Flying H Genetics
Cattleman’s Chronicle
Fall Newsletter
2016
Vol.18
Families Are Forever Choices Matter
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ho you marry, the career you choose, where you live–the choices you make affect you and your family for years. Choices made by your Grandparents and parents have affected your life in many ways–just as your choices will affect you and your family’s future. Thinking, planning and making good decisions gives you some control over your future and your family’s future.
The same is true in the cattle business, especially a familyrun cattle business. One has to think about and plan for your own family, but the success of your cowherd is also determined by the choices that you make with your cows and bulls….
• How are you managing your COWS and BULLS? • Can you manage your land and grass better? • Are you controlling your costs and investing rather than spending? • What are you doing to add value to your cattle? • Can you add pounds or other value without adding costs? • Can you spend the same or less money and get better genetic returns?
Most people realize that, in order to increase your profits, you need to reduce costs and/or increase income per cow and per acre! Some things, like preconditioning and selling weaned calves, can be done immediately and will add value because the market is paying more for preconditioned calves than it costs to condition them and you will have additional pounds to sell as they will be older, healthier, and heavier. Other management tools will take longer but will improve your future success.
Are you utilizing the 20+% increase in income from improved growth, fertility, calving percentage and longevity achieved through crossbreeding and heterosis, or are you still breeding the same cows to the same bulls and getting the same results?
Continued on page 2
Families... Continued from page 1
Utilizing genetics that complement each other from more than one breed was proven almost 80 years ago to improve cattle profitability. When done cor-
rectly, the resulting carcasses will qualify for the same premiums and the resulting cows will be more fertile, raise bigger calves and produce extra calves during their lifetime—AT NO EXTRA COST! If you are not using crossbred vigor in both your cows and calves, you can do better.
If you are still straight breeding, please read the enclosed article on p. 3: “Consider Crossbreeding for Improving Profit and Sustainability in Commercial Beef Production” for more information regarding the benefits of crossbreeding and heterosis.
The bulls you buy this year will affect
the profitability of your cowherd for the next 20 years or more! A bull purchased
in 2016 will produce calves born in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 or more. If all calves are placed on feed they will be marketed through 2022. If heifers are retained, the bull you buy this year will affect your calf crops through daughters and granddaughters at least until 2042.
Bull purchases should be considered an investment, not an expense. A bull of average quality will end up costing you more than what you initially paid for him because his calves will be worth less, losing potential profits with every calf that he sires. A bull of above-average quality will sire higher quality, heavier calves, so the bull will pay for himself by producing calves that will make you money, therefore making him a profitable investment. Flying H Genetics offers more than one
breed of bull so you can select the exact genetic match for your cows to make them more profitable. By utilizing Angus, Red Angus,
Gelbvieh, Simmental and Hereford genetics, we can help you produce better calves and more productive high quality replacement heifers/ cows. If you are still straight breeding, please read the en-
For more , videos information ok, scan and sale bo go to the code or our website
closed article on crossbreeding for more information regarding the benefits of crossbreeding and heterosis. Your family’s future depends on the choices that you make today, tomorrow, and in the future. Don’t just dismiss the idea of crossbreeding - study the information and at least try one bull to compare the results in your own herd on your own place. We have had hundreds of cattlemen try Flying H Bulls and have proven that better genetics and crossbreeding does pay.
www.flyinghgenetics.com
Circle L Farms in Arkansas says... “We have been in the cattle business for over 25 years
Another thing that we love about working with Flying H is the Death and Injury Warranty that they offer. We run several bulls with every set of cows, and it is valuable insurance and a great deal. If I do have a problem with a bull, I know that all I need to do is pick up the phone and it will be taken care of professionally and very timely – that is above and beyond anything we ever expected.”
and have purchased 15 Flying H bulls in the past 5 years. We were drawn to the FHG program because the bulls are grown on grass and fescue adapted, not grown on silage and grain. FHG bulls have their working clothes on from day one, and they never melt away; they look just as good coming off cows as the day that we turned them out. We have been very pleased with the disposition of our FHG bulls – they are good tempered, easy to handle, don’t lose weight, and are very sound. FHG bulls have cut down calving problems, and their calves hit the ground running and never quit growing.
