Fast-forward EPDs, accuracy values

John Maday, Managing Editor 
Adding DNA information to the American Angus Association® National Cattle Evaluation helps improve the dependability of expected progeny differences (EPD), which is reflected in increased accuracy values. But the question is, how much? And what’s this improvement worth? Kent Andersen, Ph.D., associate director, technical services, Pfizer Animal Genetics, says one way to better understand this technology and its impact is to express the change in EPD values and accuracies in terms of the equivalent number of progeny with performance records included in the genetic evaluation.
 “It’s hard to know exactly what a boost in accuracy of around .25 means for an EPD,” Dr. Andersen says. “But equating the enhanced accuracy for each trait to the equivalent number of progeny with performance records required for that level of improved accuracy helps put a complicated concept into more relatable terms for Angus breeders and buyers.”
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