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Genomics explained plainly
A yearling bull stands in your pen. He has never sired a calf. All his numbers rest on his sire, his dam, and his own growth so far. Then someone pulls a few hairs from…
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Accuracy and the range behind it
You are leaning on the rail at a bull sale. Two bulls in the catalog both read +90 for the same weaning weight trait. On paper they are twins. But one is a proven herd…
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Contemporary groups: why you cannot buy a number with a feed truck
You have heard the gripe at the sale barn. A man’s bulls read high, and somebody leans over the rail and says, “Sure they do. Look how he feeds them.” Pour the groceries to a…
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What Is Inside a $Value
You have seen these in a sale catalog. A dollar sign, a couple of letters, and a number. $M 72. $W 58. $C 210. They sit next to the EPDs and they look like a…
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The Milk Number on a Bull That Will Never Give Milk
You are standing at the sale looking at a bull. His page has a row of numbers, and one of them is labeled Milk. Stop on that for a second. That bull will never give…
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Why You Cannot Push One Number Without Moving Another
Say you decide growth is what you want. Bigger calves, more pounds to sell. So you go through the sale book and buy the highest yearling-weight bulls you can find, year after year, and you…
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Where These Numbers Live
You know what an EPD is now. You can read a +25 next to a +15 and say which bull should throw the heavier calves. But there is a wall in front of you that…
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Every Number on the Bull Page
You are leaning on the fence with a sale book open, staring at a wall of columns: CED, BW, WW, Marb, $M. You know some of them. The rest just dare you to guess. This…
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What Counts as a Good Number
You are standing at the sale barn counter with a bull’s page in your hand. His weaning weight EPD reads +80. Somebody asks you if that is any good, and you realize you have no…
