Chris JeffcoatAssociation Perspective
Make an investment in your heifers.
The fall sale season is upon us, and many of you will be making an investment in bulls for your herd. As you will notice in sale books, the majority of farms having sales will have made an investment in their bulls through genomic testing to enhance the expected progeny differences (EPDs) and improve their accuracy. This provides you, the buyer, an enormous added value through a more accurate set of EPDs for your bulls.
As a commercial cattleman, GeneMax® Advantage™ testing for your heifers can provide you the next level of genomic information to improve your herd. GeneMax Advantage is a genomic test available for commercial Angus females that are 75% or greater black Angus. In the past, commercial heifer selection was done by the “eyeball test” and possibly weaning or yearling weights. However, by utilizing GeneMax Advantage, you can take advantage of genomic testing as another tool in the selection of heifers.
GeneMax Advantage testing results will provide you with three bio-economic indexes, which include a Cow Advantage, Feeder Advantage and Total Advantage index. These indexes are distributed on a scale from 1 to 100, where scores of 50 equate to average genetic-merit females and higher scores represent genetics for greater net return.
In addition, GeneMax Advantage now provides individual scores for the following maternal traits: calving ease maternal, weaning weight, heifer pregnancy, milk and mature weight. You will also be provided individual scores for the following terminal traits: gain, carcass weight, marbling, ribeye area and fat thickness. These were exciting changes to the GeneMax Advantage test made this summer, which will provide commercial cattlemen, such as yourself, more information on their commercial females to make better breeding decisions. Updated results for females previously tested can be viewed through your AAA Login account.
As the margins continue to tighten for the cow-calf producer, retaining females that are higher-performing will undoubtedly improve your bottom line. GeneMax Advantage is an additional tool for you to use in the selection of retained heifers. For more information, please visit the Angus Genetics Inc. website or contact your regional manager.
Editor’s Note: Regional Manager Chris Jeffcoat covers the states of Delaware, Maryland, New England states, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Click here to find the regional manager for your state.
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