Page 43 - Earnscleugh 2021 Catalogue eBook

COMPOSITE

THE AMERICAN SIMMENTAL ASSOCIATION AND WHY

Ever since we started the composite cattle we have been unhappy with the figures we have been receiving. This is
because each new bull we introduce was brought into the database with figures of zero across the board. This gives his
progeny half the value of the dam and nothing from the bull for the first year. The resulting values are meaningless when
compared to calves out of a different bull on the same year where the other bull has been used for several seasons and
has accumulated some data. Zeros are also unrealistic when we continually purchase top genetics with top data.
The American Simmental Association is a true multi breed program where cattle from many different cooperative breeds can
be directly compared. Currently there are over 18 million head recorded within the Association with near to 400,000 animals
recorded annually. The American Angus association also runs 11 million EPDS (Estimated Progeny Differences) through
the same database. We are very excited to be able to directly compare our animals with so many cattle worldwide and we
believe the genetic enhancement in our stud will be through the roof.
On top of this we now have a place for our genomically enhanced breeding values and once we are happy with their
linkage to the database, we will be able to offer DNA enhanced heifer selection for our clients as well.
We travelled to Montana to visit the Association personally July 2019 and were very impressed with the efficiency and
technologically advanced system. It has a very forward-thinking board who continually experiment in improving cattle and
how they breed. We are very excited to have a Stay Ability EPD now, we believe it is the single most important figure that
can be generated. Stay ability (STAY)is a percentage of cows from a sire still in the herd at age 6 so it considers culling for
feet, type, fertility and production, or any reason a cow may not last.
The financial success of cow calf operations depends on a cow’s ability to remain in the herd long enough to recoup the
cost of heifer development and cow maintenance. To achieve this, a heifer needs to calve as a 2 year old and produce a COMPOSITE
calf each subsequent year. STAY EPD was developed to predict this reproductive success or failure and is defined as “a

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