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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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Understanding Angus Genetic Selection: How the Numbers Are Built and How to Read Them

Most people who buy a registered Angus bull look at a row of EPDs and a handful of dollar figures and make a decision. Fewer understand what those numbers actually are, how they are produced,…
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The Bull That Looked Great on Paper

You have seen it happen, maybe to you. A young bull comes up for sale with a set of numbers that stop you cold. His growth figures sit near the top of the breed. His…
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The Coffee-Counter Complaints About EPDs, Answered

Stand at the sale barn coffee counter long enough and you will hear every complaint there is about EPDs. Some are sharp and worth listening to. Some are a misunderstanding wearing work boots. The honest…
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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…
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What an EPD Is, in Plain English

You already do the thing an EPD does. You just do it with two animals at a time. Stand two bulls side by side and you can guess which one throws the heavier calves. You…






