Breeding program goals--The objective or "direction" of breeder's selection programs. Goals are basic decisions breeders must make to give "direction" to their breeding program. Goals should vary among breeders due to relative genetic merit of their cattle, their resources, and their markets.

 Breeding value--Value of an animal as a parent. The working definition is twice the difference between a very large number of progeny and the population average when individuals are mated at random within the population and all progeny are managed alike. The difference is doubled because only a sample half (one gene of each pair) is transmitted from a parent to each progeny. Breeding value exists for each trait and is dependent on the population in which the animal is evaluated. For a given trait, an individual can be an above average producer in one herd and a below average producer in another herd.

British breeds--Breeds of cattle such as Angus, Hereford, and Shorthorn originating in Great Britain.

Calf crop--The number or percentage of calves produced within a herd in a given year relative to the number of cows and heifers exposed to breeding.

Calving difficulty (Dystocia)--Abnormal or difficult labor, causing difficulty in delivering the fetus and/or placenta.

Calving season--The season(s) of the year when the calves are born. Limiting calving seasons is the first step to performance testing the whole herd, accurate records, and consolidated management practices.

Carcass evaluation--Techniques of measuring components of quality and quantity in carcasses.

Carcass merit--Desirability of a carcass relative to quantity of components (muscle, fat, and bone), USDA quality grade, plus potential eating qualities.

Carcass quality grade--An estimate of palatability based primarily on marbling and maturity and generally to a lesser extent on color, texture, and firmness of lean. Days on feed and fat thickness (of 0.25 inches or more) are comparable to quality grade in estimating eating quality.

Carcass quantity--Amount of salable meat (muscle) the carcass will yield. Cutability is an estimate of this. (See its definition.)

Carrier--A heterozygous individual having one recessive gene and one dominant gene for a given pair of genes (alleles). For example, an animal with one gene for polledness and one gene for horns will be polled but can produce horned offspring when mated to another animal carrying the gene for horns

Central test--A location where animals are assembled from several herds to evaluate differences in certain performance traits under uniform management conditions.