Despite low accuracy, average starting EBVs of sires in the ASBP described their genetic merit well
One challenge facing breeders when selecting young animals, such as yearling or two year old bulls, is that the EBVs available are often of low accuracy.
Two projects compared the average starting EBVs of the 10 sires with the highest and lowest EBVs for each trait, from cohorts 1 to 3 and 5 to 7 of the ASBP, with their average finishing EBVs, to see whether there was significant change in their EBVs once all of their progeny performace data has been included in the calculation of their EBVs.
What was observed was that, despite the initial EBVs being of relatively low accuracy, there was very little change in the average EBVs of the sires. This clearly demonstrates that EBVs can be used with confidence when selecting young animals for use within a breeding program.
