DNA Test Results

Members who have tested Simmental animals for homo polled or colour tests through accredited labs other than Neogen, can send the results in to the CSA where they will be entered on the animal and displayed on the animal pedigree search site.

DNA Testing Heifers

The CSA will provide a $10 credit for the parentage testing of first calf heifers that are enrolled in 2020. This program is available on a first come, first served basis.

Online DNA Request

A reminder that DNA tests can now be ordered directly from the online system. Please check back on last months Enews or the online help for detailed descriptions of the tests and how to order.

EPD News

The CSA has adopted a policy where new EPD for traits collected by CSA members will be displayed on the member only access area of the online system. This will allow members to examine EPD on animals for which they have been collecting information and to use that information in selection decisions if deemed appropriate. The numbers are available for breeder use in whatever fashion they feel fits their breeding program, while avoiding potential confusion of adding additional traits to the public search engines.

IGS Updates

International Genetic Solutions (IGS) is the provider that calculates our EPD. They continue to advance the science of genetic evaluation and improve the system. Work has recently been completed on improving the imputation process (what we use to make DNA tests as powerful as possible) and DNA tests now provide more information than ever before. As well, the IGS group is currently working on adding 5 new groups to the genetic evaluation and has done a lot of work on developing and sharing educational resources across partner breeds. Recent work done looking at the MILK EPD shows that the IGS evaluation is predicting actual calf performance due to milk with a significantly better degree of accuracy than previous evaluations. The evaluations done at IGS will continue to improve over time. As members, some of the best contributions that can be made are to submit complete data sets (weights on all your calves) and to ask questions if there are EPD that don't "fit" what you are seeing at home.