Is DNA Testing Your Angus Cattle Worth the Money?

Walk into a bull sale and you will hear every other man say the bull is genomically tested. There is a reason. The American Angus Association reported that in fiscal year 2025, 75 percent of 309,926 registered animals were genomically tested. Sixty-three percent were sire-verified, and 50 percent were verified for both sire and dam. So the testing is standard in the registered business. The question for you is whether it earns its keep on your place.

What you are paying for

You pull a hair sample or a bit of ear tissue, mail it to a lab, and wait. The lab reads a panel of genetic markers and sends the results into the national evaluation. What you get back is a set of EPDs with better accuracy than the calf's pedigree alone could give, plus a parentage check, and sometimes screening for inherited defects.

The reason it helps is simple. Full siblings do not get the same genes from their parents. The pedigree average says they are the same. The test says which one actually got the better half. That matters most on young animals with no records, and on traits that are tough to measure, like feed intake or carcass quality.

Where the test earns its money

Picking heifers to keep

If you have more heifer calves than you need, a test can help you decide which to keep. You are betting years of feed on each one. A test that moves a decision even a couple of times can cover the cost. Read the heifer-selection material in our bull and cow herd guides for the other things to weigh.

Fixing the pedigree

If you run multiple sires in a pasture, you probably do not know every calf's father. A parentage test settles it. Without it, EPDs get credited to the wrong sire. Many herds are surprised at what they find.

Buying what the other fellow tested

When you buy bulls from a seedstock man who tests, you get the better numbers for nothing. Ask him which tests were run.

Where it does not pay

If every calf goes to town at weaning at one price, you keep only a few heifers, and you buy your bulls on a handshake, the payback is thin. Fees vary by lab and product and they change. Get today's price and figure what one wrong replacement decision costs you. If that second number is bigger, test. If not, put the money into a better bull.

A quick way to run the numbers

Sit down with a pencil. Write the lab fee per head at today's price. Multiply by the number of animals you would test. Now write down what a single bad replacement heifer costs you: the feed and pasture she eats for a few years, the calves she never raises, and the cull price you get for her at the end. If one avoided mistake covers a good chunk of the testing bill, test the heifers on the bubble. If you cannot name a decision the test would change, hold your money. That is not complicated, and it keeps you from buying a service because everybody else did.

Also think about timing. A test is most useful before you make the decision, not after the animal is already in your herd or sold. Pull samples at working time, get results back before you sort replacements, and use them alongside weaning weights and disposition notes.

What the test will not do

It does not replace a scale. The Association's own people say genotypes alone do not drive accuracy, and that animals with both genomic data and their own records reach the best accuracy (Angus Journal). So keep weighing calves, writing down calving dates and recording who breeds back. The test sits on top of your records. It will not stand in for them.

It also will not fix feet, udders or temperament. A good-looking number on a poorly built cow is still a poorly built cow. Use your eyes first, then use the numbers.

What the 75 percent does and does not tell you

It says that registered Angus breeders have bought in. It means the breed's evaluation has a lot of data behind it, and that is good for everybody who buys the cattle. It does not mean testing rates are that high in commercial herds, and it does not mean every tested animal is a good one. A test measures. You still have to select.

How to do it right

• Label samples carefully. A mixed-up tube is worse than no test.
• Keep results next to your calving book and weights.
• Test the animals where a decision is riding on it, not the whole herd out of habit.
• Call your vet or lab for the current sampling method. It changes.

The beef at the end of the line

Better selection is how a herd gets calves that grade. Programs such as Certified Angus Beef reward carcass quality, and more accurate selection tools help you aim there. For background, farm.fm's page on boosting Angus market value covers the money side, and the agriculture directory helps you find labs and seedstock suppliers near you.

Fees and test options change often. Check with the American Angus Association or your lab for current details. This site is independent and not affiliated with the Association or Certified Angus Beef.