By A.J. Knowles, Director of Breed Improvement

In the cow-calf sector, fertility is often cited as the most economically relevant trait. Producers who birth and wean a higher percentage of their calf crop each year enjoy greater profitability as income increases and the maintenance expense of open females decreases. Moreover, females found to be open after the breeding season are often culled, increasing their development cost on a per-calf basis. While selection progress in fertility takes time to be revealed, Red Angus producers can maximize the reproductive longevity of their herd by placing selection emphasis on RAAA’s Stayability EPD.

In a recent analysis, high-accuracy sires were separated into quartiles based on their Stayability EPD and their heifer progeny were evaluated for longevity. The results, shown in Table 1 below, indicate that daughters of sires in the top 25% for Stayability produce an average of 1.13 more calves over their lifetime than daughters of sires in the bottom 25%. That’s over 25% more production! This comparison shows that Red Angus EPDs are accurate, effective and can be used to make rapid genetic progress in your herd.