When the American Angus Association genetic evaluation updated just twice a year, sometimes it could be a “rude awakening,” says Dick Beck, vice president of sales and marketing for ORIgen.
Today the weekly updates give him a chance to watch a bull and keep a pulse on what’s happening without much lag. In a special edition of The Angus Conversation, he wondered if someday that could become almost real time.
“Not every breeder needs that, but I think the cutting edge, the people who take the high risks, who create the outliers, who generate that testing data, those kind of people need the information as quickly as they can have it,” he suggested.
He and Joe Epperly, Wagonhammer Ranches, shared their take-homes from the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) Research Symposium and Convention last week in Calgary, Alberta. Researchers from across the globe discussed the genetic impact on methane emissions and proposed production solutions. U.S. scientists focused on ways to tackle bovine congestive heart failure (BCHF) from both a management and genetic standpoint, including ways to collect phenotypes.
Historically Angus breeders have provided leadership to help tackle industry-wide challenges.
“We can think about this and dream about it, but until you’ve captured the data and know you can't set a guideline on what that data looks like until it's done,” Epperly says. “So the Angus breeders and their willingness to capture that data and go out and do some novel phenotypes has been a blessing to the industry in general.”