Prime Time | Spring 2018

T H E N E W S O F T H E A M E R I C A N A K AU S H I A S S O C I AT I O N

P

AKAUSHI

SPRING 2018

ime www.akaushi.com

Hybrids,

Replacements and

On the Rail

The A4 Advantage So You Want To Be a

SEEDSTOCK BREEDER?

Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

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sitor Center 3,000 sq ft Vi mplete 12/15/17 Projected Co

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www.akaushi.com • Spring 2018

P rime T ime AKAUSHI

SPRING 2018 | VOL. 1 NO. 2

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Features 22 The A4 Advantage

AAA program helps Akaushi breeders add value to the beef cattle industry in one generation.

24 So You Want To Be a Seedstock Breeder

Discover 10 tricks of the trade to become a successful seedstock producer.

28 Hybrids, Replacements and on the Rail

New AAA program offers producers a unique way to market cattle and maximize profits.

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32 BIF Celebrates 50 Years

Annual event continues to thrive with a focus on research, innovation and education on issues facing the beef cattle industry.

ON THE COVER

In Every Issue

Akaushi calves bask in the sunshine and enjoy lush grass. Photo taken at HeartBrand Ranch, Harwood, Texas.

6 Around the Campfire 14 DNA Matters 8 Akaushi Matters 16 Beef Matters 12 Calendar of Events 18 Untangling the Helix

20 Irons in the Fire 36 New Members 37 Ad Index

Prime Time Publisher

American Akaushi Association

128 East South Main | Flatonia, Texas 78941 (361) 238-7218 office | www.akaushi.com Executive Director Bubba Bain (361) 238-7218 | bbain@akaushi.com

Executive Assistant/Office Manager Janie Bain (361)238-7218 | jbain@akaushi.com

BluePrint Media

Creative Director | Kathie Bedolli

P.O. Box 427 | Timnath, CO 80547 info@blueprintma.com

(540) 752-6143 | kbedolli@blueprintma.com

Editor | Lisa Bard

(970) 556-9296 | lmckibben@blueprintma.com

Managing Editor | Jessie Topp-Becker

Copy Editor | Larisa Willrett Ad Design | Holly Holland & Kim Tappan Materials Coordinator | Megan Sajbel

(970) 498-9306 | lbard@blueprintma.com (701) 307-0772 | jbecker@blueprintma.com

Advertising Sales | Jessica Ebert

Administration | Leslie McKibben

(785) 477-1941 | jebert@blueprintma.com

Akaushi Prime Time

The News of the American Akaushi Association is published quarterly and distributed digitally to all interested parties. To recieve Prime Time, call or email the AAA office.

Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

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E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R ’ S M E S S AG E

Around the Campfire Bubba Bain | Executive Director | bbain@akaushi.com

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arketing cattle has been a task that some ranchers embrace, while others hate it. I’ve known those who produce and raise cattle well, but couldn’t sell them if their life depended on it. And I’ve known those who aren’t very good at producing and raising beef, but can market with the best.

Regardless of the category you fit into, we have to agree that marketing is the last and probably most important effort of your ranching business cycle. If you raise an animal well but can’t get it sold properly … well you know what that feels like. We’ve all been there. That’s why the American Akaushi Association (AAA) has worked so hard to design and develop marketing programs that will fit any ranching operation and help maximize your return on investment.

Designed with terminal, commercial and seedstock producers in mind, here’s a rundown of each of the AAA marketing programs.

at least 50 percent Akaushi. The influence of Akaushi within your existing herd creates an increased market value with each new generation. DNA parent verification is mandatory with this program to assure the value of your product.

GridMax™ – an Akaushi Composite/ Hybrid Program

Using the strengths of multiple breeds, AAA breeders will be able to produce registered hybrid seedstock with documented pedigrees and expected progeny differences. Registered GridMax cattle are animals with 50 percent or more certified, DNA parent-verified Akaushi breeding, and 50 percent or less of other certified nonAkaushi breeding. This program expands the range of crossbreeding solutions that can now be offered to commercial cattlemen. There will now be genetic options to fit every need. GridMax™ offers producers the opportunity to use percentage-blood Akaushi males and females to simplify management and achieve maximum heterosis, while also providing added confidence for producers who want to use the carcass grid pricing system.

USDA Certified Akaushi Beef Program (HeartBrand® Beef)

Superior Livestock Auction Partnership The American Akaushi Association and Superior Livestock Auction have joined forces to provide future marketing options for Akaushi genetics. New, competitive, nationwide auction avenues from Superior Livestock Auction for AAA members selling their DNA parent-verified Akaushi genetics opens the door for multiple opportunities.

Using our membership logo will clearly designate our members/cattle when consigning and marketing through Superior Livestock Auction. It also sends a signal to the buyers that these cattle have been DNA parent verified and are what they are said to be.

Qualifications to use the AAA-member logo on each lot would be a member in good

This program is designed for all terminal Akaushi cattle, including fullblood, purebred and percentage Akaushi. These cattle need to be DNA parent verified through the American Akaushi Association and can range in age from weaning to finish.

Contact HeartBrand Beef for a bid offer on your cattle, as well as an opportunity to negotiate freight charges and reimbursement of DNA services.

A4 Advantage Program

This unique program offers today’s cattlemen the opportunity to add Akaushi to their replacement heifers and provides a clear path to becoming purebred Akaushi breeders. Participation in this program offers buyer assurance that your cattle are Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

Continued page 10 6

Allflex “One Source” has you covered with visual tags, electronic tags and tissue sampling genomic identification.

We’re leading the industry with solutions for today’s demanding information needs. ID Matters and we’re committed to providing producers with the tools needed to efficiently produce today and in the future!

800.989.8247 • allflexusa.com

A M E R I C A N A K AU S H I A S S O C I AT I O N U P D AT E

Akaushi Matters Janie Bain | Executive Assistant/Office Manager | jbain@akaushi.com

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et’s get started with some spring cleaning! Because ALL Akaushi calves are recorded and DNA verified, even the ones destined for the feedyard, we have a large number of calves in our database that are no longer active and need to be disposed of. Updating the status of an animal is quick and easy.

