Common misconceptions about
Angus GROUP BREEDPLAN

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Some common misconceptions about Breedplan
68 - Breedplan costs too much
69 - I couldn't compete with people who might cheat the system
70 - Breedplan doesn't work, Joe Bloggs told me
71 - Breedplan selects the wrong type of cattle
72 - Breedplan can't be any good -Freddie is in Breedplan yet his bulls sell for less than Joe’s bulls, and Joe is not in Breedplan
73 - You can't compare the EBVs of animals reared under different environments

68 : Breedplan costs too much . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Go to Top

The perceived cost-benefit of Breedplan is a commercial decision for each individual to consider, but the cost of Breedplan needs to considered relative to other costs of producing seedstock, for example ;

The annual cost of Breedplan, including Group Breedplan, for a herd is $110.

Assuming that the herd sells 22 bulls a year, and the total herd Breedplan cost is assigned as a cost of production to those bulls, then the cost per bull is around $5.

Assuming an average sale price of $4000, this cost represents 0.125% of the sale price of each bull sold.By way of comparison, other per-bull production costs could include ........

- cow inventory costs, 5 @ $22 - 2,75% of sale price

- feed costs (fed at home) $400 - 10% "

- feed cost ( professional fitter) $1000 - 25% "

- advertising, catalogues etc $200 - 5% "

- agents fees $280 - 7% "

Clearly, if Breedplan value-adds the sale price of your bulls, either now or in the future, by more than $5 then you are ahead. This is over and above increased value of female seedstock or any genetic improvement that you achieve in your cattle herd for growth, milk, carcase or fertility traits through improved selection decisions.

• If scanning for carcase traits is included, the total cost is increased by another $1000 or another $45 per bull sold. This combined total Breedplan herd cost of $50 then represents 1.25% of the sale price of each bull sold.
• The above Breedplan costs do not include labour for weighing, mothering up etc. However, most if not all these procedures are a routine part of seedstock production.
• Production costs will vary between individual breeders as a result of differences in marketing strategies.

69 : I couldn't compete with people who might cheat the system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Go to Top

Many people are concerned that a few unscrupulous breeders may record incorrect information to gain advantage for their herd or particular animals.

This could happen, and the same people could well record false pedigree information, cheat the tax man and tell outrageous fibs about how much rain they got last week, all to get a personal advantage. If they do exist, you most likely know who they are, in which instance buyer beware.

Experience has shown however that the perception of cheating often stems from a lack of understanding about how Breedplan works, with people drawing incorrect conclusions about what they see or hear.

The system is not easy to cheat, and doing so could well be counterproductive for the instigator.

• As records are received at the processing centre they are checked by an experienced operator for discrepancies and their fit to expected normal statistical pattern. It is surprising how conspicuous incorrect data can be.
• When calculating EBVs, Breedplan takes to account the genetic correlation that occurs between associated traits. Overstate the weight of a bull and you will increase his birth weight EBV to his disadvantage, and give his contemporaries lower birth weight EBVs to their advantage.
• Group Breedplan EBVs are estimated from information recorded from close relatives of the animals, as well as the animal’s own performance. This means that an inflated weight record will be somewhat diluted in the pool of records from relatives, particularly if the sire in question has been used in other herds.
• In addition, the animal will appear as an "outlier", that is, one that is too far ahead of the pack, and will be singled out for attention at the processing centre.
• Furthermore, should an animal's weight records be misstated and the animal’s EBV be biased as a result, that animal will have a lot to live up to when he is used in other herds. In this instance, Group Breedplan is a great equaliser.

70 : Breedplan doesn't work, Joe Bloggs told me so . . . . . . . . . . Go to Top

Firstly, make sure that Joe Bloggs is talking from a position of authority. Over the years I have investigated many reports that "Breedplan got it wrong" yet I have always found a logical explanation, not always immediately, for the perceived problem. Most of the confusion seems to occur from one or more of the following factors ;

* people expect that the EBV describes the performance of the animal they see in front of them. It doesn't. It describes the genetic component of what you see - remember, much of what you see has been influenced by environmental happenings such as feed.

EBVs are a prediction about breeding potential of animals, that is a prediction of what you will see in the next generation, not what you see in front of you.

* people sometimes express disappointment when a favoured animal's EBVs are not as good as they had hoped.

