American Angus Association
How to Read the Report

Each bull listed in this report is comparable to every other bull in the database. The analysis takes into account only the differences expressed in each herd in which the bulls were used. For example, bull A has a weaning EPD of +30 lb. and bull B has a weaning EPD of +20 lb. If you randomly mate these bulls in your herd, you could expect bull A's calves to weigh, on average, 10 lb. more at weaning than bull B's progeny (30 - 20 = 10).

Expected Progeny Difference (EPD) , is the prediction of how future progeny of each animal are expected to perform relative to the progeny of other animals listed in the database. EPDs are expressed in units of measure for the trait, plus or minus. Interim EPDs may appear on young animals when their performance has yet to be incorporated into the American Angus Association National Cattle Evaluation (NCE) procedures. This EPD will be preceded by an "I", and may or may not include the animal's own performance record for a particular trait, depending on its availability, appropriate contemporary grouping, or data edits needed for NCE.

Accuracy (ACC), is the reliability that can be placed on the EPD. An accuracy of close to 1.0 indicates higher reliability. Accuracy is impacted by the number of progeny and ancestral records included in the analysis.

$Value Indexes, are multi-trait selection indexes, expressed in dollars per head, to assist beef producers by adding simplicity to genetic selection decisions. The $Value is an estimate of how future progeny of each sire are expected to perform, on average, compared to progeny of other sires in the database if the sires were randomly mated to cows and if calves were exposed to the same environment.

PRODUCTION

Calving Ease Direct (CED), is expressed as a difference in percentage of unassisted births, with a higher value indicating greater calving ease in first-calf heifers. It predicts the average difference in ease with which an sire's calves will be born when he is bred to first-calf heifers.

Birth Weight EPD (BW), expressed in pounds, is a predictor of a sire's ability to transmit birth weight to his progeny compared to that of other sires.

Weaning Weight EPD (WW), expressed in pounds, is a predictor of a sire's ability to transmit weaning growth to his progeny compared to that of other sires.  

Yearling Weight EPD (YW), expressed in pounds, is a predictor of a sire's ability to transmit yearling growth to his progeny compared to that of other sires.  Bigger isn't always better.  Be very careful, because most cattle with big YW's keep on growing way after a year and can give you 1600 lb cows that will eat you out of house and home.  In addition, cattle that have a long growth curve tend to be later maturing which means your heifers might not be cycling when you want to turn the bulls out.  Having said that, there are cattle that can grow very fast while shutting down at a moderate mature size.  This is the ideal combination to us and these are the cattle we seek to identify and propagate!!

Yearling Height EPD (YH), is a predictor of a sire's ability to transmit yearling height, expressed in inches, compared to the that of other sires.  Can help you watch for increased frame.  Unless you're weighing/measuring your cows, they are most likely a lot bigger than you think!  You should pay attention to mature height too, because some cattle will grow fast to yearling, quit shortly thereafter and have an actual mature frame size much smaller than their yearling height would have otherwise predicted.  See our comments in the YW section.

Scrotal Circumference EPD (SC), expressed in centimeters, is a predictor of the difference in transmitting ability for scrotal size compared to that of other sires.  A higher number is somewhat correlated with age of puberty (higher number = younger puberty) and fertility of the daughters.

MATERNAL

Calving Ease Maternal (CEM), is expressed as a difference in percentage of unassisted births with a higher value indicating greater calving ease in first-calf daughters. It predicts the average ease with which a sire's daughters will calve as first-calf heifers when compared to daughters of other sires.

Maternal Milk EPD (Milk), is a predictor of a sire's genetic merit for milk and mothering ability as expressed in his daughters compared to daughters of other sires. In other words, it is that part of a calf's weaning weight attributed to milk and mothering ability.  Watch out for too much milk!  It can make for hard doing cows and blown udders!!!

Herds (MkH) indicate the number of herds from which daughters are reported.

Daughters (MkD) reflects the number of daughters that have progeny weaning weight records included in the analysis.

Mature Weight EPD (MW), expressed in pounds, is a predictor of the difference in mature weight of daughters of a sire compared to the daughters of other sires.

Mature Height EPD (MH),expressed in inches, is a predictor of the difference in mature height of a sire's daughters compared to daughters of other sires.

Cow Energy Value ($EN), expressed in dollars savings per cow per year, assesses differences in cow energy requirements as an expected dollar savings difference in daughters of sires. A larger value is more favorable when comparing two animals (more dollars saved on feed energy expenses). Components for computing the cow $EN savings difference include lactation energy requirements and energy costs associated with differences in mature cow size. I think they're on the right track here, but they don't use actual body condition score data along with frame score.  Unfortunately, this causes the AAA to put too low of a $EN value on some really efficient cows & vice-versa.  We will try to note exceptional cow efficiency in our catalog comments.