Log in to DigitalBeef using your member number and password: akaushi.digitalbeef. com.

Click on the “Herd” tab.

On the right side of the screen under “Terminal” choose either “Females” or “Bulls.”

For calves that are no longer in your herd, click on the “Dispose” button on the right side of your screen. This will place the calves in the queue.

In the “Work Menu” on the left side of the screen select “Herd Management > Update Status.”

This will bring up a list of each animal you selected.

been selected click “Make Updates.” If you are updating the status of a large number of calves, I would suggest updating 20 or so at a time.

Don’t worry, these animals are not gone for good, they are just moved from your Active Herd to your Legacy Herd. If an animal is mistakenly moved, please contact the office and we can change it back to the correct status.

DNA Testing – STR to SNP

While you are updating the status of your herd, go ahead and check to see if your remaining animals have a SNP profile. Follow the directions above but look under each category that is applicable for your herd.

The DNA column will display STR or SNP or both. If neither is present or if it only displays STR, then you must retest that animal.

You can submit a new sample for testing or another option would be to request a sample pull from the archived samples at the lab.

With pulled samples there is always the risk that there would not be enough DNA matter to test. If that is the case it would be necessary to submit a new sample.

We allowed two years for the conversion from STR testing to SNP. It has gone very well. SNP testing produces faster results and more accurate parentage determination. If you have been putting it off, your time’s up. If you have adult animals to retest, please call the office and we can help you decide the best plan for the conversion. This is not optional. The lab is urging us to complete this transition due to the antiquated systems required for processing STR.

DigitalBeef example

Indicate the reason for disposing of the calf by clicking the drop down arrow.

Since the primary reason for disposing of percentage Akaushi calves is because they are sold to the Certified Akaushi Beef program, this screen defaults to that reason.

However, there are many other reasons to choose from. Once the “New Status” has Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

Comparing the A4 Advantage Program to GridMax™

Both programs were established to add value to your commercial herd by infusing Continued page 26 8

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www.akaushi.com • Spring 2018

As I mentioned, your last duty/obligation is to market your cattle well. The American Akaushi Association has provided you with multiple, well-designed marketing programs that can get the job done. I encourage you to take advantage of one or more of these value-added programs that will help you maximize profits in your ranching operation.

If you have questions or comments about any of our programs, please contact the office and we’ll be glad to visit with you.

AROUND THE CAMPFIRE Continued from page 6

standing with the American Akaushi Association and all consigned Akaushi cattle must be DNA parent verified. This is another solid marketing arm for our members.

Akaushi CattleLog

The American Akaushi Association has a fee-based, cattle-for-sale web page, http:// www.akaushi.com/akaushi-cattlelog/, where members are able to list individual or groups of Akaushi cattle for sale. Consigned cattle can be fullblood, purebred or percentage Akaushi. Consignments can be replacements or terminal cattle, both male and female. It’s a quick, easy and effective way to market your cattle.

Food for Thought

DNA parent verification allows you to breed with confidence and your buyers to buy with confidence. That’s Akaushi!

You need to know and trust (via accumulated data) your cattle before getting involved in retained ownership (grid marketing). Grid marketing helps you realize and measure progress and setbacks in your cattle program.

It’s never too early to start marketing your next calf crop.

Breed smarter and market smarter.

Until next time, vaya con Dios. PT

AgriClear

AgriClear is a secure, online platform that allows you to buy and sell your Akaushi cattle on your terms with greater efficiency, while facilitating payment assurance and transaction certainty. Sell any type of Akaushi (fullblood, percentage, replacements, stockers, feeders and fats).

AKAUSHI EXPOSURE! Akaushi will be a featured breed in the July issue of The Cattleman.

While Prime Time reaches a national audience of more than 8,000 cattle producers, feeders and allied industry partners, there is no such thing as too much exposure!

Therefore, the American Akausahi Association has sanctioned the special section in the July issue of The Cattleman, which will include editorial on Akaushi cattle and breeders. It is exciting and encouraging to see increased interest in and promotion of Akaushi cattle in such a large cattle region. PT

AKAUSHI

Field Day 6.16.2018

WHEN? June 16, 2018 - 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

WHO? Broken Winds Cattle Co. WHERE? Bar 73 Ranch,

southeast of Canyon, Texas Directions and map will be made available

SPEAKERS Ron Gill, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service – Low Stress Cattle Handling Cee Arnett, Bovina Feeders – Feeding Akaushi Ron Kershen – “The Triticale Man” and The History of Broken Winds Joe Beltz, Broken Winds Cattle Co. – How Cattle are Handled at Broken Winds Cattle Co. American Akaushi Association – Akaushi Breed Information and Programs Lunch will be provided by HeartBrand® Beef (Certified Akaushi Beef)

HOTELS

Holiday Inn Express Canyon, Texas, (806) 655-4445

Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

Best Western Canyon, Texas, (806) 655-1818

For more information, please contact Joe and Christina Beltz, (806) 683-7329, or the American Akaushi Association, (361) 238-7218.

AMERICAN AKAUSHI ASSOCIATION APPROVED FIELD DAY

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CATTLE akaushi

BREEDING FOR PERFORMANCE USING THE BEST AKAUSHI GENETICS AVAILABLE!!!

WE ARE 100% FULLBLOOD AKAUSHI BREEDERS WITH SEEDSTOCK AVAILABLE FOR SALE. n n n n

HEIFERS BULLS SEMEN EMBRYOS

WE ARE LOCATED OUTSIDE OF WACO AND YOU ARE WELCOME AT OUR RANCH ANYTIME! WE WOULD LOVE TO SHOW YOU OUR AKAUSHI!!

CONTACT JIM MOORE 254-723-2977, KATHY MOORE 254-379-5064 OR EMAIL INFO@JMKCATTLE.COM 11 www.akaushi.com • Spring 2018

CALENDAR OF EVENTS APRIL 14

HeartBrand® Ranch, “Story Behind the Steak,” Harwood, Texas

APRIL 24-25

Hemphill County Beef Cattle Conference, Canadian, Texas

APRIL 30-MAY 2

National Pedigreed Livestock Council Annual Meeting, Kansas City, Mo.