Perhaps incorrect or insufficient data has been entered, for example the wrong management group codes have been recorded, so the EBV is estimated incorrectly.

In other instances, the EBVs are right and the animal is not as good as expected - this may be difficult to accept, particularly if people are observing environmental differences, not genetic differences.

* a persons conclusion may have to be drawn from a single observation of only one or two progeny of a sire. These observations may not be representative of the sires breeding value and may be influenced by selective joining to top cows or heavy culling of lesser performing progeny. Breedplan adjusts for these factors, people rarely do.

Where you perceive a problem, have the matter investigated.

71 : Breedplan selects the wrong type of cattle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Go to Top

Breedplan does not select any cattle, people do. Breedplan often gets blamed for making cattle too big, or for taking away muscle etc. - it does not, and cannot, do such things.

Where Breedplan can become implicated in such perceptions is that it does allow attention to be focused on differences between animals for single traits - then entrepreneurial spirit takes over.

Breedplan describes the expected performance of a bull, just as a set of automobile specifications describes the expected performance of a vehicle. You don't go and buy the biggest car or fridge just because it is the biggest, you buy the one that best meets your needs. Nor should you buy the biggest bull just because it is bigger than the rest. Again you buy the one that best meets your needs.

When making selection decisions you need to ensure that the bull has a balance of the traits that are important to your production situation.

You, the person buying the bull has the responsibility to ensure that its performance profile meets your requirements. If you don't then it is unfair to blame Breedplan for mis-directed selection goals.

72 : It can't be any good, Freddie Flintstone is in Breedplan yet his bulls sell for less than Joe Blogg's bulls, and Joe isn't in Breedplan

Breedplan only describes a small number of the total factors (albeit very economically important ones) that contribute to the perceived value of a bull.

Structure, conformation, muscling, maturity type, coat colour, eye pigment & placing (Herefords), and temperament are but a few other important factors that also set the market price.

Marketing expertise and energy, and presentation also play a big role in selling bulls and setting prices. These are in fact environmental differences not genetic and will not necessarily influence the value of the bulls progeny.

Also, just because a bull has Breedplan figures doesn't mean he is an attractive sale proposition. He may be unsound or outside of the acceptable range for performance and/or maturity patterns or of poor temperament.

Maybe Freddie's bulls have problems being marketed, but it is unfair to blame Breedplan for non-Breedplan problems. Maybe Freddie doesn't present his cattle very well, in which case they are probably undervalued and Freddie needs to attend marketing school.

73 : You can't compare EBVs from animals run under different environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Go to Top

This is a question that exercises many minds, for example how can calves in south-west Victoria be compared with calves in south-eastern Qld,. In other words, how can Breedplan differentiate between the amount of a calves growth that is due to the effects of environment, and that which is due to genetics.

Whilst it is difficult for people to accurately compare the performance of animals reared in different paddocks or an different properties, Breedplan can and does just that with relative ease for herds in a Group Breedplan analysis.

Breedplan separates genetics from environment in two ways ;

Firstly, by breeders noting on their data input forms any individuals or groups of cattle that have been treated differently, for example feed or management groups. Breedplan comparisons are initially done within these groups, then compared to other groups after adjustments have been calculated.

Secondly, by having link animals in the different mobs or herds, for example a sire on one property with progeny in 3 mobs, or an AI link sire with progeny in 3 herds, Breedplan is able to create groups of animals across groups or herds that are in effect

• the same age
• out of the same age dam
• by the same sire
• out of similar performance dams

With a little fine tuning it can be assumed that difference in performance across these linked groups is the effect of environmental (group or property) difference. Breedplan can easily adjust for this.

Let's look at the example where 3 properties (or management groups) A, B and C are compared. They all use a common (link) sire by AI and compare his progeny with those of a another sire on each property (X, Y and Z respectively).

Property A is having a bad season, property B average, and property C a very good season.

Sire X in herd A is clearly superior to sire Y in herd B and sire Z in herd C, even though the actual weight of his progeny were lower. Sire Y in herd B is superior to sire Z in herd C.

So that the performance records of calves from each of these 3 herds can be fairly compared, Breedplan would adjust the weights by adding 20 kg to all weights in herd A and deducting 20 kg from all weights in herd C.