Page 82 - Earnscleugh Bull Sale 2020

WHY COMPOSITES?
We are in the process of registering all our composite cattle and progeny with the American Simmental Society. In USA and worldwide they are the most respected source of EBV data for mixed breeds. In America, Composites are a massive breed/industry of their own. Our data will be compared to theirs and be more meaningful than our current system which compares them within our herd. The ASA has “the worlds largest genetic evaluation of beef cattle with over 17 million animals and 120,000+ genotypes”. It runs both purebred and composite cattle in the same evaluation resulting in meaningful comparisons. To
us they seem to be technologically well advanced to anything we have seen before. We have done our first run through the database but accuracy is not high enough to use for this year. We are very much looking forwards to when it is.
Calf Trait
Calf observed improvement
Calf % heterosis
Calving rate, %
3.2
4.4
Survival to weaning, %
1.4
1.9
Birth weight, lb.
1.7
2.4
Weaning weight, lb.
16.3
3.9
ADG, lb./d
.08
2.6
Yearling weight, lb.
29.1
3.8
Maternal Trait
Maternal observed improvement
Maternal % heterosis
Calving rate, %
3.5
3.7
Survival to weaning, %
.8
1.5
Birth weight, lb.
1.6
1.8
Weaning weight, lb.
18.0
3.9
Longevity, yr.
1.36
16.2
Cow Lifetime production
No. Calves
.97
17.0
Cumulative Wean. Wt., lb.
600
25.3
80
Earnscleugh 35th Annual Sale
COMPOSITE
COMPOSITE