JUNE 1

Convention Registration Information mailed

JUNE 16

Broken Winds Cattle Co. Akaushi Field Day, Canyon, Texas

JUNE 20-23

Beef Improvement Federation Annual Meeting and Research Symposium, Loveland, Colo.

JULY 6

WHR Fall Inventory Reports mailed

JULY 20-21

Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Annual Convention, Norman, Okla.

AUG. 6-7

Texas A&M Beef Short Course, College Station, Texas

SEPT. 6

WHR Fall Invoices mailed

SEPT. 6-7

Superior Livestock Auction, Fort Worth, Texas

OCT. 26-28

7th Annual American Akaushi Association Convention, San Marcos, Texas

Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

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www.akaushi.com • Spring 2018

A K AU S H I B R E E D G E N E T I C S

DNA Matters Tim Kozelsky | DNA & Data Service Analyst | tkozelsky@akaushi.com

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ulling calves before they are born?

What? That is precisely how far the cattle industry is progressing in terms of producing better seedstock for a rapidly changing industry. As mentioned in my inaugural DNA Matters column, the move to single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) DNA testing has unlocked the treasures of the bovine DNA sequence.

No longer will ranchers have to wait two or more years to evaluate the results of a breeding program. Research is being done now to determine the DNA potential of an embryo before it is placed in a recipient female. Embryonic genotyping, as it is called, is one of the many DNA innovations that are being utilized in the cattle industry.

But, the Akaushi breed is not quite there yet. We are in the infancy phase of DNA. DNA is a complex science to say the least.

Counter to conventional thought, most phenotypic traits are not determined by a single gene. Many traits such as coat color, horn/polled and genetic conditions, such as F11, are in fact, a single variation. Tests are available for those traits to determine if the animal is either homozygous-affected or a heterozygous-carrier. For those traits, the conventional thought is either the animal has the gene or doesn’t and testing for it is relatively easy.

We currently offer F11, horned/polled, red/black coat color, BVD and SCD genetic testing for these simple traits. The fee schedule is as follows: F11 Genetic Testing: $37 Horn/Polled: $28 Coat Color: $24 Horn/Polled + Coat Color + Parentage: $50 BVD: $10 SCD – Tenderness: $47 You can submit a new sample of any type or request the archived sample of the aniAkaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

mal ($2 per sample pull) you want to test.

We also have the ability to determine the percentage of Akaushi genetics of an animal without having to determine its parentage. This $60 test was developed from almost 1,000 accumulated profiles of fullblood and percentage animals. It took more than two years to develop and test and was funded by research dollars raised during the fun auction at our annual convention.

We are currently working on a plan to utilize DNA in breeding stock selection in ways other than just parentage verification. Neogen/Geneseek, our DNA lab, has developed a line of genomic tests that target specific areas in seedstock production to improve beef quality and maximize profitability through increased production efficiency. Their portfolio of products is called Geneseek® Genomic Profiler™ or GGP, and includes the following:  GGP uLD (ultra low density test) – Evaluates approximately 30,000 genes and is designed to be useful in replacement heifer selection.  GGP 50K (50,000 genes) – Ideal for evaluating young bulls as potential herd sires.

A short description of these and other Geneseek genomic products is available by clicking on the following link: GGP Product Portfolio Brochure.

These products are not quite ready for the Akaushi breed. Remember that genetics is complex. Not every marker or interaction between a set of markers has the same phenotypic outcome across all breeds.

Each breed has its own unique data set for each of these products. Years of birth weights, weaning weights, feed consumption and carcass results have built up their empirically measured data set. This data was instrumental in associating phenotypic traits with the set of genes that influenced the trait. Hopefully, the increased number of fullblood breeders and A4 program breeders will help us gather the information we Continued page 27 14

Dove Creek Wagyu Cattle Company is located in the beautiful Ozarks in Southern Missouri, where our cattle can enjoy the lush, green grass alongside the creeks and streams that are spring fed and crystal clear.

Our Objective at Dove Creek Wagyu Cattle Co is to deliver

Genetic Excellence ~ Maximum Performance in every one of our Akaushi offspring.

Dove Creek Wagyu CAT TLE COMPANY

Our Focus is to raise cattle that carry the most

elite genetics as well as the ultimate in marbling and carcass quality. We have painstakingly selected our Akaushi sires and females based on these qualities and their ability to maintain size, structure and productivity.

Our Goal is to help you build genetics in your

cattle to positively affect performance, whether you concentrate your efforts on producing full-blood breeding stock, F1 production or a show program.

Embryos Semen For Sale

Both SOR 1083 (Alford) and SOR 1080 (Moose) are outstanding sons of Big Al and out of Kaedemaru 2.

These bulls are genetically exceptional in marbling - being ranked #2 in the Legendary’s Proprietary Marbling Index, and scored .35 units higher than Big Al himself. These bulls also have excellent dispositions.

• •

We have embryos for sale by Alford and Moose, as well as Big Al, Tamamaru, Shigemaru, Brady, Samsung, and Heart Brand Red Emperor, and out of original import daughters - Available Now!

We currently have conventional semen available on Alford and Moose.

We have high concentration female sexed semen available on Moose.

DoveCreekWagyu.com | Call us at: 402-741-1631 | Michelle@DoveCreekWagyu.com

A K AU S H I B E E F

Beef Matters Lauren Lowry | Marketing and Customer Relations, HeartBrand® Beef Inc. | llowry@akaushi.com

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pring is in the air, and so is the longmissed aroma of steaks on the grill!

Beginning in March, we see an increase in beef sales that pulls strong through the summer. With warmer weather comes backyard grilling, BBQ season and Memorial Day’s big kickoff to summer. This spring, consumers are looking for healthier, higher quality beef, and Akaushi has stepped up to the plate.

Over the past three months, HeartBrand® has purchased 2,936 head of DNA-verified calves to process through our brandedbeef program. When people think Akaushi, they think intensely marbled, mouthwatering beef. The truth is, the average American consumer is seeking a cut of meat with a marbling score in the 5 to 7 range that will bring the most bang for their buck. We have discovered that Akaushi will consistently produce these desired scores with F1 crosses and percentage cattle, while feeding timely and efficiently in the feedyard.

