University of Kentucky and University of Florida researchers conducted a summary of many previous studies that compared expected progeny differences (EPDs) with actual realized progeny differences for various beef cattle traits. The summary involved data from six breeds: Angus, Brangus, Charolais, Limousin, Polled Hereford, and Simmental. Traits were: birth wt. (BWT), weaning wt. (WWT), yearling wt. (YWT), marbling (MAB), carcass wt. (CWT), fat thickness (FAT), loin eye area (LEA), percent lean yield (% LY), milk (MLK), maternal (MAT), and scrotal circumference (SC). Following is a summary: • Realized progeny differences agreed well with EPDs for BW and WW, but for YW, realized tended to be greater than EPD, especially when YW was the primary sire selection criterion.

• Relative to sires with low EPDs for MAB, CWT, FAT, LEA, and % LY, sires with high EPDs sired progeny with higher MAB scores and greater CWT, FAT, LEA, and % LY.
• Sires with high EPDs for MLK and MAT sired daughters that produced more milk and weaned heavier calves than sires with low EPDs.
• Sires with high EPDs for SC sired daughters that reached puberty earlier.