Posted December 17, 2024
By Tom Brink, RAAA CEO
Genetic progress is something most seedstock breeders strive to make with each successive generation. They want to offer more multi-trait genetic strength to benefit their customers and themselves by creating more valuable cattle.
Below is an actual example of how substantial genetic progress can be made over a few generations. All it takes is time, a dose of dedication, and selecting sires with superior multi-trait genetic merit.
As shown in the table below, the great grand dam (the starting point for our evaluation) was a cow with low genetic merit. She currently ranks in the Bottom 1% of the breed for both ProS and Grid Master, and the Bottom 7% for Herd Builder. Not much genetic strength from a maternal, growth or carcass perspective in that cow. She literally ranks at the bottom of the Red Angus bell curve.
| ProS | Herd Builder | Grid Master | |
| Great Grand Dam | 28 | 23 | 5 |
| Grand Dam | 57 | 28 | 29 |
| Dam | 107 | 48 | 59 |
| Projected Calf | 127 | 53 | 73 |
Fast forward several generations, and the projected calf shown in the table has the potential to rank well above breed average genetically. This calf does not exist yet, but through RAAA’s Planned Mating Calculator (Planned Mating), we can get a good idea of how his EPDs and Indexes will look, because the A.I. sire for his fall-calving dam has been selected. From the Calculator, the projected calf’s ProS index is expected to rank in the Top 22% of the Red Angus population, his Herd Builder in the Top 46% and his Grid Master in the top 18%. Not bad.
That puts this potential calf at or above breed average for a long list of traits, both maternal and terminal. Plus, he should be favorable phenotypically, because structure and phenotype have not been overlooked while selecting for better genetics across the generations involved.
Takeaway Message: Significant genetic progress is possible from virtually any starting point. With individual cows or even entire herds that rank low in the population today, it is still possible to move your genetics up rapidly by using superior sire selection and by having a commitment toward continual improvement.
