Extension

Whow! What a difference a few days can make. It was just over a week ago that temperatures were in the low 90°’s. Now, this week, we are basking in the mid 70°’s. But, not to worry, there will still be plenty of hot, humid summer days ahead of us! We aren’t the only ones that suffer from the heat of summer. Farm animals feel the heat, too.

Typically ticks begin to appear in late spring and early summer as warm weather sets in, but this year, ticks have been active much earlier than normal. I actually picked off my first tick on a walk in late March.

With a little understanding, Expected Progeny Differences, or EPD, may actually be the best tool you, as a beef producer, have to address the genetics of your herd.

While calculating EPD takes a lot of math, you don’t have to do the math; you just need to understand the answers. The calculation results usually appear in the first pages of a sire summary before the actual EPD tables. They may look a little confusing, but the information is very beneficial. It comes down to the fact that you are buying the DNA of a particular animal.