Circle L Farms, Arkansas
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Consider Crossbreeding for Improving Profit and Sustainability in Commercial Beef Production By Bob Weaber, Ph.D., Cow-Calf Extension Specialist, Kansas State University Reprinted with permission of the author
The dramatic changes and volatility cow-calf production system input costs and calf values have many producers wondering about the value of heterosis in today’s beef industry pricing structure.
The Importance of Crossbreeding
Many producers are seeking ways to improve cow-calf production efficiency and profitability. Profitability may be enhanced by increasing the volume of production (i.e. the pounds of calves you market) and/or the value of products you sell (improving quality). The reduction of production costs, and thus breakeven prices, can also improve profitability. Better yet, improving the input:output ratio should enhance profit. Moreover, the improvement of production efficiency from crossbreeding improves beef’s sustainability. A variety of production metrics and sustainability measures benefit by producing more head and calves and pounds of beef per unit land area or calorie consumed at the enterprise level. Positive changes in cow longevity, reproductive rate and calf performance from heterosis effectively reduces maintenance energy requirements per pound of beef produced. Dilution of maintenance costs of the cowherd improves sustainability in both the environmental, through more efficient land use, and profitability areas. For commercial beef producers, the implementation of technologies and breeding systems that increase the quality and volume of production and reduce input costs is essential to maintain or improve the competitive position of the operation. Some producers are thinking of establishing a more conventional straight breeding system to improve end-product value traits and want to understand the value they are giving up as they sacrifice heterosis, while other producers are considering the establishment of a planned crossbreeding system to capture the value of hybrid vigor. Either way, to make an informed decision, producers need to know the value generated in their herd by heterosis or hybrid vigor. To fully understand the trade-offs, it is essential to know what it is you sell and how you sell it. The lure of premiums for high quality beef carcasses is appealing; it gets lots of trade publication promotion and it can be profitable. No doubt growing the top-line of the beef value chain and satisfying customers is important. That said, if you are producer that sells calves at weaning you have very limited opportunity to capture the value of selection pressure you place on end-product quality at the expense of other traits or loss in heterosis. It is also true that even if you own the cattle to harvest and are paid on a grid, you only get a fraction of the value of the improvement, albeit bigger than the calf premium. Conversely, the value of heterosis affects every cow on your outfit and it is value that you can capture every year no matter how you sell calves. More importantly, it’s not a $20 or $40 or $60 premium per head you might get for selling calves or carcasses…the heterosis premium is much, much more.
• Profitability may be enhanced by increasing the volume of production (i.e. the pounds of calves you market) and/or the value of products you sell (improving quality). The reduction of production costs, and thus breakeven prices, can also improve profitability. • For commercial beef producers, the implementation of technologies and breeding systems that increase the quality and volume of production and reduce input costs is essential to maintain or improve the competitive position of the operation. • To make an informed decision, producers need to know the value generated in their herd by heterosis or hybrid vigor. • The value of heterosis affects every cow on your outfit and it is value that you can capture every year no matter how you sell calves. More importantly, it’s not a $20 or $40 or $60 premium per head you might get for selling calves or carcasses…the heterosis premium is much, much more. • Improvements in cow-calf production due to heterosis are attributable to having both a crossbred cow and a crossbred calf. The two tables in the adjoining article detail the individual (crossbred calf) and maternal (crossbred cow) heterosis observed for various important production traits. • The production of crossbred calves yields advantages in both heterosis and the blending of desirable traits from two or more breeds. However, the largest economic benefit of crossbreeding to commercial producers comes from having crossbred cows. Maternal heterosis improves both the environment a cow provides for her calf as well as improves the longevity and durability of the cow. • Simple examples using current calf pricing and a 23% increase in weaning weight per cow exposed using a terminal sire/F1 (two cross) cow can generate approximately $200 additional revenue per cow per year. I’m not aware of any set of calves that have generated carcass premiums of $200 premium per cow exposed regardless of breed or grid. In today’s calf prices the value of heterosis for a herd of 100 cows is roughly $20,000 per year and represents a decrease in breakeven costs of more than $35/cwt on 600 lb calves.
