Research Trials and Genetic Evaluation

Research Trials

The AWA will pursue opportunities to participate in and lead research trials with current and emerging technologies. This allows for studies to address emerging genetic models and technologies for performance, carcass, and meat quality traits. Improved technology has the opportunity for improving accuracy and can also make carcass data collection more accessible to the AWA membership and allows historical data to be used in the calculations for EPD.

Genetic Evaluation

As performance data is collected and reported to the AWA (birth, growth, reproduction, and carcass) across multiple contemporary groups and sires the AWA can begin research to determine genetic parameters (estimates of heritability, genetic correlations) for the Wagyu population. Once those genetic parameters are determined and if they sufficiently characterize the Wagyu population Expected Progeny Differences (EPD) can be computed.