KANSAS CITY, Mo. Ex pected Progeny Differences (EPDs) are becoming increasingly important to successful breeding programs as demand increases for higher-quality, cost-efficient cat tle. EPDs have been used in the dairy industry for a long time, but it’s relatively recent that the beef SUNBURY (Nortumbcrland Co.) More than 40 hog produc ers attended a meeting recently to improve swine production effi ciency sponsored by Northeastern Farm Credit and the Sunbury Ani mal Hospital. The program included a video taped presentation of selected parts from the 1993 Swine Pro duction Short Course from Purdue University. Topics included lean growth modeling, starter pig nutri tion, disease control, and worker health and were facilitated by Dr. James Temple, veterinarian at the Sunbury Animal Hospital. “We arc glad we attended. The seminar was very informative and worth our lime,” said Randy and BLACK NIGHTSHADE REMEMBER Encapsulated BULLET® Micro-Tech® and Partner® is your best choice for controlling BLACK NIGHTSHADE and 32 other problem weeds and grasses in your fields. Also, Encapsulated BULLET® Micro-Tech® & Partner® is TIME-RELEASED so it is very gentle on your crop and will perform great in WET & COOL conditions. Time-Released For Season-Long Control CONTACT YOUR LOCAL DEALER FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ADVANTAGES OF ENCAPSULATED BULLET®, MICRO-TECH® Bullet* Micro>Tech* & Partner* Are Restricted Use Pesticides, Always Read and Follow Label Directions. Bullet*, Micro-Tech* A Partner* is a registered trademark of Monsanto Company. © Monsanto Company 1993 EPDs Beneficial To Breeding Goals industry has relied heavily on them. Today, most breed associations maintain genetic information on all recorded animals. The material is available to commercial breed ers simply for the asking, and most times at no charge. Hog Producers Attend Seminar Joclle Arnold, hog producers from Milton, “especially the informa tion on workers health.” Neal Wcru, a hog operator from Danville, believes there is a need for more seminars similar to this one lor improved swmc pro duction management. “1 was very pleased with the large turnout. 1 feel there is a real need in our industry for information on related issues to improve the swine pro duction efficiency of our opera tions,” said Wert/. Temple agrees. Temple came up with the idea for the meeting and met with Wcrl/.. They con tacted Bill Hartman at Northeast ern Farm Credit, ACA, to help sponsor and conduct the meeting. BLACK NIGHTSHADE in your SOYBEAN FIELDS! & PARTNER® HERBICIDES Dr. John Hough, director ot education and research for the American Polled Hereford Asso ciauon, said EPDs are not hard to understand if a few basic princi ples are known. “The variability between ani mals is never totally genetic. Videotapes from Purdue Uni versity on a wide variety ol topics can be borrowed from the Sun bury Animal Hospital. A few of the more than 30 topics include Bullet 0 , Micro-Tech®, Partner for high-caliber time-released weed control in your fields. 1992 PROBLEMS with EPDs arc simply predictions of what is expected to occur when specific animals are bred. The more performance information that is available from an animal and its relatives, the more accurate are the EPDs.” EPDs arc calculated using m- “Proccssing Baby Pigs,” “Water Source and Supply,” “Manure Storage,” and “Animal Manure as a Plant Nutrient Source.” Monsanto Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 20 1993-Cii formation from three sources: the individual animal’s own perfor mance records, performance of its relatives and most importantly, the performance of us progeny. All EPDs are based on an animal’s relative performance compared to us contemporaries. Information compiled in EPD records can be used to help evalu ate a number of traits for your herd. EPDs arc maintained for birth weight, weaning weight, yearling weight, milk production, milk and growth, and scroial cir cumference. Calving ease and other traits are sometimes record ed as well. Hough says buying bulls with complete EPD records makes sub stantial economic sense. By knowing what type of offspring the bull has the capability to pro duce, you can better predict per formance from your herd and be gin making herd improvements more efficiently. Il is important to be aware o( EPD accuracies, which can vary among bulls. A breed’s sire sum mary will generally define the ac curacy values of each animal and, some breed associations have started including complete histor ies of each bull listed in their sum- maries Hough emphasizes EPDs are a good tool only when used with complete understanding. “One of the most important things to remember,” he said, "is not to compare EPDs across breeds. 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