Page 14 - Capethorne Riverland Grassmere ebook

Understanding Hereford Indexes

Selection Indexes rank animals for a single production goal – PROFIT. They take
the hard work out of determining how much emphasis to give each of the avail-
able growth, maternal, carcase and fertility EBVs, when selecting parent animals.
An Index is a composite EBV (EBV for Profit) for traits best suited to a particular
production system and/or target market. There are three breed-specific Indexes
for Hereford cattle:
Hereford Prime Index
Estimates the genetic differences between animals in net profitability per mixed
age cow joined for a typical self-replacing commercial herd where Hereford bulls
are joined to either Hereford or other British breed females and targeting the
production of grass finished steers for the Hereford Prime program. Selected
heifers are retained for breeding and so maternal traits are of importance. Steers
target 550 kg live weight (300 kg carcase weight & 7 mm P8 fat) at 20 months of
age, and heifers 475 kg (260 kg carcase weight & 8 mm fat depth), at 22 months
of age.
Beef Heifer Index
Estimates the genetic differences between animals in net profitability per yearling
heifer joined for a typical self-replacing commercial herd where Hereford bulls
are joined to either Hereford or other British breed heifers. Selected heifers are
retained for breeding and so maternal traits are of importance. Steers target 510
kg live weight (280 kg HSCW and 7 mm P8 fat depth) and heifers 450 kg ( 250 kg
HSCW and 8 mm P8 fat depth) at 20 months of age.
Dairy Beef Index
Estimates the genetic differences between animals in net profitability per mixed
age dairy cow joined with all progeny destined for slaughter. Steers and heifer
progeny target 550 kg live weight (300 kg carcase weight and 6 mm fat depth) at
24 months of age and at 475 kg live weight (260 kg carcase weight and 7 mm fat
depth) at 22 months, respectively.

2021 Australasian HEREFORD Group Breedplan EBV Averages
DIR DTRS GL BW Milk 200 400 600
+2.1 +1.8 -0.6 +4.1 +17 +33 +55 +78
Mwt SS DtC CWt EMA Rib Rump RBY IMF
+67 +2.0 -2.9 +52 +3.5 +0.7 +0.8 +0.8 +0.5

Index values ($)
Hereford Prime Beef Heifer Dairy Beef
+$110 +$112 +$105

12 Riverlands, Capethorne, Grassmere Combined Bull Sale 2021