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ultrasound data, etc.) are not comparable from animal to animal since they have not been adjusted nor do they provide any clue as to how much better or worse an animal is compared to others. A contemporary group ratio does allow for comparison of animals and provides an idea of how much better or worse a partic- ular animal’s adjusted record is compared to others within the same contemporary group. The problem is that a ratio is not useful in comparing animals across herds or outside of the defined contemporary group. The genetic and environmental compo- nents of phenotype can be further divided into additive (A), dominance (D) and epi- static (I) genetic effects and both perma- nent (P) and temporary (T) environmental effects. P = G A + G D + G I + E P + E T Generally speaking, we only become concerned with permanent environmental effects when we think about the environ- mental influence a dam has on her off-

spring (e.g., a young dam develops mastitis and loses function in one quarter, resulting in reduced weaning weights of subsequent offspring). Contemporary groups account for some of the temporary environmental effects. In genetic evaluations we are able to predict the additive genetic component – the part related to EPDs. The heritabil- ity (h 2 ), which is simply the fraction of the variance in phenotype (0 2 P ) that is ex- plained or caused by variation in additive genetic values (0 2 A ). h 2 = 0 2 A /0 2 P Economically Relevant Traits Fundamentally, these are traits that are directly associated with a source of revenue or expense. Not all traits are economically relevant traits (ERT), but may be an indica- tor trait that is genetically correlated to an ERT, but is not an ERT itself. Classic examples of indicator traits in- clude ultrasonic carcass measurements, Continued page 20

BOLZ RANCH AKAUSHI CATTLE

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We will be selling full-blood embryos, full-blood bulls, non-registered bred cows, half-blood bred heifers and cows to calve in March.

RAISED ON GRASS AND FINISHED ON OUR GRAIN RETAIL MEAT FOR SALE

SEMEN FOR SELL $20 PER STRAW EXTREMELY DOCILE CALVING EASE SHIGEMARU’S SON

TIMOTHY BOLZ | BOLZ RANCH 4990 SW 21 ST , TOPEKA, KS 66604 | 785-231-7339 | DOCBOLZ@GMAIL.COM | AKAUSHIKANSAS.COM

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www.akaushi.com • Winter 2019