Page 9 - Waigroup Pinebank Pinehill Angus 2021 Catalogue ebook

TACE – what is it?

Tace is simply a performance predicting system. It
records an animal’s own performance, as well as the
performance of all known relatives in the herd. Using
this information, it is able to build a reliable indicator
of each animal’s genetic potential.
Each recorded trait is measured as a plus or minus.
This shows the genetic potential in that trait, for that
bull, as compared to the breed average. These
measurements are called EBV’s – Estimated Breeding
Values.

Each recorded trait is also presented with an accuracy
percentage. This measures the degree of predictability
ie the likelihood of passing on that recorded trait to his
progeny. The more information we can collect for each
animal, the more reliable the predictability of each trait,
and the higher the percentage. For example, a bull with
+ 60 kg growth at 400 days and 90% accuracy, can
be more confidently expected to transmit that extra
growth to his progeny than a bull with + 60 kg at 400
days and 57 % accuracy.

This doesn’t mean the bull with lower predictability is
not going to pass on that trait, it just means there is
less information on his ability to pass it on . There may
be a number of reasons for this – for example, a young
bull may have few closely related animals.

As a general rule, pick using EBV’s first, and use
accuracy percentages, as well as visual appraisal, to
narrow down your selection.

9