• The Value of Information

The more documented records you have available on each of your cows, the better equipped you are to make bold, decisive decisions about culling, selecting and mating systems. The managerial decisions you make today can have a huge impact on the future of your herd for many years to come. As an aggressive cattle producer competing in today's complex beef market, you need to utilize all the tools available to reduce guesswork, adding predictability to your herd performance. CHAPS is one of those
tools.

 

• NCBA-IRM-SPA-Analysis 

The NDSU Extension Service, in cooperation with the NDBCIA, provides managerial reports generated through the CHAPS program. These reports assist producers with total herd evaluations which are utilized in North Dakota's Integrated Resource Management (IRM) program. A common problem with record systems is the accumulation of mounds of data with little effective utilization's of the data. The ultimate purpose of this program is to assure that each NCBA-IRM-SPA trait is balanced within the operation and evaluated simultaneously. (1998 NCBA-IRM-SPA Analysis report) 

 

• The Benchmarks

For more effective utilization of individual herd data, production benchmark values utilizing the NCBA-IRM-SPA calculations were obtained from CHAPS herds. CHAPS compares each individual producer's performance against the benchmarks. (Benchmark values for the NCBA-IRM-SPA traits)

 

• Cow/Calf Performance Reports 

As a comprehensive analysis system, CHAPS provides all the standard performance data as suggested by the Beef Improvement Federation. Some of the reports can be sorted by a variety of categories as determined by the producer