LIMOUSIN TODAY LimToday-April 2018-WEB | Page 21

Performance Line with breed genetic trend as well as the genetic trend for the selected operation (Figure 5). Of course, it bears warning that a chart that moves “up and to the right” isn’t always desirable. Chasing “more and bigger” for the sake of winning a numbers race is rarely helpful or sustainable for longevity in commercial cattle production. Having a well-planned breeding objective that considers the goals, economics, and environmental realities for both your own operation as well as that of your customers is extremely important. Keeping focused on this objective will allow you to optimize the genetics in your herd for the economically relevant traits for your breeding objective. I Figure 3. Location of Genetic Trend feature in the Digital Beef online system. Figure 5. Example of in-herd genetic trend compared to breed trend. Figure 4. Trait options and summary statistics for in-herd genetic trend. LIMOUSIN Today | 19