Average Daily Gain, Carcass Weight, Dry Matter Intake, Marbling, Back Fat and Ribeye Area. Each trait in the model is weighted based on the effect of that particular trait has in terms of increasing profitability. ▫

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