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South Dakota | So I used absolute on my heifers last year. At the time he had a milk EPD of +19 and $EN +21.42, both of which I really like. Now the spring catalog had him listed at milk +19 and $EN +18. His EPDs at the moment are actually +23 milk, +12.91 $EN. Backtrack to 2014 and he had a +26 milk and -9.33 $EN, which are bull numbers That would be a deal breaker for me. During the period of 2014-2016 his milk acc went from .30 to .70, which explains the changes during that period. From 2016-present, his milk acc went from .70 to .72, which lead to a 9 point drop in maintenance energy rating. Anyway, EPDs are a good tool, but they're annoying. Realistically, what type of cattle is he being bred to in today's angus world? Probably high milk, low $EN females, I would think that would play a huge roll in these number changing too. how do you factor in the maintenance efficiency of the dam, or how do you factor in the dams he's being bred to on any of these numbers? Its hard to truly know what you're getting unless you're using bulls from linebred herds. Absolute's maternal numbers have been all over the map. | |
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Fluctuating EPDs
