EDUCATION

On May 23rd the American Angus Association (AAA) released EPDs for two new traits, Udder Suspension and Teat Size. With the superiority of the Angus cow as the dominant maternal influence in the USA beef herd, these traits add more tools for cow/calf operations to continue to make corrective decisions in improving their herds.

Attached is an article produced by Angus Herd Improvement Records (AHIR) explaining how to collect and score these economically important traits. Both traits are scored on a 1 – 9 linear scale. Udder Suspension is scored from a “1” being very pendulous to a “9” being very tight. Teat Size is scored from a “1” being very large and misshapen to a “9” being very small.

The traits are then incorporated into EPDs including their Percentile rank within the population. Lower values (<90%) indicate deep udders and large teats which can lead to lower productivity of the newborn calf due to increased difficulty in the ability to nurse. Higher values (>10%) indicate tighter attached udders and smaller teat size.

In making mating decisions and utilizing this data, one needs to keep in mind that “Extremes” are not always the best option. This is especially true for Teat Size. This is actually an “Intermediate Optimum” trait with a Linear score of 4 to 6 or an EPD in the 50 Percentile range actually resulting in more a desirable Teat Size. A “9” linear score or an EPD in the top 1 Percentile range may actually be “too short” for a calf to effectively nurse.

If a producer has cows within their herd that have deep udders and/or large teats, one should select sires ranking high (>25% Udders and >50% Teat Size) for these traits. If cows already have shallow udders, continue to use the better Udder sires. If cows already have small teats, using sires closer to the “middle of the road” is the best option.

While this data is new to producers, there are still some unanswered questions. Continuing to use extreme shallow udders may not always be the best option either. One may want to check the Milk EPD in relation to Udder Suspension so one is not limiting milk production in the cow herd. Also, these traits need to be used in relationship with other important traits to a profitable cow herd, including Birth, Growth, Carcass and other important Maternal traits such as Foot scores, Heifer Pregnancy Rate, etc.