Why crossbreed?
• A well-constructed crossbreeding system can have positive effects on a ranch’s bottom line by not only increasing the quality and gross pay weight of calves produced but also by increasing the durability and productivity of the cow factory.
The use of crossbreeding offers two distinct and important advantages over the use of a single breed. First, crossbred animals have heterosis or hybrid vigor. Second, crossbred animals combine the strengths of the parent breeds. The term ‘breed complementarity’ is often used to describe breed combinations that produce highly desirable progeny for a broad range of traits.
What is heterosis?
ing depression of pure breeds. Heterosis is, therefore, dependant on an animal having two different copies of a gene. The level of heterozygosity an animal has depends on the random inheritance of copies of genes from its parents. In general, animals that are crosses of unrelated breeds, such as Angus and Brahman, exhibit higher levels of heterosis, due to more heterozygosity, than do crosses of more genetically similar breeds such as a cross of Angus and Hereford.
Heterosis refers to the superiority of the crossbred animal relative to the average of its straight bred parents. Heterosis results from the increase in the heterozygosity of a crossbred animal’s genetic makeup. Heterozygosity refers to a state where an animal has two different forms of a gene. It is believed that heterosis is the result of gene dominance and the recovery from accumulated inbreed-
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Continued on page 6
Mike & David Cribbs, “We were drawn to the Flying H Genetics program three years ago, as they are close to and develop their bulls on fescue. The team at Flying H Genetics is great to work with, and they always Missouri cattlemen say... home stand behind their bulls. They always offer a good selection of bulls to choose from, and the calves sired by those bulls exhibit good performance and calving ease with plenty of growth and muscle. The bulls themselves are problem-free, and they don’t fall apart when we turn them out on cows. We are really happy with all of the bulls that we have purchased from Flying H Genetics.” - Mike & David Cribbs, Missouri -
Black Balancer® FHG 240C Sire: FHG FLYING H PROFESSOR 22W
Red Angus FHG 437C Sire: SOR SCHULER ROGUE A669
FusionTM FHG 262C Sire: CVLS FHG WISH MAKER 921W
Simmental AKA C26T Sire: HTP SVF IN DEW TIME
Red Angus F-F C16 Sire: LSF CONQUEROR 0026X
SimAngusTM FC C613 Sire: LLSF UPRISING Z925
Black Balancer® FHG 332C Sire: DCSF POST ROCK BLK BAL 270W8
SimAngusTM F-F 41C Sire: GB RANCH HAND 197A
John Clemons, Missouri cattleman says... “I have been very pleased with the bulls that I have purchased from Flying H Genetics. I love that they are 18 months old and raised on grass. They are always slick-haired, hardened-up, and ready to go to work. With a great selection of bulls that are Fescue Adapted and won’t melt away, Flying H bulls really fit my program. I love the growth and performance of the calves sired by the bulls – all in all, I am very pleased and happy with my bulls. ” - John Clemons, Missouri -
Red Balancer® FHG 431C Sire: LACY FHG LEGACY 6097
Bulls 120 sell! Saturday OCTOBER 22nD 1:00 pm
AT THE BULL BARN
EAS T OF BUTLER, MO.
