Pasture to Plate
The ABS Pasture to Plate Philosophy
ABS’ goal is to provide proven genetics and services that add value from the Pasture to the Plate.
In order to do this we’ve selected for multi-trait performers emphasizing end-product merit while demanding that cattle possess the functional performance traits necessary to thrive for commercial cattle producers.
EPDs and Indexes
EPDs provide the best tools available today and are our first selection criteria for bulls that enter the ABS program. Our goal is not to purely select for EPD maximums but to identify bulls that favorably bend normal genetic antagonisms to the highest degree.
Calving Ease vs. Growth
Growth vs. Mature Size
Marbling vs. Yield
To that end we have long used simple indexes to aid in sire selection. As an example, the ABS TOP Index that we’ve used for many years includes equal emphasis on calving ease, growth, carcass quality, carcass yield and maternal traits. Our progeny testing partner, The Circle A Angus Sire Alliance was one of the first to utilize a true selection index in the beef industry combining economic data with EPDs to more accurately determine optimum trait weighting to maximize profitability.
We applaud the Beef Value Indexes and the Terminal Sire Profitability Index recently introduced by the American Angus and Charolais Associations as more accurate and simplified tools to assist commercial producers. It’s important to recognize, however, that these indexes are terminal in their scope and do not account for the "maternal" value of these genetics. In the future, we hope to see maternal indexes to quantify the value of traits like maternal performance, fertility, longevity and calving ease.
| The Average ABS Angus Sire | ||
|---|---|---|
| Feedlot Value | $26.86 | Top 10% |
| Grid Value | $17.44 | Top 20% |
| Beef Value | $38.64 | Top 10% |
Exclusive GTS
ABS exclusive Genetic Type Summary (GTS) program is the A.I. industry’s ONLY objective type trait evaluation system. Over the last 15 years ABS trained evaluators have gathered nearly 100,000 progeny records giving ABS customers the only data driven type trait information available. We believe that the greatest value in the GTS data is in sorting out functional maternal phenotype for given environments in regard to teat and udder quality, feet and leg soundness, frame size, muscling and capacity.
DNA Testing
ABS has utilized DNA marker selection in our beef and dairy programs for many years. Long term these technologies have the potential to significantly aid current genetic evaluation schemes. For traits like marbling, the wealth of Genetic prediction information available currently does a much better job of describing these quantitative traits than any of the individual DNA markers that have been validated so far. While useful, producers should be careful to not let the results of single DNA markers overshadow EPD information in their breeding program.
However, for traits like tenderness where little genetic evaluation data is currently available, DNA markers provide information that has more relative value and is a positive first step in selection for these traits. The majority of ABS bulls have been tested for the Calpain genes discovered by the Meat Animal Research Center and marketed through Frontier Beef Systems.