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Estimated breeding values are numerical predictions used in animal breeding to estimate an individual’s genetic merit for specific traits. They help breeders and farmers predict how an animal’s offspring will perform.
"Quite a bit. If you are selling to the calf market you want good 200-day weight for the calf sales because they pay per kilo and if you are going for prime steers, you’re going for 600-day weight but you’ve got to have a look the bulls as well."
"I definitely take them into consideration, especially if you want to buy a low birth-weight bull to put over heifers but really, you’ve got to look at the bull to get something you really want. You’ve got to be happy with the look of it, that’s for sure."
"They are the first thing you look at before you go to a sale and then you make decisions from there. We are looking at 200-day growth because we sell calves and we want good, big calves."
"A lot. I look at the EBVs and narrow down the numbers I want to look at. Data I look at includes milking ability, early growth, scrotals and fats, which are important for keeping condition on cows."
"I’m after a good-looking bull with a nice, deep chest and a big bum. We are looking for a terminal bull so I look at its structure first and then look at the data. If you were breeding replacements, you’d be more fixated on data."
"I look at the bull first, pick out something I like and then see what the figures are like. We are looking for something that ticks all the boxes including 200-, 400- and 600-day weights. We want something that if it is sold as a weaner, they will grow on until they’re killed."
"Essentially it’s all about that data, right? The bulls look so similar and we are looking for a low-birthweight bull. That’s important for us so we put more weight on that data. My husband and his dad will be looking at how they walk and how they stand and all those things, but they’ll be looking in the book, it is about the book and those stats they are after and trying to breed into the mob."