For more , videos information ok, scan and sale bo go to the code or our website
www.flyinghgenetics.com
Horned Hereford DB 502 Sire: DH DOMINO 990W
SimAngusTM F-F 52C Sire: HOLLEYS UPRISING
Red Balancer® FHG 190C Sire: SOR SCHULER ROGUE A669
Gelbvieh FHG 312C Sire: BAG MR SANDMAN 115Y
Horned Hereford DB 505 Sire: DH DOMINO 990W
Black Balancer® FHG 013C Sire: WFA FLYING H FOCUS 31Z
FusionTM FHG 368C Sire: RBCF BEEF MAKER 102Y
Black Balancer® FHG 307C Sire: FHG FLYING H PROFESSOR 22W
Red HybRED GG C335 Sire: SCE RED HOT W975
ARE FESCUE ADAPTED®, Grown On Grass® BULLS BETTER?
< fescue
Flying H bulls are regularly seen grazing through the heat of the day when temps reach triple digits and the heat index is even higher. Most bulls and cattle are pretty lazy this time of day, but FHG bulls are conditioned and grown to perform in these severe conditions.
Whether you’re a Tiger, Wildcat, Cowboy or Razorback Fan, you want your coach to have your favorite team conditioned and ready to play. Let’s pretend that today is Game Day. Both Teams have be study-
ing film and practicing their plays. Both teams have talent and look GOOD on paper.
men who were so disappointed with their feedlot developed bulls. Our bulls are never put into a feedlot. They are grazed on Fescue
Your team looks really good! They have studied hard and put on lots of weight. In fact, they weigh almost 100 pounds more than their opponents. They have talent, are big and look great.
grass year around with minimal supplementation depending on the quality of the grass. This allows us to identify and eliminate the bulls that cannot handle the endophyte found in infected Fescue. This system also identifies the narrow made, shallow gutted, poor doing bulls that can’t convert forages into beef so they can be eliminated too.
The other team is talented and has also studied and practiced their
plays. Although they are not as big and imposing, they have been on a special muscle building routine, appear more athletic and look ready to play.
Today is HOT! Both teams have been practicing in the heat but today will
Even if you don’t have Fescue grass on your ranch, developing bulls like Mother Nature intended identifies and prepares them to work the day you buy them. They are active, athletic, muscular and proven to be better.
test their endurance.
At half time, it is obvious that one team is better prepared to play. They are not as big but they are more athletic, more muscular and
But what about their genetics? Flying H has that covered too. To help
able to handle the heat better than the bigger fatter players.
So, who wins the game? The bigger, good looking team or the better prepared more muscular, athletic team?
you identify bulls that offer the genetics you need, we have identified the 3, 4 and 5 star bulls that are genetically superior for the specific traits associated with Disposition, Growth, Muscle, Carcass, Maternal and Forageability.
In the real world, which bull is better prepared to win in your pasture? The bull fed and developed in a feedlot that is fatter, weighs more and
And we guarantee the Quality, Disposition, Calving Ease, Fertility and Breeding Ability of every bull sold.
Flying H Genetics created our FESCUE ADAPTED® bull development program 10 years ago after visiting with many cattle-
If you want your Team of Bulls to win every year, check out Flying H Genetics FESCUE ADAPTED® Bulls on the web, www/flyinghgenetics. com, call Aaron at 417.309.0062 or visit us at the Bull Barn on HWY 52 east of Butler, MO.
looks better or the Flying H Genetics bull that is Grown on Grass®, FESCUE ADAPTED®, muscular and athletic and ready to work for a living?
Crossbreeding ... Continued from page 3
crossbreeding experiments conducted in the South-eastern and Mid-west areas of the US.
