American
Angus Association $Values
Weaned Calf
Value ($W)
The newest
index is the Weaned Calf $ Value. $W Quantifies four primary economic impact areas:
1. Birth Weight - birth weight influences
on calf death losses related to dystocia, weaned calf
crop percentage, and
resulting
revenue per cow.
2. Weaning Weight - direct growth impact
on weaning weight revenue (pre-weaning growth and pounds of calf sold) and
energy
requirements and related costs necessary to support pre-weaning calf growth.
3. Maternal Milk - revenue from calf
pre-weaning growth and pounds of calf sold as influenced by varying cow milk
levels,
and
costs related to lactation energy requirements.
4. Mature Cow Size - expense adjustments
are made for maintenance energy as related to differing mature cow size,
including
mathematical linkages between mature weight and yearling weight.
The impact
areas are combined into a bio-economic value expressed in dollars per head
assigned to Angus genetics from birth through weaning.
Resources
used to form the Wean Calf Value (W$) include National Research Council (NRC),
US Meat and Animal Research Center (USMARC),
Cattle-Fax,
Feedlot Value
($F)
An index value expressed in dollars per head, is the expected average difference in future progeny
performance of postweaning merit compared to progeny
of other sires.
Grid Value
($G)
An index
value expressed in dollars per head, is the expected
average difference in future progeny performance for carcass grid merit
compared to progeny of other sires.
Beef Value
($B)
Beef Value
(B) facilitates what almost every beef breeder is already seeking--simultaneous
multi-=trait genetic selection for feedlot and carcass merit,
based
on dollars and cents. $B represents the
expected average dollar-per-head difference in the progeny postweaning
performance
and
carcass value compared to progeny of other sires. The $B value is comprised of two pieces:
Feedlot
$Value ($F) and Grid $ Value ($G). To align $B with marketplace realities and
appropriately value carcass weight in Angus cattle,
the
following factors are incorporated into the final calculations for $B.
¨ $B is not
simply the sum of $F and $G
¨ Projected
carcass weight and its value are calculated, along with production cost
differences.
¨ $B takes into
consideration any discount for heavyweight carcasses.
¨ Final
adjustments are made to prevent double-counting weight between feedlot and
carcass segments.
The
resulting $B value is not designed to be driven by one factor such as quality,
red meat yield, or weight.
Instead, it is a dynamic result of the application of commercial market values to Angus genetics for both feedlot and carcass merit.