In February, HeartBrand Beef harvested carcasses that graded 54.8 percent Prime, 44.7 percent Choice and only 0.5 percent Select. Achieving these impressive marks with crossbred cattle is a great example of what Akaushi genetics can bring to your existing herd through hybrid vigor. It can be difficult for a traditional cattle rancher to make changes from “the way we’ve always done things,” but change is a necessity when meeting consumers’ demands is part of your business. Introducing Akaushi Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

genetics to your herd is a huge step in a positive direction. Producing an average carcass grade of 40 percent Prime with acceptable time on feed and feed efficiency – that’s the Akaushi advantage!

With the steady growth in demand for Akaushi beef in the United States and internationally, HeartBrand is eager to announce that we will be utilizing an additional harvest and fabrication channel through One World Beef in Brawley, Calif., this spring.

HeartBrand will send three loads of cattle to this state-of-the-art facility every other week to be harvested and shipped throughout the West Coast and internationally. This will open opportunities for HeartBrand to market Akaushi beef to additional Asian markets such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and China.

One World Beef, Brawley, Calif.

As a beef marketing company, it is crucial not only to sell the most popular primal cuts, but the entire animal. One World Beef’s strategic location and export capabilities will help HeartBrand best utilize the entire carcass and seek out new markets that pay the highest value for specific cuts every week.

The 337,000-square-foot facility utilizes the most advanced technology in the industry, Continued page 27 16

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I N D U S T R Y T E C H N O LO GY

Untangling the Helix Elisa Marques, Ph.D., MBA | Founder, AgFRONT | emarques@agfront.com

If You Want to Create Real Value, Begin

by Knowing Who Your Customer Is

I

recently advised a startup company that has big plans to disrupt – in a good way – the beef industry. After a lot of back and forth, I asked who they built the product for and the answer was “the cowcalf producer.” Well, there are many types of cow-calf producers. If you build something for everybody, it’s likely for nobody.

Cow-calf producers can be: seedstock producers who register their cattle; seedstock producers who don’t register; the commercial producer who behaves like a seedstock producer (doesn’t register but collects a lot of data); and the commercial producer who behaves like a typical commercial producer.

In this article, I will discuss the seedstock sector and its commitment to creating real value for the commercial producer. As a seedstock producer, you are committed to producing the best quality genetics for your commercial producer.

Remember, the commercial producer is looking for a product that works, that generates profit for him or her. Because, as I once heard, if you are not in this business to make money, good luck with your hobby.

ducer needs to have in order to be successful. Fertility counts, calving ease counts, disease resistance counts and feed efficiency counts. If you have no bred cow and no live calf, you have no business.

So, there are a lot of moving parts that are important. And, because there are so many traits that count, geneticists have created what we call selection indexes.

How do you build selection indexes? You build them by incorporating expected progeny differences (EPD) and economic weights. How do I generate EPDs?

Simple Versus Complex Traits

As a seedstock producer, you need to get to the heart of the matter for accurately figuring out what part of the phenotypic expression – what you see – is due to genetics or environment.

Many of us struggle with the concept of estimated breeding values (EBV) and EPDs. That’s because they are not that intuitive and require understanding the differences between simple and complex traits.

Simple traits are those that don’t require too much information other than knowledge of a few genes. They don’t get interference from the environment, either. What Continued page 30

Building a Product for the Commercial Producer

So, let’s talk about creating a product the commercial producer wants. To get there, we must reverse engineer the final product to see what drives their creation. Quality Grade and gain are two of the criteria the commercial producer gets compensated for.

The better the quality, the higher the premium. The more pounds, the more money.

But those are not the only traits the proAkaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

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REFLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS

Irons in the Fire Paul Marchant | Rancher/Columnist | paul@progressivepublish.com

Second Chances

B

ack in the early 1990s, I was running a ranch in the high desert and mountain country of central Utah. We ran a couple hundred pairs on a Forest Service allotment on the Fishlake National Forest, east of Fillmore, Utah. There was usually pretty good grass in the high country, but it was mean, steep, rough country.

I did quite a bit of riding to keep the cattle distributed and from spending too much time in the creek bottoms. If I needed to do a big gather and move cattle from one side of the allotment to the other, I could usually find some day help or a friend or two from town who wanted to keep his mounted sheriff’s posse horse legged up for the summer. Sometimes the boss, who lived three hours to the north, would send his kids down to the ranch to help for a few days.

On one particular move, besides myself and a dog I couldn’t keep track of, my crew consisted of the boss’s nine-year-old son, Landon, and his friend, Jonathan, who was visiting from Wyoming. We had to gather and move a herd to the head of a canyon and up over the top and down into a canyon on the other side of the mountain. The kids were both pretty fair hands and provided good company and good help. Although it was a tall order for such a short-handed crew, we managed to gather about 100 pairs and get them headed in the right direction.

It was an overcast day, so, once we got the lead cows headed in the right direction, the herd moved surprisingly well. Most of the cows knew the country, and once they got the idea where they were headed, they didn’t put up too much of a fight.

Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

At the head of the canyon, the only way to get to the other side was to follow a trail that gradually side-hilled for about a half mile up over the top. This was the most treacherous part of the move. The country was so steep that a cow or horse could barely keep its footing if it stepped off the trail. At that point of the drive, the cows were trail savvy and tired enough that they would just follow each other single file along the trail. If you didn’t get in too much of a hurry, but kept the cows moving, things generally worked out okay. At least that’s the “perfect world” scenario.

We had a big-framed, red, two-year-old heifer that was worn out from the climb up the bottom of the canyon. She was getting pretty woozy and was walking like Ken Stabler at a post-Super Bowl Bourbon Street party. I decided to leave her behind and let her find her way after she had a chance to rest. My Marchant luck was in play that day, however, and after I got around her, she decided to step off the trail.

From where she was on the trail to the bottom of the hill was about 300 yards.

