Weekly genetics evaluate: Presenting EBVs in a sale catalogue

Editor’s be aware:  Tonight’s genetics evaluate is the final for the Autumn 2023 bull promoting season. Columnist Alastair Rayner will return in late June to preview the Spring 2022 bull promoting interval, and can proceed to file weekly experiences via to the top of the 12 months. Within the meantime we thank the various bull breeders Australia-wide who’ve supported Beef Central’s genetics protection with promoting all through the autumn interval, in addition to the enthusiastic reader assist and remark engagement we’ve obtained on genetics subjects this 12 months.

PREPARING the sale catalogue is likely one of the main undertakings bull breeders face forward of their sale. {The catalogue} is a key piece of selling, promotion and information-sharing for any seedstock enterprise.

Usually {the catalogue} is greater than merely an inventory of bulls on the market.  It supplies insights into this system behind the bulls, the route the breeder is heading and a possibility to match packages in opposition to others within the breed.

Many bull breeders allocate appreciable time and assets to the event of their catalogue.  In lots of instances catalogues can eat a lot of a bull breeding program’s funds for promoting and promotion.  So you will need to guarantee no matter goes into {the catalogue} is each helpful to the reader and is as correct and informative as potential.

“Must know” versus “good to know”

When contemplating what to incorporate in a list you will need to take into consideration data within the context of “must know” versus “good to know.”  In the end the bulk of people that learn a list are industrial producers searching for bulls for his or her breeding paddocks.  In these instances their wants fall within the class of genetic advantage in addition to data on phenotype (comparable to eye pigmentation, in these breeds the place it is a matter).

Within the case of genetic advantage, most data will be conveyed within the animals EBVs.  Presenting EBV knowledge does sometimes create some confusion within the minds of breeders.  Particularly how a lot knowledge needs to be introduced, how ought to it’s laid out and what different data should be included within the catalogue.

There are some fundamentals that needs to be adhered to when presenting BreedPlan knowledge.  One of many key necessities is to obviously establish the information as being BreedPlan EBVs and that the identify and date of the evaluation is clearly recognized.  For instance January 2023 Brahman BreedPlan evaluation.

One of the vital essential factors breeders ought to keep in mind is that each one EBVs for a person animal should be displayed.  It isn’t allowable to show only a collection of EBVs in both {the catalogue} or on pen playing cards.  On the similar time the accuracy of the EBVs should even be displayed, and this may be achieved both under the EBV or beside it.

Breed common

It will be important that bull breeders additionally embrace the suitable (+) or (-) signal firstly of every EBV in order that it’s clear to anybody studying {the catalogue} what the EBV worth is in comparison with the Breed Common.

Breed Common is maybe an important further set of knowledge to be included with the EBV knowledge.  Offering the Breed common permits potential consumers the chance to make use of the EBV knowledge to make their issues and comparisons of sires extra precisely. Whereas many breeders select to offer the Breed Averages together with the Breed Percentile Tables on the entrance of their catalogues, this may be irritating for a lot of potential consumers, who should continuously flick forwards and backwards of their catalogue use.  Ideally, the Breed Averages needs to be displayed on every web page, which makes the method of evaluation much less irritating for bull consumers.

The Percentile Band Desk does provide producers lots of data concerning potential sires.  It’s value putting this desk prominently within the catalogue.  Nevertheless the desk must be included in full with all of the EBVs and the Choice Indexes included.

In any catalogue containing BreedPlan EBVs, house additionally must be given to explanatory notes on every of the EBVs.  Its essential to not assume that everybody who reads a sale catalogue totally understands what the EBVs introduced imply or easy methods to perceive them.  These explanatory notes can typically be very useful to new producers or to these producers a distinct breed which has totally different EBVs on provide.  These descriptions are simply discovered on the BreedPlan web site or from the BreedPlan workplace inside a breed.

When it comes to “must know”, this data is normal throughout all breeds utilizing BreedPlan EBVs.  Usually this knowledge, together with the animals registered identify will permit a possible purchaser sufficient knowledge to begin making some assessments on the animals’ suitability to their breeding program.  There are, nevertheless, some further units of knowledge that may very well be supplied as “must know”.

This extra data could embrace the “traits analysed.”  Offering this data could provide catalogue customers an perception into the information that has been recorded and analyzed on that particular person animal.  This could present some producers with better insights into the background of the herd and reenforce the breeders repute for a centered breeding route.

As beforehand famous, many breeders use their catalogues not solely to supply data on sale animals, in addition they use it as a part of their herd promotion and common advertising.  It isn’t unusual for breeders to offer further element on genetic progress of their herd in opposition to breed averages.

These charts and extra particulars generally is a helpful addition to a list.  Nevertheless, this knowledge can take appreciable time to be developed and introduced.  It could be value a bull breeder taking the time forward of creating these graphs to resolve if the data is “good to know” or “must know.”

As “good to know knowledge” this data doesn’t essentially must be included in a gross sales catalogue, notably for catalogues developed beneath a tighter funds. One choice for breeders wanting to supply this data could also be to incorporate it on their web site the place potential purchasers can entry the information ought to they should.

Alternatively, with the widespread use of QR codes breeders can now provide extra data with out the necessity to bodily publish knowledge.  This generally is a good consideration in producing catalogues to a funds.  The QR codes can be utilized to hyperlink to BreedPlan knowledge, in addition to to a breeders web site or different sources of knowledge.

BreedPlan presents breeders with a collection of assets for a lot of breeds to help in creating gross sales catalogues.  These embrace breed particular catalogue notes in addition to QR codes and Hyperlinks so as to add to digital sale catalogues.

Alastair Rayner is the Principal of RaynerAg, an agricultural advisory service primarily based in NSW.  RaynerAg is affiliated with BJA Inventory & Station Brokers.  He often lists and promote cattle for purchasers as nicely attending bull gross sales to assist consumer purchases.  Alastair supplies pre-sale alternatives and classifications for seedstock producers in NSW, Qld and Victoria.  He will be contacted right here or via his web site www.raynerag.com.au