The predicted performance of the future offspring of an animal for a particular trait, calculated from measurement(s) of the animal's own performance and/or the performance of one or more of its relatives, for the trait in question and/or for one or more correlated traits. Typically, the prediction is expressed as a deviation from a well-defined base population, assuming the animal in question is mated to a sample of animals whose average genetic merit equals that of the base population. The predicted performance of the offspring of the mating between any two animals is the sum of their EPDs.