CARCASS  This data on ACTUAL CARCASSES is rarely collected anymore, so these numbers will either be absent or have very low accuracies.  Ultrasound has become the standard for carcass trait prediction.  It's coming up just a little further down the page.

Carcass Weight EPD (CW), expressed in pounds is a predictor of the differences in hot carcass weight of a sire's progeny compared to progeny of other sires.

Marbling EPD (Marb), expressed as a fraction of the difference in USDA marbling score of a sire's progeny compared to progeny of other sires.

Ribeye Area EPD (RE), expressed in square inches, is a predictor of the difference in ribeye area of a sire's progeny compared to progeny of other sires.

Fat Thickness EPD (Fat), expressed in inches, is a predictor of the differences in external fat thickness at the 12th rib (as measured between the 12th and 13th ribs) of a sire's progeny compared to progeny of other sires.

Group/progeny (Grp/Pg) reflects the number of contemporary groups and the number of carcasses for each sire included in the analysis.

ULTRASOUND  While this has some problems (high testosterone bulls may be at a disadvantage because of testosterone's negative influence on marbling deposition), ultrasound is the one with all the data behind it.  We scan all our bulls and replacements as do a good number of registered breeders.

Intramuscular Fat EPD (%IMF), is a predictor of the difference in a sire's progeny for percent intramuscular fat in the ribeye muscle compared to other sires.  You'd know this as marbling which is the largest component of quality grades, i.e. Prime, Choice, Select, etc.

Ribeye Area EPD (RE), is a predictor of the difference in square inches of ultrasound ribeye area of a sire's progeny compared to the progeny of other sires.  Another one where bigger is not always better.  Certified Angus Beef has revised the CAB standards to specify that only carcasses with a 10-16 sq. in. REA will qualify for CAB.  When a slice of prime rib is too big to fit on a plate, it's not very marketable!

Fat Thickness EPD (FAT),expressed in inches, is a predictor of the difference in ultrasound fat thickness at the 12th rib of a sire's progeny compared to the progeny of other sires. It includes the weighted average of 60% of the rib fat measurement and 40% of the rump fat measurement.  We don't select against this measure of external fat because we feel that it may negatively affect the easy-keeping abilities of a cow.  Hard doing cows are hard to breed cows.  And cow fertility is a MUCH BIGGER factor in cow/calf profitability than external fat on a carcass ever will be.

Group/progeny (GP/PG) is the number of contemporary groups and number of progeny considered in this analysis.

$VALUE INDEXES

$Value indexes are multi-trait selection indexes, expressed in dollars per head, to assist beef producers by adding simplicity to genetic selection decisions. The $Value is an estimate of how future progeny of each sire are expected to perform, on average, compared to progeny of other sires in the database if the sires were randomly mated to cows and if calves were exposed to the same environment.   More Info

Weaned Calf Value ($W), an index value expressed in dollars per head, is the expected average difference in future progeny performance for preweaning merit. $W includes both revenue and cost adjustments associated with differences in birth weight, weaning direct growth, maternal milk, and mature cow size.

Unless you're feeding you're retaining ownership and selling your calves on a grid, these next numbers are over-rated (in our always humble opinion!).  $F is highly tied to the YW EPD and undue selection for that can lead to very big cattle.  At the end of the day, lbs weaned/cow exposed drives profitability.

Feedlot Value ($F), an index value expressed in dollars per head, is the expected average difference in future progeny performance for postweaning merit compared to progeny of other sires.

Grid Value ($G), an index value expressed in dollars per head, is the expected average difference in future progeny performance for carcass grid merit compared to progeny of other sires.

• Quality Grade ($QG) $QG represents the quality grade segment of the economic advantage found in $G. $QG is intended for the specialized user wanting to place more emphasis on improving quality grade. The carcass marbling (Marb) EPD and ultrasound-derived percent intramuscular fat (%IMF) EPD contribute to $QG.
  
   
• Yield Grade ($YG) $YG represents the yield grade segment of the economic advantage found in $G. $YG is intended for the specialized user wanting to place more emphasis on red meat yield. It provides a multi-trait approach to encompass ribeye, fat thickness and weight into an economic value for red meat yield.

Beef Value ($B), an index value expressed in dollars per head, is the expected average difference in future progeny performance for postweaning and carcass value compared to progeny of other sires.