Correlation between paternal DEP and children's performance in PGPs

Brazil's participation in international trade has been steadily gaining prominence. Currently, all Brazilian states are involved in beef cattle farming. It is known that the Nelore is the most widely bred cattle in the country, as well as the one with the best genetic quality. In view of a demanding and promising market, together with the need for selection, genetic improvement programs have become mandatory in the animal genetics market. However, there is a limitation when it comes to identifying the best animals for breeding, due to the fact that genetic merit cannot be measured directly, but must be predicted. To this end, there are EPDs (Expected Progeny Differences) which are used to compare the genetic merits of animals in various characteristics and predict the genetic transmission ability of the animal evaluated as a progenitor. In this context of technologies applied to evaluating traits, there is also the Weight Gain Test (WGT), which is a performance test for beef cattle, with the aim of identifying genetically superior individuals for traits of economic interest.