The Value of Genomic-
Enhanced EPDs
Limousin breeders and their commercial customers
benefit greatly from new breeding and selection
tools. The North American Limousin Foundation
(NALF) has been publishing genomic-enhanced EPDs
(GE-EPDs) since the fall 2015 international cattle
evaluation. This provides GE-EPDs for all Limousin and
Lim-Flex® animals that have completed DNA testing
for genomic profiles.
GE-EPDs provide more precise EPDs based on a
combination of pedigree, phenotype, and DNA. One
major benefit is risk reduction through increased
accuracy value on many traits - equivalent to having
8-20 progeny. This saves time when assessing young
breeding stock and delivers commercial customer
confidence when buying seedstock.
GE-EPDs also give the chance to collect data on
economically important traits, which are expensive or
difficult to measure.
The information from the genomic data can be
as informative as a bull’s first calf crop or a cow’s
lifetime production record. Since the genomic data is
incorporated directly into the EPDs, cattle producers
will not have to learn how to interpret the new data.
Animals that are genomic-enhanced will have the NALF
GE-EPDs displayed on their animal detail screen and
performance reports in the NALF-DigitalBeef platform.
Traits that are genomic-enhanced are highlighted in
yellow on these reports. Also, look for the GE-EPDs logo
on animals, and in ads and sale catalogs.
Effective progeny counts for interim EPD derived from differing combinations of pedigree, performance and genomic data
BIF Acc
Effective Progeny Counts
Trait Heritability PE PE+GE PERF PERF+GE PE PE+GE PERF PERF+GE
CED 0.19 0.04 0.40 0.27 0.47 1 34 16 50
BW 0.37 0.04 0.46 0.26 0.51 0 24 8 32
WW 0.29 0.04 0.26 0.28 0.39 1 10 11 21
YW 0.23 0.04 0.41 0.26 0.47 1 30 13 42
MILK 0.16 0.04 0.34 0.04 0.34 2 31 - -
CEM 0.15 0.04 0.37 0.04 0.37 2 38 - -
CW 0.23 0.04 0.42 0.28 0.49 1 32 15 46
REA 0.46 0.02 0.40 0.27 0.47 0 13 6 20
MARB 0.54 0.03 0.60 0.30 0.63 0 33 6 39
FAT 0.35 0.02 0.46 0.30 0.53 0 25 11 36
PE = Pedigree estimate interim EPD; PE+GE = Pedigree estimate plus genomic data; PERF = Performance record included in
interim EPD calculation; PERF+GE = Performance record included in interim EPD calculation plus genomic data
Source: Dr. Robert Weaber, Kansas State University, 2015
6 Inverness Court East, Suite 260
Englewood, CO 80112-5595
O: 303-220-1693 • F: 303-220-1884
[email protected] • www.NALF.org
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