Mon, 24 Oct 2022 12:08:54 CDT
The American Simmental Association (ASA) has joined forces with numerous industry partners to fund a Genetic Merit Pricing Task Force (GMP), focused on identifying and implementing methods and practices to increase the recognition and use of objectively determined genetic merit in the pricing of US feeder cattle.
The GMP has the capacity to strengthen the position of serious producers who intentionally build profit-oriented genetics for the cow-calf operator, cattle feeders, and packers alike. At the same time, this approach offers greater awareness of the current beef population and gives all parties the opportunity to make future-minded decisions with forethought, facts, and tangible understanding of actual profit potential.
The ASA Board of Trustees passed a resolution to become a full funding partner in the GMP, contributing $40,000. The American Simmental-Simbrah Foundation will contribute half of these funds.
Since its inception, the ASA has supported many efforts focused on elevating the value of genetic merit in US beef cattle. Tools such as the IGS Feeder Profit Calculator ™ make clear ASA’s commitment to serving the industry at large. ASA has full respect for the presently existing approaches that are proving successful and recognizes that many systems already encourage and reward genetic merit. The ASA’s interest and involvement focuses solely on multi-breed objective measures of terminal traits and their potential implementation, where appropriate, across the beef business. Also in line with ASA’s mission, scientific assessment will be at the forefront of these efforts.
Founded in 1968, the American Simmental Association is headquartered in Bozeman, MT. ASA is committed to leveraging technology, education, and collaboration to accelerate genetic profitability for the beef industry. In keeping with its commitment, ASA, along with its partners, formed International Genetic Solutions – the world’s largest genetic evaluation of beef cattle. Learn more at www.simmental.org