She rolled, tail-over-tea kettle, about 150 yards through the brush, until she got wedged between a pair of stray quaking aspen trees. We hobbled the horses on the trail and made our way to where she was stuck. She was a little roughed-up, but still in one piece. With the way she was wrapped around the tree, and in her worn out state, the only chance we had to save her was to use the saw blade on Landon’s new Swiss army knife and cut through a three-inch quaky branch to free her so she could stand up. After 45 minutes of sawing, the branch finally snapped. I knew if she would just stay where she was for a few minutes to rest and regain some strength, Continued page 30

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AKAUSHI

SPECIAL SECTION

If you have Akaushi bulls or females for sale,

The Cattleman will take your message to more than 18,000 readers in July.

Be part of the Akaushi special advertising section in the July issue of The Cattleman magazine.

Contact Shawn McCoy 800-242-7820, ext. 121 Cell: 817-929-8597 smccoy@tscra.org to be part of The Cattleman’s Akaushi Special Advertising Section

DEADLINE TO RESERVE SPACE IS MAY 31 21

www.akaushi.com • Spring 2018

The A4 Advantage Adding Value to the Beef Cattle Industry in One Generation

BY KELSEY POPE, FREELANCE WRITER

I

n today’s beef cattle industry, branded programs are a headlining topic of discussion. American Akaushi cattle are known in the industry for producing highgrading, quality carcasses for increased profitability.

Known as “Nature’s Healthy Beef®,” American Akaushi have a higher concentration of oleic acid as well as a higher ratio of monounsaturated to saturated fats. Consumers want the great taste of Certified Akaushi Beef and the health benefits for their active lifestyles.

“The advantages of the Akaushi breed is that we put producers in positions they’ve never been in before by providing marketing options and allowing them to use crossbreeding with Akaushi to build up the ultimate traits in their herds,” says Bubba Bain, American Akaushi Association executive director.

Because of the advantages of Certified Akaushi Beef, the association created and implemented the A4 Advantage Program. It’s like a branded program for Akaushi replacement females to benefit breeders and encourage producers to use American Akaushi genetics.

This unique program offers producers in the entire beef industry – with any

breed of cattle – the opportunity to add Akaushi to their replacement heifers, assuring buyers that these cattle are at least 50 percent, or halfblood, Akaushi.

Fullblood Akaushi cattle are direct descendants from Japan. However, through the A4 Advantage Program, producers can breed up to purebred Akaushi in just four generations, increasing market value with each new generation.

How Does the A4 Advantage Program Work?

First, breeders should know the different classifications of Akaushi cattle:  Certified fullblood: a fullblood Akaushi animal for which an American Akaushi Association Certificate of Registration has been issued.  A1 is a halfblood, which is an Akaushi bull bred to a base female that is a pure or crossbred female of any breed.  A2 is a 3/4-blood, which is an Akaushi bull bred to an A1 female.  A3 is a 7/8-blood, which is an Akaushi bull bred to an A2 female.  A4 is a 15/16-blood, or 93.75 percent, which is an Akaushi bull bred to an A3 female. An A4 is considered a purebred Akaushi.

Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

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“We created this program as a value-added pathway for both small and large commercial herds to produce purebred, A4 Akaushi replacement females while gaining higher quality carcasses,” Bain says. “Today, this program has been one of the main catalysts for our association’s success. We plan all of our programs, both current and future, to benefit our breeders.”

Since its inception in spring 2010, approximately 3,000 Akaushi-sired females from A1 to A4 breeding have already been certified in the A4 Advantage Program.

Building up from the Base Herd When starting out, participants must be a member of the American Akaushi Association and enroll in the program. A herd inspection by an approved breed inspector is recommended, but not mandatory, until the A4 cross.

Base females must be enrolled so the association has a record for the A4 Advantage Program. This base cow herd can come from any breed of cattle and can be registered, purebred or non-registered. There is no charge for enrollment of base females in the program.

These base cows must then be crossed with certified fullblood Akaushi bulls or semen to produce the first generation in the program, called A1. Multiple sire matings are acceptable, but all bulls must be listed on applications for progeny certification. 

Each generation – A1, A2 and A3 – must also be bred to certified fullblood Akaushi bulls, with the ultimate goal resulting in the generation of A4 purebred Akaushi, or 15/16 (93.75 percent) breeding.

The association breed registry requirement includes a mandatory DNA source and parent verification of every animal to receive purebred certification.

“No other beef breed association utilizes this unique DNA testing for every animal in its registry,” Bain says. “This assures breeders, feeders, packers and consumers of DNA-verified American Akaushi genetics at every marketing level from the ‘gate to the plate.’”

There are minimal fees for verification and certificates issued for percentage A1, A2 and A3 females from the American Akaushi Association. Breeders involved in the A4 Advantage Program will have access to the GPS system, which will allow them to record and track all of the data on their cattle and compare it with information from other breeders.

The A4 Advantage Program adds value to females whether a producer is keeping them for replacements or marketing them.

“Producers earn a premium on their Akaushi-sired cattle,” Bain adds. “Each generation will provide added value, so by retaining your replacement females and embedding the

influence of Akaushi within your existing herd, you will create an increased market value with every new generation.”

To learn more about enrolling in the A4 Advantage Program, visit www. akaushi.com or call the American Akaushi Association at (361) 238-7218. PT

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Adding Value to the Herd Having a branded program is providing the beef industry with just what it wants – a higher quality, more consistent product. And this can be achieved in just one generation with Akaushi cattle and the A4 Advantage Program.

“The ultimate goal is for breeders to work up to A4 purebred Akaushi. But if a producer’s goal is to raise halfbloods, this program will still work for them,” Bain says.

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www.akaushi.com • Spring 2018

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A

Seedstock Breeder?

WITH BOB KROPP, PH.D.

BY HANNAH WINE, FREELANCE WRITER

R

aising seedstock is not for the faint of heart. Last fall at the American Akaushi Association Annual Convention, Bob Kropp, Ph.D., retired Oklahoma State University professor, spoke about successful seedstock business tricks of the trade. Kropp has more than 50 years of experience in the cattle industry, and has observed the struggles and trials of many seedstock producers. He is passionate and excited about the potential for Akaushi genetics.

