Looking to continue to lead the industry as the gold standard for cow quality, in May 2025 the American Angus Association released three new expected progeny differences (EPDs): Functional Longevity (FL), Teat Size (Teat) and Udder Suspension (UDDR). 

The new EPDs aim to better characterize the traits related to the cow-calf operation, and to help breeders select females that will be productive throughout their time in the herd. 

With this goal in mind, the new traits were also added to the Maternal Weaned Calf Value index ($M) to keep the index current and the best tool it can be. 

$Values are EPDs with a compass

EPDs offer a powerful selection tool you can use individually or together to balance selection according to your herd’s needs and future goals. These tools work best when you know where you’re going and where you’re at. 

Profitability is one clear target, but it might be challenging to know how to use all the tools available to you to get there faster. 

The selection indexes go one step further than EPDs and consider the actual cost and revenue estimates involved in each sector of the industry. It gives producers the ability to know beforehand how many dollars the animal is expected to generate back at the end of their cycle. The indexes exist as a compass to help producers find the way to success.

$M, specifically, targets self-replacing cow-calf operations that sell weaned calves and focus on a cow with balanced productivity and cost. It gives attention not only to the weaned calf (the profit sector), but also to the cow’s mature size, her long-term productivity, and traits such as claw set and docility that will help her stay longer in the herd (the cost sector).

That being said, juggling several traits demands focus and strategy. Certain traits such as birth weight are as, if not more, important today as they were a decade or two ago. Adding complexity to the equation, industry standards have changed, technologies have been implemented and new traits were created. Nowadays, calving ease is a better predictor of dystocia and a robust tool for current selection objectives. Your $Values are evaluated and updated annually to take into account these types of changes.

All this in real life is attached to monetary value and affects the financials of operations. The special thing about $Values is they are calculated with profit in mind. The same selection objective could be pursued with both EPDs or $M, but the second — the $Value index — considers how those traits are being valued in the market, or what costs are involved through a traditional commercial breeding objective. 

In a perfect world, the global financial crash in 2008 or the pandemic in 2020 would not have influenced the cost of beef production, but they undeniably did. In positions like this, $Values can help and guide producers to continue to be competitive and focus on what will consistently bring more profit. 

The economic assumptions use a seven-year rolling average to ensure selection indexes are current with the market changes.

Choose your $Values as you would choose your new home

An index is essentially a way to combine what is relevant to a breeding objective. Each trait is weighted by their economic importance for a specific situation. 

Think of it like buying a house. The goal — finding a place to live — is the same for everyone. But the criteria and their importance vary widely. A family with three kids and two cars might prioritize a house with more bedrooms and at least a two-car garage. Meanwhile, a single person living in the city cares more about location and walking distances rather than space. 

The $Values presented by the American Angus Association serve producers in a similar way. The final objective is profit, but each situation calls for a different calculation. 
For cow-calf operations, postweaning gains and carcass quality traits may not be the priority. Rather, fertile and functional females tend to be a larger concern.

$M was created for commercial producers with a self-replacing herd. It considers a 25% replacement level in the first generation and 20% in subsequent generations, with cull female and all male progeny sold as feeder cattle at weaning. It considers not only the pounds of weaned calf, but also the increasing costs to feed and maintain a larger cow (decreased profit from a shorter productive life and early culling, and the cull sale price per head).

Expressing results as dollars per head makes things easier. The values predict how much more profit an animal’s progeny are expected to generate compared to others of the same sex. 

For example, if two groups of genetically comparable females under the same management constraints are bred to the same bull, a bull with a $M of +100 is expected to produce progeny yielding, on average, $20 more than the progeny of a bull with a $M of +80. This allows selection decisions to be made with the financial piece alongside genetic merit.

Selection based on $M

In general, selection based only on $M leads to a decreased mature cow size, while maintaining or increasing the direct weaning weight of the calves while continuing to put positive pressure on fertility and longevity. 

Figure 1 highlights the response to selection solely for $M for 10 years. This demonstrates how $M enables the selection for different traits at the same time, in a balanced and profitable way. This principle is true for other $Values as well. For instance, by selecting solely on $M for the next ten years, the graph shows producers would decrease mature weight by 12 pounds (lb.) and continue to increase weaning weight by 5 lb. With that we continue to improve heifer pregnancy, functional longevity and conformation traits.

Just like the example with the two families buying a house, the index puts weights (or importance) on traits for specific needs, from cow-calf to the finishing phase, or the whole system. 

No matter what your breeding objectives are, the American Angus Association is here to support you and your commercial cattlemen with a suite of EPDs and $Values.