Upcoming Webinar: Using EBVs

Using EBVs to Achieve Your Breeding Goals is the subject of the next webinar sponsored by ASI's Let's Grow Committee and hosted by Jay Parsons, Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

On Wednesday, Aug. 25, at 7 p.m. CDT, Dave Notter, Ph.D., Virginia Tech University, will be presenting this webinar to address strategies to use EBVs to achieve breeding goals and manage genetic change in your flock. Topics to be covered include:

• Using direct and maternal EBVs to manage changes in body weights from birth through adulthood;
• Optimizing litter size to maximize ewe productivity;
• Using EBVs to optimize fleece value and the rate of improvement in fleece traits;
• Using scanning information to enhance carcass value;
• Using worm egg counts to enhance parasite resistance; and
• Using EBVs to improve reproductive performance.

Selection indexes provides a convenient mechanism to combine EBVs for different traits into a single measure and are currently available for each of the main NSIP breed types. The presentation will discuss the value of indexes as tools for genetic improvement and consider how to address limitations of available indexes in specific production situations.