Executive Summary
Moving Into the New Year
By Mark Anderson, NALF executive director
National Western Stock Show is
quickly approaching. Limousin
will be well represented at this
year’s event and are expecting
strong entries for both the
hill and the pen & carload
show. The board and staff look
forward to seeing you at the
events throughout the week.
Once again, in addition to our
shows we will have our annual
meeting, National Limousin
Sale and annual awards
banquet, along with a host
of other events. Please plan
on attending as we represent
Limousin and Lim-Flex cattle to
cattlemen across the nation.
The seedstock business and
the technologies applied to
enhance breeding and mating
selections continues to move
forward at a much more rapid
pace. Most progressive breeders,
regardless of the breed they are
producing, are rapidly utilizing
advancements regarding
DNA testing and genomics to
enhance accuracy of cattle they
wish to propagate and market
by getting a peek earlier in
the animal’s life at what their
actual genetic potential is.
The changes that have
happened in cattle evaluations
with the switch to single-
step EPDs, that capitalize on
the further advancements in
technology, have not been
easy for breeders or breed
associations alike. As with any
change, there are issues and
items that folks question, base
changes on old EPDs in the new
methodology, along with some
re-ranking that always occurs.
Though some of this has been
unpopular, most progressive
breeders realize that the cattle
business is no different than
other businesses when new
technology and advancement
comes along, they must be
utilized to stay competitive
in today’s marketplace.
progeny, which is utilized to
help create a more accurate
EPD for a trait. Sometimes
it improves the EPD, and
sometimes it doesn’t.
I’ve had a tremendous amount
of calls the past three months
as we have made the change,
as have Dr. Amen and Dr.
Weaber. Though not all have
been fun, I am extremely
impressed how most have
called in to understand and
learn about the base changes in
the new format and how they
can as never before, enhance
the accuracy of their cattle
in their seedstock operation.
Limousin breeders have always
been at the forefront when
it comes to maintaining a
quality herd book and take
their information on their
cattle serious, as does the NALF
board and the staff that are in
place to assist membership.
The BOLT single-step method
of weekly EPD analysis is a
big change in the way we do
business compared to years
past. We know that the system
is more powerful with so many
animal records being utilized
across the cooperating breeds
at IGS. Additional performance
records are
utilized as
The seedstock business and the
information
technologies applied to enhance
is linked and
it flows up
breeding and mating selections
and down
continues to move forward at a much
the pedigree
just like the
more rapid pace.
genomics
We need to continually
information. This means EPDs
remember that the BOLT system
can move around when an
is a combination of utilizing
abundance of performance
three different components;
records are turned in on a sire’s
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