“The potential infusion of Akaushi The seedstock genetics into the business is a beef industry is the people business, biggest thing that and it’s critical I’ve personally seen to keep your customers happy in 50 years,” Kropp said. “There have and coming been major things back. The two in the beef industry most important words are, repeat that have evolved over the years, one customer. of which was in the 1950s, when European cattle were imported. Nothing has happened since to make that big of a mark on the industry – but Akaushi genetics [will].”

“It’s important for you, as Akaushi breeders, to realize it’s going to take you to make it happen. Other breeds have tried, but they’ve all failed because of poor associa-

Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

24

tion leadership, poor breeder leadership and an inability to produce the product in volume for the customers. It depends on you as breeders to make this happen.”

Kropp emphasized the breed’s remarkable meat quality and palatability. He said he has not seen a breed that can do anything near what Akaushi can in terms of meat quality.

The average life of a seedstock operation in the United States is fewer than five years. Kropp associates this with the lack of demand and, consequently, a lack of a customer base, as well as operators without any marketing experience or ability.

“To survive, you have to convince someone to purchase your product,” Kropp explained. “I don’t know anyone who goes into a business and tries to breed bad cattle. Some of them do, but they don’t try to do that. But that creates a major problem, and that problem is: are you breeding these cattle to satisfy yourself or to satisfy the wants, needs and desires of the people who want to own these cattle? A lot of seedstock producers fail because they breed what they like, with total disregard for whether anyone else wants those or not. The buying public is who you have to satisfy to survive and succeed.”

The buying public is a critical component to your success. They also determine your value by telling you what your cattle are 

worth. “The price will fluctuate, but you’ve got to be able to produce quality, predictable genetics that will meet the needs of the buying public,” Kropp said. “When you can do that in volume, you will have arrived.”

The seedstock business is a people business, and it’s critical to keep your customers happy and coming back. “The two most important words are, repeat customer.

When you have repeat customers, you don’t have to worry about whether or not you’ll sell your product, because they’ll be there,” Kropp said. “Reputation, personality and customer service are essential. You are no different than a car dealer. People will go to a certain grocery store or pizza parlor because they like the business and the product. It’s no different with the seedstock business.

“Anyone can buy success, but not just anyone can maintain it. Becoming successful requires a solid plan,” Kropp explained.

According to Kropp, these are the 10 steps to becoming a successful seedstock producer:

Develop a written plan for this year, and one for the next five years – and use them. Assess the plan every year. Ask yourself, How did I do? What changes do I need to make?

Develop a strong relationship No. 2 with people you trust who can give you some guidance and insight into the business. Keep in mind the importance of building relationships with people you can trust, even if they’re your competitors.

Understand without any quesNo. 3 tion what the people in this industry want to buy. Who are your potential customers? What are their needs?

What do they want to buy? These particulars are critical for you to be able to tailor your program to fit your customers’ needs.

Consider asking yourself these questions: How big a herd do you need? What are these customers going to expect in terms of customer service? How much money will they want to spend?

Continued page 31

No. 1

25

www.akaushi.com • Spring 2018

AKAUSHI MATTERS Continued from page 8

Akaushi genetics into your breeding program. There are differences in the programs though.

The A4 program allows you to breed up to purebred status in four generations by using fullblood Akaushi bulls on each generation. Start with your existing commercial cow herd to produce halfblood calves. You will love these calves; they are healthy and hardy. They tend to mimic the dam’s visual traits, but the carcass traits are greatly increased. The rule of thumb is that using an Akaushi bull will double the grade and improve the yield in just one generation. How is that for increasing the quality and consistency of beef!

You have the option to stop at the first generation and market all of the calves for a premium, or retain your heifers and breed them back to Akaushi to produce a 3/4 calf. The higher the percentage of Akaushi, the higher the carcass quality will be. The next generation will be 7/8 Akaushi, and these heifers bred to full-

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Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

blood Akaushi bulls will be 15/16 (93.75 percent) and considered a purebred Akaushi.

At each level of this program, the calves must be parent verified through DNA testing. There is a $12 certification fee for each upgraded calf.

The purebred (15/16) males and females will need to be inspected to determine breed conformity. Inspections can be done one of two ways: by a Photo from Dove Creek Wagyu Cattle Company, representative of the Mountain Grove, Mo. American Akaushi Association or by submitting photographs of the front, back and both sides of the animal as well as a photo of their permanent ID – either the brand or tattoo. If the animals are inspected in person, travel expenses could apply. All certified animals will receive a Certificate of Breeding, which indicates the percentage of Akaushi.

The GridMax program is different in that you can use the Akaushi genetics on the male or female side to produce a percentage-blood calf. Now you can retain your Akaushi percentage-blood bulls in your breeding programs but not be locked in to a certain percentage. This will be very useful in creating the three-way composite that is so popular in today’s beef industry.

Keep in mind that in order for the calves to be eligible for the Certified Akaushi Beef program, they must be 46.875 percent Akaushi. The difference is that you have a lot of options to get to that percentage.

Non-Akaushi cattle enrolled in this program must be certified by their breed association. Akaushi genetics will still be verified through DNA testing. Certification at each level will be $12. Purebred requirements are the same as in the A4 Advantage Program.

Both of these programs were designed to add value to your herd by using Akaushi genetics. Give them a try. For more information go to www.akaushi.com and click on Programs. PT 26

BEEF MATTERS Continued from page 16

DNA MATTERS Continued from page 14

including a fully equipped camera grading system to ensure the highest accuracy in quality evaluation.

The camera has the ability to provide us with a more detailed grade than the basic U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) stamp by including ribeye area, Yield Grade and marbling score information. This USDA-inspected plant is set up with a Temple Grandin-inspired system, which stands behind our high expectation for humane handling and care for the animals.

“We are excited to work with an additional plant to increase our numbers and be close to additional geographic regions that appreciate natural, highly marbled beef just as we do,” says HeartBrand Beef President Jordan Beeman. HeartBrand will start out harvesting 225 head per month at One World Beef, with plans to increase in the future.

