North American Limousin Foundation and American Shorthorn Association Move Genetic Evaluations to International Genetic Solutions

Photo by Robert Scarth

Photo by LID

In a blog post by Kris Ringwall I became aware that the American Shorthorn Association has moved its genetic evaluations to International Genetic Solutions, the genetic evaluation arm of the American Simmental Association. The North American Limousin Foundation (NALF) has also announced that it is  joining a growing group of breeds that use International Genetic Solutions (IGS) as their service provider for the estimation of EPDs. NALF joins Red Angus Association of America, American Maine-Anjou Association, American Chianina Association, American Simmental Association, American Gelbvieh Association, Canadian Simmental Association, Canadian Angus Association, Candadian Gelbvieh Association, and most recently American Shorthorn Association. The new Shorthorn evaluations were released this fall; the first release of Limousin IGS evaluations will be released in the Spring of 2015.
As Kris Ringwall points out, this is good news for commercial cattlemen as EPDs from these evaluations will be directly comparable across the partner breeds. This also provides a larger quantity of data backing these genetic evaluations. And, in the prediction of EPDs data is the name of the game.

BEEF Editor's Blog: Will Quality Beef Be The Industry’s Nirvana? Learn More at Thompson Research Center Field Day

Burt Rutherford recently reported on a presentation by Mizzou's Scott Brown. Dr. Brown challenged beef producers to identify a strategy to remain profitable when beef prices come down in the next decade. Brown's solution is to target more cattle that grade Prime on the rail. He presented data from the Thompson Research Center, where 30% of the steer calves consistently receive a Prime grade. The genetics used at Thompson Research Center has allowed the herd to meet those levels.

To here more about the genetics and changes that have occurred at the Thompson Reseach Center, watch this blog or attend the 2014 Thompson Research Center Field Day where both Scott Brown and I (among others) will be speaking.