| Sire Summary 2010 The Canadian Gelbvieh Association produces a Sire Summary twice a year following the production of updated EPDs. Typically this is accomplished in January and June/July. The Gelbvieh sires in this Summary are registered in the Canadian Gelbvieh Association Herd Book and the genetic values (EPDs) contained in this Summary were computed as part of the Gelbvieh National Cattle Evaluation Program of the American Gelbvieh Association. Performance data on Gelbvieh animals from the United States, Canada and several other countries was merged to create an INTERNATIONAL GELBVIEH EVALUATION which was done by the University of Georgia. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the Sire Summary files. Click Here to get Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Criteria for Sires to be Listed
Each Sire Summary is comprised of three sections: Progeny Tested Sires, Genetic Indicator Sires, and Trait Leaders. For each sire, general pedigree information is included as well as whether the sire is AI Qualified, Total Progeny with weaning records, Number of herds submitting weaning information, Number of producing daughters, Number of carcass progeny and Number of female progeny with ultrasound records. To be listed the sires must have produced a calf in the previous four years. Each section then has more specific criteria as described below.
Genetic Indicator Sires
As well as siring registered or computed calves in the past four years, these sires have met an accuracy standard of .45 to .64 for Weaning Weight (WW) EPD evaluation. EPD values for these bulls should be considered in relation to lower accuracy values.
Progeny Proven Sires
In addition to the above criteria, sires in this category have Weaning Weight Accuracy of at least .65. The sires listed in this category have enough offspring with performance data submitted to provide added predictability.
Trait Leaders
The Trait Leader listing in the Sire Summary on the CGA website contains approximately 40 sires for each trait. The sires are ranked in descending order from the most favourable value for each trait. In order to be listed as a Trait Leader, a sire must qualify as a Progeny Proven Sire and have Accuracy in the listed trait of at least .50 listing for Carcass Traits are slightly different as sires must have either five (5) carcass progeny or 25 female progeny ultrasound records to be listed. Feedlot Merit (FM) and Carcass Value (CV) leaders, indexes that do not have accuracies, must have Yearling Weight (YW) accuracy of at least .50 to be included.
Top 25% Sires
Sires that rank in the upper 25% for a specific trait among all active sires and have an accuracy for that trait of at least .65, will have a star below the EPD.
Additional Sire Summary Information
The statistics and genetic trends for the current Gelbvieh genetic evaluation run are presented for your reference. The MBE accounts for hybrid vigour and fairly analyzes for the additive genetic contribution of individuals of different breeds that appear in pedigrees of Gelbvieh and Gelbvieh Balancer® hybrid cattle. The averages, minimum and maximum EPDs for each trait and percentile rankings are presented in the tables below. The data is broken out in this manner for Active Sires, Active Dams, Gelbvieh Balancer® cattle, and for all calves born in Active Sires Percentile Breakdown. Percentile rankings are useful to describe an animal relative to the population in a number of traits. The EPDs in any trait follow a normal bell-shaped distribution; therefore there are very few animals out at the extremes, and a lot of cattle that have EPDs close to the average. Because of biological relationships and antagonisms between traits, few cattle will have high percentile rankings across several traits. Genetic trend charts indicate that Gelbvieh breeders have successfully reduced birth weight and improved calving ease while maintaining positive genetic trends for weaning and yearling growth. The data provided furnishes cattle producers with important snapshots as to where the Gelbvieh breed is at in the current analysis, and the selection pressure and direction that has been applied in the various traits over the past several years.
Gelbvieh HerdTrack Users
EPDs on all animals in your database, including animals in the 3 generation pedigree of your animals, can be updated electronically. Just open HerdTrack and go to FILE - EXPORT TO ASSOCIATION and select the EPD Request file. Attach the EPD request file to an email to gelbvieh@gelbvieh.ca and a file that will update your database will be sent back to you right away. |
