It was the first publication in New Zealand of an evaluation method developed by AbacusBio, the agri-science provider, and funded by Beef + Lamb Genetics.
Four new sub-indexes, which could be added together for a dollar ranking, provided commercial farmers with interpretation of the now-standard Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) for every bull.
They were also published by Fossil Creek, as in previous years, though stud principal Neil Sanderson said farmers who attended the sale told him they got more from the sub-indexing than the EBVs.
The sub-indexes were growth, calving ease, maternal ability and carcase or eating quality.
The summation was called a hill country index, specifically designed for NZ Angus cows run on hill or high country.
Those cows received less-than-optimum feed, produced heifers kept for replacements and surplus steers and heifers that were sold to premium branded Angus beef markets.
Sanderson, also a veterinarian, said he was dissatisfied with the Angus Association indexes, the Angus Pure (API) and the Self-Replacing (SRI).
They now tended to give mixed messages to bull buyers as beef prices had increased and more emphasis was put on growth rates and carcase weights.
The growth and weight traits had overwhelmed the maternal traits and calving ease, potentially exposing commercial farmers to problems with herd reproduction.
The sub-index approach collated the information in the EBVs and was a more meaningful guide for each farmer’s different requirements.
Sanderson used the example of two bulls in the Fossil Creek catalogue, lots 10 and 11, called Larger and Liberty respectively.
Their hill country indexes were similar at $299 and $245 respectively and they were both in the top 20% of Fossil Creek bulls.
They also had good SRIs and APIs, both around $130 and $160 for those indexes.
But a glance at the sub-index rankings for economic value of four key components of the beef value chain showed a different picture.
Larger was five-star for growth and eating quality but only one-star for calving ease and maternal traits.
Liberty scored five stars for calving ease and maternal along with 3.5 for growth and 2.5 for eating quality.
“To me that said Larger would be an ideal terminal sire – but you wouldn’t breed from his daughters.
“Alternatively, Liberty would turn out good mothers while still ticking the boxes for growth and eating quality.
“They are both good bulls but suitable for different purposes and you didn’t get that information from their overall indexes,” Sanderson said.
Beef + Lamb Genetics chief executive Graham Alder said the sub-indexes were not designed to replace the existing Angus indexes but to provide additional information for commercial bull buyers.
With the number of EBVs now available it was a big ask for commercial farmers to sort through them to find the balance in a bull that was suitable.
“We think these sub-indexes will help the whole industry and so we will encourage breeders and breed societies to use them,” he said.
AbacusBio beef genetics consultant Jason Archer said sub-indexes were like components of overall indexes promoted by breed societies or beef brands.
An index value alone gave insufficient information about the make-up of the bull and its EBVs.
But equally, picking a bull solely on its sub-index for growth, say, would not be desirable.
Archer thought the ideal combination of EBVs, indexes and sub-indexes would give a “simplified, summarised picture of the bull’s attributes”.
For that purpose AbacusBio was happy to work with Beef + Lamb Genetics to help the whole industry.
Neither Alder nor Archer wanted to buy into the argument about NZ Angus indexes, saying that was a separate issue for the breed society alone.
