By far the poorest bulls to select are the high percentage bulls. Selecting bulls on percent instead of yield results in substantially less income from milk sales. By far the poorest bulls to select are the high percentage bulls, because they tend to have low yields. In general, selection for increased protein yield will also increase fat yield. The trend within the industry has been a de-emphasis on fat.
Consumers continue to buy more and more low-fat products.
Despite this trend, fat is still priced higher than protein in most markets, although this may change in the years ahead. Even though fat is being de-emphasized, there will probably always be a market for products containing fat. It is apparent from Table 4 that most of the high protein bulls are also the high fat bulls. This means that, in general, selection for increased protein yield will also increase fat yield, but some high protein bulls are lower in fat than others. Even if protein becomes twice as valuable as fat, the fat still has value.