The American Angus Association will soon introduce a voluntary, inventory-based reporting system designed to capture additional reproductive trait data and to ultimately expand reproductive and lifetime productivity tools, such as longevity measures. The new program, known as PathfinderPlus, will debut in early 2012 and provide Angus breeders and their customers with additional information to make effective selection decisions.
The primary requirement of the program is submission of heifer breeding records from the production herd. Sally Northcutt, Association director of genetic research says - heifer breeding records are pivotal pieces to the PathfinderPlus program. These records will then be used in the existing heifer pregnancy evaluation and will also allow the development of more lifetime trait measures such as longevity components. In addition to heifer breeding records, each inventoried female will be required to have either a calf record, a disposal code for the cow or a reason code for why the cow didn’t produce.
Breeders will be able to enroll in PathfinderPlus at any time during the year. Females 20 months of age and older are assessed an annual $3-per-cow inventory fee based upon the enrollment date. Breeders interested in participating in PathfinderPlus can enroll in the program through AAA Login, available at www.angus.org, beginning early 2012.
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