Benefits of Genetic Evaluations
As with dairy cattle and other livestock, genetic evaluations allow for improvement of desired traits by identifying the genetics that a buck or doe can transmit to offspring. The sophisticated U.S. system allows for comparison of animals from different herds and in different environments. Goat owners can use genetic selection to improve milk production, conformation and profitability of their herd as they make breeding decisions to provide replacements and initiate milk production.
In dairy goats, the greatest genetic gain is through selection of males. Artificial Insemination (A.I.) enables widespread use of superior bucks and enables progeny-test bucks to be used across herds.