The HeartBrand team is ecstatic to see the knowledge and recognition of the breed grow among cattle producers and beef consumers. We stand firmly behind this breed’s potential and its capabilities to exceed standards in all aspects of the beef industry. It is a pleasure getting to work with each of you and we look forward to what the future holds for Akaushi. PT

need to complete our DNAtraining process in order to make the new Geneseek GGP available for use soon.

To wrap up, we are progressing with our conversion to SNPs. Approximately 65 percent of our breeders have fully converted or are in the process of bringing their herds up to date. We are processing SNP DNA submissions at a rate of 2 to 1 to the older STR DNA test.

If you haven’t submitted new samples of your fullblood herd sires and dams and/or percentage-blood Akaushi dams, please collect DNA on those animals while doing your spring herd work. We are entering a busy time of the year for DNA. We hope to continue our trend of setting new DNA submission records. PT

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www.akaushi.com • Spring 2018

Hybrids, REPLACEMENTS and ON THE RAIL

BY HANNAH JOHLMAN, FREELANCE WRITER

T

he pursuit of maximizing profit is always the aspiring goal in the back of any cattleman’s mind. It is also the first and foremost goal of the American Akaushi Association (AAA). For this reason, the association launched a new program, GridMax™, at the Cattle Industry Convention earlier this year. This new program is a registry, recording and computation service for hybrid cattle possessing Akaushi genetics that will offer producers another way to market their cattle.

“The program has been in the making probably one and a half or two years now,” says Bubba Bain, AAA executive director.

“I’ve been watching our cattle and how they perform in the industry, on the rail as well as in the feedyard, and I was just totally impressed.”

Over the years, Bain has tried to come up with ideas to help members market their cattle in ways that would increase productivity and profit, and ultimately their bottom lines. This project, he says, was all about the data and knowing what Akaushi cattle could do.

Akaushi cattle have been bred to 13 different English, Continental and American breeds since the association’s inception in 2009, meaning a lot of varied information has been collected to this point.

“We found that they don’t deter any other traits people have been working for or working hard on in their herd. But what the Akaushi cattle can do is elevate the producer in the final stages,” Bain says. “We all have to market the beef eventually, and the final stage is trying to get those cattle marketed and on the rail, to produce a product for the consumer that the consumer will like, or they won’t be coming back.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recorded data on 20,852 DNA-parent-verified Certified Akaushi Beef carcasses that Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

achieved Quality Grades of 44.6 percent Prime and 51 percent Choice with an overall mark of 95.6 percent Choice or higher.

The carcasses included 3,708 full Akaushi, 16,241 half Akaushi, 849 three-quarter Akaushi and 54 seven-eighths Akaushi.

Notably, 85.2 percent of the carcasses achieved Yield Grades of 1, 2 or 3.

The goal of the program is to get the AAA membership to concentrate on producing Choice, Yield Grade 3 or higher carcasses at the packing plant, something that would do nothing but bring them higher premiums and more bottom line dollars. In this scenario, the program would be used to market terminal cattle that are going to be directly involved in the grid.

Photo from Dove Creek Wagyu Cattle Company, Mountain Grove, Mo.

“The other side of the program is marketing composite, replacement-type males and females that have Akaushi genetics in them to where we can get everybody involved in marketing Akaushi genetics, which will in turn produce premiums for the folks as well,” Bain says. “If you want to get involved in producing anything that’s 50 percent or higher on the male or female Akaushi genetics, then we can start marketing those  28

cattle to some of these guys who have composite programs and want to have an end result producing a higher quality product.”

Having all registered Akaushi cattle DNA parent verified has been important to the association since day one, and Bain says that’s something that has greatly impacted the rules for becoming a part of the GridMax™ program as well. Because every animal, including all terminal cattle that come through the association, have been DNA parent verified, everything that goes through the meat program is not only parent verified, but source verified as well.

This 100-percent confidence in origination is something Bain sees as unique to the association, and something that applies to GridMax’s hybrid cattle as well.

For the non-Akaushi side, the association requires a certificate signifying what breed the Akaushi genetics are crossed with and what percentage the blood is.

“If it’s an Angus or Hereford, or whatever the case may be, we want the buyers to understand these are not just haphazardly bred cattle, these are cattle a producer

has put a lot of thought into. Then we are going to supply that producer with verification so the buyers know exactly what they are buying, whether it be terminal or replacement-type cattle,” Bain says.

The rules of the program state that GridMax-registered animals must have 50 percent or higher certified, DNA-parentverified Akaushi breeding and 50 percent or less of certified non-Akaushi breeding.

Aside from that, the sky is nearly the limit for producers because there is no restriction on what breed the non-Akaushi side of the hybrid cattle must be.

“That’s the nice part, whatever cattle they have already work for them,” Bain says. “They could take a full Akaushi bull or semen and put them on those existing cows and produce a halfblood from their maternal side. Then they can go however they want to go from there. They can take it down or they can use a halfblood bull back on the same commercial cows next year and produce a quarter-blood.” Although the quarter-blood wouldn’t be papered of Continued page 35

29

www.akaushi.com • Spring 2018

UNTANGLING THE HELIX Continued from page 18

you see in the DNA molecule is what you get, phenotypically speaking.

Complex traits are just that – all-around difficult. They are typically difficult to measure and difficult to quantify the genetics behind them. Just a real pain. That’s because their phenotypic expression is dependent on hundreds (sometimes thousands) of genes and carries the added complexity of being influenced by the environment. And that’s where the use of EBVs and EPDs come in.

Many economically relevant traits that have a say in your bottom line are complex in nature, and as such, require you to calculate the genetic merit by removing the environmental effect that influences them.

Of course, that last part is carried out by the genetic evaluation company. But you, as a seedstock producer, are responsible for sending the correct information to those involved in helping you.

So, you generate EPDs by collecting phenotypic data and by properly building con-

temporary groups. Contemporary groups are animals that have had the same chance to reach their full potential so that you can be sure of what you are selling – genetics.

What good is it to have a fancy scale if you didn’t record when an animal got sick and was treated differently than the rest?

Or if you didn’t record who the dam was?

