Conclusion

Ask yourself what traits am I being paid for? What traits save me money? Then consider EBV’s, but never lose sight of the need for visually appealing cattle and a focus on time tested cattle breeding fundamentals (eg herd wide calving ease). EBV’s are useful, but perhaps their popularity has reached the point of excess, and the industry needs to stop paying lip service to things like structure and doing ability and actually apply these old fashioned principles to their business as a higher priority than Breedplan.

If you like the look of the bull and his EBV’s are OK, then that bull is suitable for you. It is pedantic to concentrate on minor numeric deviations in unproven bulls for commercial use. As stated at the outset, EBV’s are just the best estimate at the time. In two year old bulls and younger, the only guarantee that can be made is that their EBV’s will change as time passes.

For further reading:

Angus Australia has detailed Breedplan explanations at http://www.angusaustralia.com.au/BP_Learn_FAQ.htm

Furthermore it has explanations of genetic relationships at
http://www.angusaustralia.com.au/BP_RelationshipTraits.htm