Heterosis generates the largest improvement in lowly heritable traits. Moderate improvements due to heterosis are seen in moderately heritable traits. Little or no heterosis is observed in highly heritable traits. Heritability is the proportion of the observable variation in a trait between animals that is due to the genetics that are passed between generations and the variation observed in the animal’s phenotypes, which are the result of genetic and environmental effects. Traits such as reproduction and longevity have low heritability. These traits respond very slowly to selection since a large portion of the variation observed in them is due to environmental factors and a small percentage is due to genetic differences. Heterosis generated through crossbreeding can significantly improve an animal’s performance for lowly heritable traits. Crossbreeding has been shown to be an efficient method to improve reproductive efficiency and productivity in beef cattle. Improvements in cow-calf production due to heterosis are attributable to having both a crossbred cow and a crossbred calf. The two tables below detail the individual (crossbred calf) and maternal (crossbred cow) heterosis observed for various important production traits. These heterosis estimates are adapted from a report by Cundiff and Gregory, 1999, and summarize
Table 1. Individual Heterosis Trait
Calving Rate, % Survival to Weaning, % Birth Weight, lb. Weaning Weight, lb. Yearling Weight, lb. Average Daily Gain, lb./d
Units
3.2 1.4 1.7 16.3 29.1 0.08
% Heterosis 4.4 1.9 2.4 3.9 3.8 2.6
Why is it so important to have crossbred cows? The production of crossbred calves yields advantages in both heterosis and the blending of desirable traits from two or more breeds. However, the largest economic benefit of crossbreeding to commercial producers comes from having crossbred cows. Maternal heterosis improves both the
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Crossbreeding ... Continued from page 6
environment a cow provides for her calf as well as improves the longevity and durability of the cow. The improvement of the maternal environment a cow provides for her calf is manifested in the improvements in calf survivability to weaning and increased weaning weight. Crossbred cows exhibit improvements in calving rate of nearly 4% and an increase in longevity of more that one year due to heterotic effects (table 2). Heterosis results in increases in lifetime productivity of approximately one calf and 600 pounds of calf weaning weight over the lifetime of the cow (table 2). Crossbreeding can have positive effects on a ranch’s bottom line by not only increasing the quality and gross pay weight of calves produced but also by increasing the durability and productivity of the cow factory. Crossbred cows maybe the only free lunch in the world. The effects of maternal heterosis on the economic measures of cow-calf production have been shown to be very positive. Scientists have understood the value of heterosis for some time. Using prices from the 1990s, the added value of maternal heterosis ranges from approximately $50/cow/year to nearly $100/cow/year depending on the amount of maternal heterosis retained in the cowherd (Ritchie, 1998). Maternal heterosis accounted for an increase in net profit per cow of nearly $75/cow/year (Davis et al., 1994). Their results suggested that the benefits of maternal heterosis on profit were primarily the reduced cost per cow exposed. Crossbred cows had higher reproductive rates, longer productive lives, and required fewer replacements than straightbred cows in their study. All of these factors contribute to reduced cost per cow exposed. Further, they found increased outputs, including growth and milk yield, were offset by increased costs.
Steve Mashek Update… From the Spring 2016 Flying H Genetics newsletter feature, “Angus On Steroids”. Steve Mashek sold his calves sired by Flying H Genetics bulls: 94% Choice 1% Prime 147 days on Feed 98.6% YG 1-3 32% CAB 64.36% yield DMI 4.87 ADG 4.22 For a Net of $1,500/hd after feedlot expenses paid. The same steers in the sale barn last fall would have only netted $1,000.
Table 2. Maternal Heterosis Trait Calving Rate, % Survival to Weaning, % Birth Weight, lb. Weaning Weight, lb. Longevity, years
Units 3.5 0.8 1.6 18.0 1.36
% Heterosis 3.7 1.5 1.8 3.9 16.2
.97 600
17.0 25.3
As you make your decision to straight-breed or cross-breed make sure you don’t give away a couple hundred dollars per cow to make a $20-60 premium per calf sold at market or on the rail when you can go for both!
Lifetime Productivity Number of Calves Cumulative Weaning Wt., lb.
