Structured Sire Evaluation
Breeders can leverage this program to identify herd sires who excel in economically important traits.
What is the Structured Sire Evaluation?
The current Structured Sire Evaluation (SSE) aims to collect carcass data on widely used bulls in the Angus population that have little to no actual carcass data collected on their progeny.
Qualifying bulls are then used in commercial test herds where progeny is tracked to the end point and carcass data is collected.
To qualify, a bull must be in the Top 300 Registration Sires in the previous year, in most cases are proven for growth traits and may even have hundreds of reported progeny ultrasound records.
Program Benefits
- Obtain high accuracy expected progeny differences (EPDs) for carcass traits
- Collect performance data on progeny
- Verify an unproven sire alongside proven, high-accuracy Angus sires
- Further link actual phenotypes to genomic information to increase genomic prediction accuracy
- Allow for continued validation of the National Cattle Evaluation through collection of performance data on progeny
Association members can nominate unproven sires.
Sire Requirements:
- Registered Angus Bull
- Must meet current requirements for “Out of Herd” A.I. Sires including:
- Parentage markers on file with the Association
- Genetic condition bundle testing
- Gnomically tested with AngusGS℠ or HD50K for Angus
- Viable semen collected and froze
- Be able to provide photo and video of sire upon request
Owner/Nominator Responsibilities:
- Complete nomination form for test sire(s) by January 15
- Pay $100 nomination fee for test sire
- Provide 100 units of viable semen and pay shipping costs
How do you become a test herd?
Herds typically range from 250 to 1,000 females and have experience using artificial insemination (AI). This allows each sire used to have 15-20 progeny in a contemporary group.
Owner/operators Responsibilities:
- Select the sires to use from the list provided by the Association Randomly mate females to selected sires Required on dams
- Permanently identify
- Provide birth year
- Approximate breed composition
- Record submission including:
- Breeding
- Calf ID
- Birth date
- Weaning weight
- EID identification
- DNA sample with testing materials provided
- Management group information
- Carcass data
- Collect DNA samples on calves for sire verification
- Maintain complete or partial ownership of fed cattle to access carcass data
- Provide carcass data including:
- Harvest date
- Hot carcass weight
- Backfat
- Ribeye area
- Marbling score
- Communication between test herd and nominator
- Coordinate semen shipments to test herds
- Supply reference sire semen to test herds
- Ensure data and DNA sample submission
- Collect DNA samples on calves for sire verification
- Provide EID tags, TSU units for testing, and cover cost of genotyping
- Receive data and report results back to bull owner and test herd
The data from this program is included in the weekly evaluation in the same way other data submitted to AHIR is included. It is subject to contemporary group guidelines and supports the evaluation in the same capacity.
The addition of the SSE data increases the accuracies on widely used sires, which improves prediction accuracies of genomic evaluations, adds phenotypic data to the robust Angus database, and provides an opportunity to validate selection tools. Sires used in this program consist of both test and reference sires.
Impact on Accuracy:
The amount of change in accuracy for carcass EPDs, after carcass records are added, is dependent on the level of accuracy prior to adding the records. Reference sires are sires that have high accuracy because of both phenotypes and genomics, while test sires are those with a lower accuracy.
For example, reference sires already at a high level of accuracy, even when 12 carcass records are added, may not have much change. When carcass records are added on test sires with a lower accuracy, there is more change in the accuracy of the EPDs.
Program History
The Structured Sire Evaluation (SSE) program was started to develop growth trait expected progeny differences (EPDs) for the breed. In 1972, the first Angus Sire Evaluation Report was released forming the foundation of the Angus performance records database.
The SSE was re-established in 2015 to collect carcass data on widely used bulls in the Angus population that have little to no actual carcass data collected on their progeny. These widely used sires have ultrasound records on progeny but no true carcass records.
While ultrasound scans are a powerful tool in carcass trait prediction, they are not a perfect correlation of one. There is a continued need to collect actual carcass records for more accurate predictions.
In 2022, the program was expanded to include unproven sires nominated by members. More than 170 sires and 11,000 commercial females have been utilized in program since 2015.
