MOVING a herd towards a defined breeding goal is no small undertaking.
Genetic improvement is generally described as a long-term process, even though the gains that are made will be permanent and generally cumulative over time. Breeders who are on the journey of herd improvement base their decisions on animals to retain or to breed from, based not just on the genetics of animal, but also on their phenotype.
Phenotype is the result of the genetics of the animal combined with environmental effects that animal has experienced.
Within a herd there is always a degree of variation that is…
