In an effort to maintain and promote functionally correct locomotion of breeding bulls sold at our most prestigious Society Sales, the Society has employed Meurig James of NBDC to carry out an individual assessment of each bull forward at Stirling between October 2022 and October 2024. These scores have been analysed against the average price, and there is a clear association between locomotion score (1-9) and average price, as the graph below demonstrates.
The graph shows the relationship between Locomotion Score and average price achieved within each point of locomotion score. For example, the average price for bulls scored 1 for locomotion score was £2940, while the average price for bulls scored 8 for locomotion score was £7875. On average, there is +£482 greater average price between each locomotion score category (point). While the relationship is not completely linear, the trend line fitted (dotted line) shows that there is an increasing relationship between locomotion score and average price. While the locomotion score of the bulls is far from the only criteria considered by purchasers, it is nevertheless interesting to note the relationship between these factors. This data also shows the difference in locomotion in bulls forward for Society sales, as analysed by an independent practitioner, and demonstrates the value in viewing bulls ahead of the sale, best done in the pre-sale show. Locomotion is an important factor in the longevity of breeding bulls, and is a significant contributing factor in bulls breaking down early in their breeding life. The Aberdeen Angus Society is committed to promoting functional commercial breeding bulls with longevity and performance.
The Aberdeen Angus Society has initiated a voluntary Linear Assessment Scoring programme (aka Type Classification), which Meurig and his team at NBDC lead. For more information how you can get your breeding females scored please visit our website at
https://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Linear-Assessment-Explanatory-Doc_v2.pdf
