A journey that has been several years in the making reached its destination just before Christmas when the first calf crop from the ASA National Sire Test (NST) at the University of Illinois were harvested. The process of cultivating the opportunity with Dr. Dan Shike at U of I from the day that the cattle were harvested, following this plan through to fruition has been no simple task for the Shorthorn breed. My hats off to all the breeders, ASA board members, and staff who were able to get this program initiated in 2016. I have enjoyed being able to work with this program since coming on board at ASA, but it would not have been such a seamless transition if not for all the groundwork and foresight in establishing the program. With all this data and information collected, I’m sure one of the prevailing questions is “What did we learn from this test?” In my mind, that’s a complex question with multiple solutions (which I’ll try to answer later on). Depending on your perspective, there’s several takeaways that can be gleaned from these test results. I will share some of my thoughts and perspective, but ultimately, I think that everyone should study this data and form their own opinions. Read more about the Performance Review