Just as you can’t judge a book by its cover, neither can you judge a bull or ram by looks alone.
When two sires look similar (they’re both from the same breed, both have the same weight and both are structurally sound), how do you tell which one will produce the most fertile daughters or progeny with the best marbling?
The truth is you can’t tell by looks alone.
But that’s why producers have access to breeding values.
They allow producers to see ‘under the hood’ and know, with a high degree of confidence, a sire’s genetics. It takes the guesswork out of picking a high-performing sire.
MLA has produced four short ‘pick the performer’ videos to demonstrate that looks on their own don’t tell the full story. Rather, a fuller and clearer picture can be built by incorporating breeding values into ram and bull buying.
The ‘pick the performer’ videos are part of MLA’s new genetics hub – – which provides a one-stop-shop of tools and resources, aimed at demystifying genetics and breeding values.
Watch the ‘Pick the Performer’ videos
| Tropical cattle | Temperate cattle |
|---|---|
| Prime lambs | Merino |
