What EPD's do you emphasize?

[Belties R Us]

Just curious we are presently working on picking bulls for our angus cattle. What EPD’s do you believe are the most important? Our farm does a little bit of everything doing a cow/calf operation to feeding out steers. So what should we be looking for in a bull? And what is considered too much? Like a +40 milk or a +153 yearling weight? Thanks in advance!

 

[Cabanha Santa Isabel - BR]

Marbling
Docility

 

[FriedgesCharolais]

It all depends on your situation. If you have high enough quality feed and pasture that if you get a heifer will be able to produce that kind of milk production without running herself ragged then 40 milk isnt bad. I would say in the 20s for milk is plenty. If you are keeping steers i would look at yearling wt becasue that is where your going to make your money. Depending on how you are selling your fats would be a determining factor on the Marbling, Fat, CW, and RE. If you are selling them on the rail i would look at those, if i was selling them at a salebarn or something like that i would look at the $Feed and $Gain. It depends on a lot of factors, just try not to over think it  (lol)

 

[obie105]

I always look at bw especially for heifers but even on cows I don't want 100lbs calves even if the cow can handle it. Those big calves tend to be a pain more than they are worth. I always look at it as you can't make money if you can't get them here. I like looking at bulls that are complete across the board. So if I get a heifer that's worth keeping there are good maternal traits also. Those bulls are out there.

 

[LLBUX]

BW of +1 or less
YW of +100 or more

These will get you live calves that grow. 

Not many bulls with that combo, but they are out there.

 

[GoWyo]

On Angus:

First and foremost is fertility and mothering ability and those are hard to directly measure with EPDs.  Usually find out what kind of cow they will make after the first calf.  Dingbats and heifers with lack of mothering instincts have to go to town if you are raising seedstock.

CED:  +4 to +12 -- do not want too low of birthweight, but not afraid of some birthweight if the calves are shaped right, i.e. they are long and snakey when born. Heifers need to be able to calve to a +5 CED bull or they are not worth having around.

CEM:  +5 or better
WW:  Calves that are not retained need to wean off with some weight to them
YW:  +90 is great, but really want to watch the YH and MH EPDs to make sure they are not too large framed of cattle.  They need to grow, but also need to shut down frame growth and be fat at 1350-1400 lbs.
MH:  <+.7 but >0.0
MW:    >30  ---- want to watch frame size, but they need to be heavy
CW:    >25  -- carcass weight needs to be following mature weight.  If there is high MW and low CW, then the rest must be guts or waste somewhere in the mix when they go to the rail.
$W:    >30 and preferably in the $40s and $50s

Then still have to watch SC, HP, RE and MARB. 

 

[Steve123]

"Accuracy"  Young bulls tend to change a bunch.  EPD's are not much good if they aren't predictable.

 

[obie105]

"Accuracy"  Young bulls tend to change a bunch.  EPD's are not much good if they aren't predictable.

Very good point! I actually had a breed rep stress this to me this past fall. Look at proven bulls with several calf crops.

 

[cowboy_nyk]

Balance is important. As is accuracy.
BW  0-3.0 (i don't want tiny calves)
ww 50+
YW 90 - 120
Milk - 20-35
Docility 10+
scrotal 1.0 and up

 

[CAB]

  The longer that I am in this business the less I seem to know but I am starting to think that if you emphasize any one trait the more you are continuously having to "fix" something. I think more and more that we need to just pick for the type of cattle that have the traits that work for us in our area and are happy with personally but of coarse that would be too simple and there wouldn't be as much money to be made off of all of the different advertising hypes. The older I get the more I like Tim Ohlde / Kirk Duff's philosophies. Breed for the complete animal, don't select for single traits.

 

[aj]

I am with CAB. But if one were to specialize in traits........could one develop a smallish cow that had huge pelvic measurements.A maternal breed that ate less herself.....but could shell out a 105 pound calf.....TERMINAL type calf. I kinda doubt it would happen......but if one thought like a business person in a critical thinking kinda of way......take a maternal breed and place 1st importance on maternal calving ease......or et that freak 1100 pound cow with a huge pelvic region.....hammer and hammer and hammer away. Might be the next new frontier in cattle selection.

 

[RyanChandler]

I am with CAB. But if one were to specialize in traits........could one develop a smallish cow that had huge pelvic measurements.A maternal breed that ate less herself.....but could shell out a 105 pound calf.....TERMINAL type calf. I kinda doubt it would happen......but if one thought like a business person in a critical thinking kinda of way......take a maternal breed and place 1st importance on maternal calving ease......or et that freak 1100 pound cow with a huge pelvic region.....hammer and hammer and hammer away. Might be the next new frontier in cattle selection.

F1 Angus / Jersey bred Char