I travelled out to Brandon, Manitoba last Wednesday riveted by the beautiful fall colors and gorgeous scenery. I was welcomed by 11 Angus breeders and 2 commercial producers who took the time out of their very busy harvesting to attend a workshop on EPDs.
We discussed what EPDs are, how they are calculated and how they should best be used. This is the first of a series of workshops on EPDs that will be offered by the Association. The next workshop will describe the paperwork involved in participating on the Canadian Angus Performance Program. We will go through the paperwork that members receive and how to complete the worksheets. And, we will discuss the reports provided back to member explaining how to read and use these.
I’d like to thank Arlene Kirkpatrick for organizing the evening, and all the members who took the time to be there last Wednesday. It was a pleasure for me to meet so many enthusiastic breeders in person, and for me to be able to discuss genetic evaluations with them. In addition, it was greatly beneficial for us to have had the commercial customers’ perspective as well.
Everybody came away from the workshop having learnt something new and I encourage all breeders to take the time to come to the workshops as they are available in your area, or contact me to do it online.
EPDs are great selection tools that describe the additive genetics within our animals helping Angus breeders reach their breeding goals in a shorter time frame. I welcome you to contact me with any questions or comments that you might have.
Posted by Kajal Devani
Feedback: kajal1@cdnangus.ca