A variety of crossbreeding systems yield 20-30% improvements in weaning weight per cow exposed not including the additional value generated through sire selection within breed. This represents a substantial change in output given relatively constant input. Simple examples using current calf pricing and a 23% increase in weaning weight per cow exposed using a terminal sire/F1 (two cross) cow can generate approximately $200 additional revenue per cow per year. I’m not aware of any set of calves that have generated carcass premiums of $200 premium per cow exposed regardless of breed or grid. In today’s calf prices the value of heterosis for a herd of 100 cows is roughly $20,000 per year and represents a decrease in breakeven costs of more than $35/cwt on 600 lb calves.
environment, your replacement female development system, and your calf marketing endpoint. All of these factors help determine the relative importance of traits for each production phase.
What are the keys to successful crossbreeding programs? Many of the challenges that have been associated with crossbreeding systems in the past are the result of undisciplined implementation of the system. With that in mind, one should be cautious to select a mating system that matches the amount of labor and expertise available to appropriately implement the system. Crossbreeding systems range in complexity from very simple programs such as the use of hybrid genetics, which are as easy as straight breeding, to elaborate rotational crossbreeding systems with four or more breed inputs. The biggest keys to success are the thoughtful construction of a plan and the sticking to it! Be sure to set attainable goals. Discipline is essential. A well-constructed crossbreeding system can have positive effects on a ranch’s bottom line by not only increasing the quality and gross pay weight of calves produced but also by increasing the durability and productivity of the cow factory. As you make your decision to straight-breed or crossbreed make sure you don’t give away a couple hundred dollars per cow to make a $20-60 premium per calf sold at market or on the rail when you can go for both!
How can I harness the power of breed complementarity? Breed complementarity is the effect of combining breeds that have different strengths. When considering crossbreeding from the standpoint of producing replacement females, one could select breeds that have complementary maternal traits such that females are most ideally matched to their production environment. Matings to produce calves for market should focus on complementing the traits of the cows and fine tuning calf performance (growth and carcass traits) to the market place. There is an abundance of research that describes the core competencies (biological type) of many of today’s commonly used beef breeds. Traits are typically combined into groupings such as maternal/reproduction, growth and carcass. When selecting animals for a crossbreeding system, their breed should be your first consideration. What breeds you select for inclusion in your mating program will be dependant on a number of factors including the current breed composition of your cow herd, your forage and production
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Focused On The Future ... By Focusing on Families!
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CHOOSE FROM SUPERIOR GENETIC FAMILIES OCTOBER 22nD, 1:00 pm AT THE BULL BARN EAST OF BUTLER, MO.
Family Success Depends on Good Choices! FESCUE ADAPTED, QUALITY GUARANTEED BULLS ARE A GOOD CHOICE!
A sampling of our offering:
Red Angus FHG 437C Sire: SOR SCHULER ROGUE A669
SimAngusTM FHG 165C Sire: W/C UNITED 956Y
Black Balancer® FHG 004C Sire: VRT LAZY TV WATCHMAN W021
FusionTM FHG 262C Sire: CVLS FHG WISH MAKER 921W
Gelbvieh FHG 312C Sire: BAG MR SANDMAN 115Y
Horned Hereford DB 506 Sire: NJW 98S R117 RIBEYE 88X ET
OUR FAMILY’S FOCUS ON PRODUCING AND REPRODUCING ONLY SUPERIOR GENETICS HELPS BUILD OUR CUSTOMERS SUCCESSES. The Tradition Continues...
For more information, videos and sale book, scan the code or go to our website, call or text us.
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www.FLYINGHGENETICS.com Helping Build Family Successes Since 1949!
FLYING H GENETICS Aaron Ishmael, MO 417.309.0062 Cody & Casie Helms, MO, NE 303.842.9071 Kyle & Kayla Helms, NE 308.962.6940 Dick and Bonnie Helms 308.962.6500
Balancer ® | Gelbvieh | SimAngus TM | Simmental | AnguS | RED AnguS | Fusion TM | Hereford