Why performance record
Performance recording is a tool available to all Society members to help you make more informed selection decisions, and in turn to assist you to market your stock.
Performance recorded data is becoming increasingly important to cattle buyers - both pedigree and commercial, at bull sales and over the farm gate. The data is managed by the Society’s performance recording register, Breedplan and specific trait values are reflected in Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs).
In addition to EBVs for specific traits, three indexes are available - Terminal, Self-Replacing and the new Maternal Index.
EBVs help in selection making decisions by
Taking in to account the performance of the bull’s relatives as well as his own performance
Allowing you to compare bulls on the basis of how they will breed, rather than how they have been fed
Accurately estimating progeny performance for specific traits and to predict the outcome of breeding programmes
Identifying genetic differences for ‘hard to see’ traits such as milk and marbling
Reporting differences in the units of commercial value, for example carcase weight and retail meat value
Whilst prospect buyers still place importance on the animal’s looks, they are realising that they require the back up of an evidence base provided by the performance data.
The following price trends realised at the February 2019 Stirling bull sale reflect the value of performance recording.
Performance costs are very reasonable at £150 for the first five breeding cows and thereafter £3 per active cow. Scanning costs can vary according to numbers forward.
How to get started
Record all young stock, both bulls and heifers - the good, bad and indifferent
Record cow weights at weaning
Weight record at birth, 200 days and 400 days
Scan at 12 to 15 months
Input the above data in to a Breedplan spreadsheet and issue to our service provider, the British Charolais Cattle Society (BCCS)
Finally, select the most relevant EBVs for specific traits for your breeding programme; don’t just concentrate on the three indexes
For further information, please contact the Society’s Head Office.
Steve Johnson, Beef Shorthorn Cattle Society breed development chairman
I have been performance recording my Gilven herd of Beef Shorthorns for around 12 years.
During that period, I have found that what I thought were good consistent breeding families have actually been backed up with strong EBVs. Conversely my poorer cows that tended to look after themselves more than their calves are also highlighted.
These trends are all made much more obvious by regular weighing and scanning so enabling me, as a breeder, to make more informed decisions on future breeding and culling policies.
Having cattle for sale that have notable pedigrees and that are pleasing to the eye, are always much more ‘saleable’ if they are accompanied by good accurate performance recording data and EBVs. I always view EBV figures as a pedigree in numbers.
Along with my long-established pedigree family lines, health status and cow classification data, I find performance recording another invaluable tool in the breeding and marketing of my cattle.
Steve Johnson