Field Testing Red Angus EPDs

by Nate Smith, General Manager, Top Dollar Angus, Inc.

Both EPD believers and skeptics will gain perspective from the simple genetic evaluation project discussed below. Read it and draw your own conclusions.

Testing Red Angus EPDs

In the fall of 2020, Top Dollar Angus initiated a field study with Mike John of Huntsville, Missouri. A group of John Ranch black baldy females were randomly mated to one of three Red Angus sires via artificial insemination. One sire is a high-ranking growth and carcass sire, the other two sires rank much lower for growth and carcass traits. Twenty-six calves resulted from this effort.

All calves were raised together – same environment and management – from their birth in the fall of 2021 through harvest on Feb. 14, 2023. At approximately 9 months old, they were shipped from Missouri to a Nebraska feedlot and fed for 230 days. After that, the entire group was transported to a Kansas packing plant. Difficult feeding weather extended finishing time required in the feedlot. However, their genetic differences still came shining through in the end.

More About the Sires

The high-growth and carcass Red Angus sire ranks in the top 2% of the breed for Yearling Weight and the top 1% for Carcass Weight EPD. He also has a top 2% Marbling EPD and a top 4% EPD for Ribeye Area. He is elite for these traits and is therefore expected to sire high-performing feeder cattle. His GridMaster percentile rank is also in the top 1% of the breed. This sire easily qualifies for Top Dollar Angus.

The other two sires average in the bottom 11% and 12% for Yearling Weight and Carcass Weight EPDs, respectively. Their Marbling EPDs average in the bottom 26% of the Red Angus breed. For Ribeye, they are in the bottom 41%. Their average GridMaster percentile ranks fall in the lowest 7% of the breed.

Large genetic differences are observed between the two sire groups, which is how the project was designed. When small head counts are involved, it is easier to illustrate how genetic merit expresses itself through phenotypic outcomes when those genetic differences are big to at the start.

Top Dollar Angus Team

www.topdollarangus.com

Nate Smith, General Manager • (620) 546-4839 nate@topdollarangus.com

Kaytlin Hokanson • (307) 461-7687 kaytlin@topdollarangus.com

Andrea Rutledge • (406) 399-3993 andrea@topdollarangus.com

Andy Albrecht • (402) 922-1000 andy@topdollarangus.com

Results

Progeny of the high-growth and carcass sire did exactly what they were genetically designed to do, as shown in the accompanying table. Superior performance was noted throughout their lifetimes, with a final carcass weight advantage of 92 pounds per head (equivalent to 148 pounds of live weight).

Calves by the low-growth and carcass genetic bulls grew slower, weighed less at harvest and also had lower marbling scores and smaller ribeyes. There was no difference in fat end point between the two sire groups.

Genetics to Dollars

Average carcass value favored the high-growth and carcass sire’s progeny by $267.64 per head (+13.7%), proving again that genetics have a tremendous impact on phenotypic performance and financial outcomes when tested in real-world conditions.

Based on the three sires’ DMI EPDs, it is estimated that the better genetic calves consumed $72.96 per head in additional feed while in the feedlot. After subtracting that amount, their net financial advantage was $194.98 per animal when compared to the lower-genetic-merit calves. Keep in mind that this large value difference was created in a single generation. That’s the power of superior genetics on display!

Summary

The Top Dollar Angus-qualified sire used in this project produced calves that exhibited better feeding performance, more carcass weight, higher quality grades, larger ribeyes and a ton of additional value per head.

Simple as it is, this field test illustrates how Red Angus EPDs and $Indexes can be utilized to create cattle with superior value and do so with ease.

For more information, contact Nate Smith at 620-546-4839 or nate@topdollarangus.com. //

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