Buying Bulls With a Plan
Create your game plan before a bull sale for optimum efficiency.
Selecting new herd sires is an annual process for beef producers. Before attending any bull sales, or ordering semen from an artificial insemination rep, take the time to read through sale books and identify which characteristics are of the most and least importance for the next herd sire to contribute to his offspring on your operation. The ultimate selection goal is to choose a sire that will enhance the current cow herd in terms of the reproductive success of the daughters he sires, as well as the performance of his terminal progeny.
How to Face Evolving Demands
Cattlemen have a good story to tell on sustainability, but there’s more work to be done.
Sustainability doesn’t keep Kim Stackhouse-Lawson up at night. It’s how investments skyrocketed last year, urging companies to do something about it. Not just major companies, said Stackhouse-Lawson, director of AgNext at Colorado State University. There’s a trickle-down effect all the way to cattle country. Everyone is paying attention.
Gizmos & Gadgets
Livestock technology equipment demonstration.
It’s possible to measure and record individual weights of cattle managed in pasture and range settings — without assembling a crew, gathering the herd and bringing animals to a scale site. According to South Dakota State University (SDSU) Extension Livestock Grazing Specialist Jameson Brennan, researchers accomplish that at SDSU’s Cottonwood Field Station, using equipment manufactured by C-Lock Inc. Brennan narrated a virtual demonstration of SmartScale and other C-Lock equipment during the biennial Range Beef Cow Symposium hosted Nov. 16-17 in Rapid City, S.D.
January 4, 2022 | Vol. 15 : No. 1
The Power Of Genetic Data
Maximizing the use of genetic data will pay dividends.
The Angus University: Genetics workshop sponsored by Zoetis at the 2021 National Angus Convention and Trade Show served as an educational session to inform breeders about the value of collecting genetic data and ways to use it in making decisions. The panel moderated by Kelli Retallick-Riley, president of Angus Genetics Inc., included Justin Sexten, vice president of strategy and product development for Performance Livestock Analytics; Jim Moore of Moore Cattle Co., a commercial Angus operation; James Henderson of Bradley 3 Ranch, an Angus seedstock operation; and Troy Marshall, director of commercial industry relations for the American Angus Association.
Selection for Improved Cow Efficiency
Keep mature weight in your selection criteria.
Reproductive performance in the cow herd is low in heritability. This means it is largely influenced by environment, particularly nutrition. Mature weight (MW) is moderate in heritability (35%), meaning response to selection pressure to downsize cows can be accomplished more effectively. Most beef cattle registries calculate MW expected progeny differences.
Angus Proud: Les Shaw
South Dakota operation manages winter with preparation and bull selection.
Northern Plains winters can be brutal, but Shaw Ranch Inc. has figured out how to survive since 1889 by using Angus cattle. Shaw Ranch Inc., in South Dakota, is a family operation, owned and operated by Les Shaw, his grandfather, father and brother.
