EPDs Can Move Your Breeding Program Forward Faster
Do EPDs work? Yes, according to Hanna Ostrovski, director of research, education and programs for the American Wagyu Association (AWA). Used correctly, EPDs can help a seedstock breeder make positive genetic improvement.
Speaking during the recent World Wagyu Conference in San Antonio, Texas, she walked Wagyu breeders, some of whom are new to the beef business, through how EPDs are calculated.
Since EPDs are a statistical model, unbiased data are crucial. “So when you’re collecting data, make sure that you are making it as unbiased as possible. That’s not going out there, looking at a calf and saying, ‘Uh, it’s 65 pounds maybe.’ Either record the actual birth weight or don’t record the weight.”
That’s because guessing introduces bias into the data and weakens the accuracy of the EPD. And inaccurate EPDs can lead to less-than-desirable outcomes.
The same is true for all the other phenotypic traits a breeder can collect data on. However, environmental data are important as well, because it can affect how an animal responds to its genetics. AWA needs that data as well, “because not everything in that phenotype is due to genotype,” Ostrovosky told Wagyu breeders.
Environmental variation and its effect on genetic expression varies. “The impact of the environment is huge because that’s where the animal spends its life. And the more variables about that animal—where it grew up, the feed it was fed, if you moved it around—the more information we have on an animal, the better accuracy and the better EPD we’ll have.”
Data collection begins with birth data, she said. “Why do we select for birth weight? Because we want better calving ease. Now we don’t really have a problem with calving ease; we have little babies. That’s something we’ve been really proud of in our breed.”
Wagyu are known for their marbling and tenderness, “but we are also a calving ease breed,” she said. And that’s a trait the breed doesn’t want to lose.
Beyond that, record the birth date. “That’s the starting point of that animal’s life. When we have that starting point, we can build a data bank of the whole animal.”
Next is growth data. “That’s going to be yearling weight, yearling feeding, all of that middle stuff before the carcass data,” she said. “So those are the next building blocks, the next steps in that animal’s life. It gives us a look at the rate of growth.”
And finally, carcass data, which is the cherry on top, she told Wagyu breeders. Wagyu is a carcass breed, and while collecting carcass data can be difficult, it’s easier with Wagyu because the cattle are often harvested in smaller plants and the beef is sold in a farm-to-fork branded marketing program.
“So if you’re coming to me with just carcass data, we can make it work—carcass data and a genotype that’s connected to the parents. We can make that work in a model, but we really like to look at the whole life of an animal.”
