Cattle breeders know that good decisions depend on good information, and the science of cattle breeding and genetics explains why.

Last fall, I wrote about fueling feed efficiency predictions with phenotypes and genotypes, which further improves the accuracy of the American Angus Association weekly genetic evaluation. This month we look at parentage and importance of pedigree accuracy.

Why is having the correct pedigree information important?

Even in the age of genomic selection, by using genomic relationships, modern genetic evaluations combine all sources of information, including phenotypes, genotypes and pedigrees. Having incorrect pedigrees can introduce errors into expected progeny differences (EPD) calculations. 

If a calf is reported to one sire but its genotype shows it does not fit that sire, the conflicting information will affect the EPD calculation. That is why correcting that pedigree record using genomics helps to ensure the information is connected to the correct animals.

Corrections benefit many

Many seedstock animals in the National Cattle Evaluation (NCE) have both phenotypes and genotypes recorded, alongside pedigree information. The genotypes and pedigrees provide the connections for phenotypes across generations and inform the calculation of EPDs. Sometimes, pedigree recording errors can happen, and genomics provides a solution to identify and correct them in a timely manner.  

By taking advantage of the larger number of DNA markers, the Parent Match^SM service from Angus Genetics, Inc. (AGI) can search across thousands of markers and millions of genotyped animals available in the Association database and identify the correct parentage.

Every calf inherits one copy of each chromosome from its sire and one from its dam. That simple biological rule makes parentage testing possible. If a reported parent could not have contributed the alleles observed in the calf, that parent can be excluded. Across thousands of markers, the evidence becomes much stronger than any single marker could provide.

That is the idea behind AGI’s Parent Match service. Instead of stopping at an exclusion when the reported sire or dam does not match the genotype, Parent Match searches for qualified parent matches using genomic information. That gives breeders a clearer path forward when a reported parent does not fit the DNA evidence.

Parent Match was deployed earlier this year by AGI for Association members testing with Angus GSSM and HD50K™, as well as commercial producers utilizing GeneMax^® Advantage™. More on Parent Match is available online at https://bit.ly/ParentMatchExplainer, https://bit.ly/ParentMatch2026 and the June 2026 By the Numbers column on www.angusjournal.net. 

Association members continue to increase the number of profile tests submitted, and this summer they celebrated the two million genotypes milestone. Leveraging this information in a streamlined parent qualification service can save breeders time and headache.

The service helps reduce unnecessary “trial and error” to correct a parentage issue by scanning the entire database and giving members clearer information to review and correct parentage. This process prevents conflicts between genomic and pedigree relationships, and it ensures the quality of weekly genetic evaluations.

Parent Match is a practical example of putting genomic information to work for cattle producers. As genomic information continues to grow across the Angus breed, the Association and AGI remain committed to developing tools and services that help cattlemen turn data into better decisions.