Cow Creek Ranch on Forefront of Selection Indexes
Cow Creek Ranch, LLC, Aliceville, AL, announced the development and implementation of the Profit Points Systemª (PPS™) in 2002. PPS™ is a unique approach to the age-old problem of animal selection. As cattlemen are aware, selection of breeding stock based on individual trait evaluation is a hard task. The tendency is always to trend toward singling out the traits that are "favored" at any particular time. This creates a multitude of problems in selection for long-term progress.
The approach taken by PPS™ founder, Cow Creek Ranch, and PPSª developer, The Jacob Alliance, LLC, is to utilize selection index development.To make true genetic progress, cattle breeders must simultaneously select for several traits at one time. The optimal procedure for selection utilizes all the information available from each individual's breeding value, combined into an index of merit. The aim is to combine the entire information into an index for each trait group, such as maternal, growth, and carcass performance, on the basis of which individuals will be selected. An index is the most accurate linear prediction of an individual animal's breeding value. When selection is applied to the improvement of the economic value of animals, it must be applied to several characters simultaneously. Economic value always depends on more than one character. For example, the profit made from a cattle operation depends on the fertility, mothering ability, longevity, growth rate, efficiency of growth, and carcass qualities. The Profit Point Systems™ family of selection indices, maternal, growth, carcass, do not concentrate on the determination of performance of a single trait, but rather a composite of several traits evaluated in economic terms.
PPS™ is the brainchild of Cow Creek Ranch owner, Joe Reznicek. "We want to provide an accurate set of real economic numbers to our customers. Our initial set of maternal indexes reflect exactly what's happening in our herd in a format that is crystal clear and expressed in optimums. The numbers are what they are with no room for bias," says Reznicek."While selection indices have been around for a long time and are used quite successfully in the pork and poultry industries, they are not being used in the beef cattle industry. Cattle breeders currently use Expected Progeny Differences (EPD) in which a single trait determines the EPD and no economic value is assigned to the number. Each of the three indices in the Profit Points Systemª are true to form by weighting their economic value of the composite traits within each indices," says Dr. Allen Williams, of the Jacob Alliance.