Or if you didn’t record that you are giving two different kinds of feed to your animals?

All of those decisions to record or not record data affect your final product and affect your reputation. Worse yet, they affect the industry you belong to, and in turn it affects you.

If you are a seedstock producer, you sell to the commercial producer. That’s who your customer is. And seedstock producers must commit to creating a product that benefits the commercial producers. You may ask “What do you get in return for doing all of this work?” You get to charge more for a better product. You have happy and returning customers. You build your brand and your equity. Your industry continues to exist and thrive. PT

IRONS IN THE FIRE Continued from page 20

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Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

she might be able to work her way to the bottom. If she tried to move too soon, she didn’t have much of a chance. Of course, she couldn’t take my advice. Thirty seconds after she got her footing, she turned her nose downhill and it was a longer version of her previous tumble. She rolled and crashed and burned for what seemed like five minutes until she ended up in a lifeless heap in the bottom of the draw. It makes for a good story, but it wasn’t fun to watch.

It has always bothered me that she squandered her second chance. I’m a firm believer in second chances. I’ve been the beneficiary of more than my share of them. Second chances are a unique and beautiful form of freedom. It takes grace and humility to grant them, just as it takes strength and resolve to use them when they’re given to us. Here’s hoping we’re more willing to offer them and more able to grow from them. PT 30

open, she’s gone. If she fails to produce herd-average progeny for a trait, perhaps weaning weight or yearling weight, cull her. If she has a bad udder, poor eye or bad disposition, it doesn’t matter if you paid $50,000 for her, she needs to go.

Select and cull your replaceNo. 9 ment heifers. Replacement heifers are crucial. If you’ve used the right bulls, their daughters are better than the cows that produced them. If your replacement heifers are open the first breeding season, regardless of what they are, cull them.

There are only three ways to make genetic improvement: use the right bulls, cull the right cows and keep good daughters.

Execute your breeding plan No. 10 and stay focused. A lot of breeders like to use the “bull of the month.”

They pick up the magazine and see a brand-new bull that’s never had a calf, get all excited and start using him. That’s not the way to go. Set your strategy, get rid of all the noise and stay hooked to your plan.

If you’re focused, you will see long-term success. PT

SEEDSTOCK BREEDER Continued from page 25

Make informed decisions. In your mind, figure out what is “best.” What do breeders consider to be “the best”? Know what the best is in terms of size, weights and expected progeny differences. When you know what best is, you can strive for it. What traits, what pedigrees are the buying public willing to spend money for and how much will they spend? Keep in mind what the commercial cow man wants: fertility, calving ease, maternal traits, growth, feed efficiency and carcass merit.

Establish a recordkeeping sysNo. 5 tem and maintain it religiously – with accurate numbers. Data is only as valuable as its accuracy. It behooves you to be honest in your data collection. Your state in the industry depends on accurate data.

You have to be able to differentiate the good ones from the bad ones, and to do so, you have to have data.

Select your herd bulls wisely.

No. 6 Herd bulls are the most important animal on your farm. If you can’t afford a good one, then use semen from the best ones you can use. Your sire power is the cornerstone of your program. It’s going to make the most genetic change in your herd. Additionally, it’s a major promotional avenue for you. When you’re looking for your herd bull, make sure you’re looking at his dam. If she’s not a great cow, he’ll never be a great bull.

Procure a foundation cowNo. 7 herd. When you’re buying females private treaty to build your foundation, aim to get as many half-sisters as you can, because you will want to use one bull to breed your group of cows and have common offspring that you can then use in a breeding group. This will give you a more predictable group. Cows produce sons.

When you buy cows, you want to look at the sires of those females.

Cull your inferior females.

No. 8 Any female that’s not in the top 50 percent of your herd should be culled if she’s open. You should rank your cows from best to worst on some criteria. If she’s

No. 4

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www.akaushi.com • Spring 2018

BIF Celebrates 50 Years

BY LISA BARD, EDITOR

T

he Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) is celebrating 50 years in 2018.

Themed “Elevating the Industry,” the Annual Meeting and Research Symposium is poised not only to celebrate the last 50 years but launch into the next 50.

BIF was officially founded in 1968, but the formation began the previous January during a meeting at National Western Stock Show. At that time, a group of producers and researchers – spearheaded by Colorado cattle producer, lawyer and performance evaluation advocate Ferry Carpenter and Frank Baker, the federal Extension livestock specialist in 1967 – met with the goal to move the cattle industry from its historical basis of visual appraisal to one of performance-based evaluation.

Thus began a very powerful and intentional “performance movement” in the cattle industry that continues and thrives today. Fifty years later, the 2018 BIF Annual Meeting and Research Symposium will return to Colorado, June 20-23 at the

Embassy Suites Convention Center in Loveland.

Each year, the symposium focuses on research, innovation and education for producers and scientists alike on current issues facing the beef cattle industry “to connect science and industry to improve beef cattle genetics.” BIF’s three-leaf-clover logo symbolizes the link between industry, Extension and research.

“This meeting is where the appropriate application of science is developed by discussions of the people using the science and the people developing it.”

– Mark Enns, Ph.D.

The Beginnings

In the late ‘60s and ‘70s when BIF was formed, the cattle industry was experiencing a great deal of change with the influx of Continental breeds and the implementation of artificial insemination and crossbreeding. Many states had Beef Cattle Improvement Associations (BCIA) but no standard procedures or measurements. At the same time, land-grant universities were conducting more research on genetics and how genetic evaluation could improve cattle herds. The germplasm research being

Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

32

conducted at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center would provide incentive and data to create and formulate genetic evaluation, and other data collected by producers and breed associations would add to that.

Creating and utilizing new evaluation methods based on performance versus visual appraisal was not an easy road. The first step was to standardize performance testing, including the terminology, the actual methods of measurement and the education as to what the information meant. Over the years, there were a few growing pains and disagreements, but the common goal prevailed.

Steve Radakovich of Radakovich Cattle Company, Earlham, Iowa, was president of BIF in 1983-1984, when BIF was still young and evolving.

“Back then we were a bit of a divided camp. We had one group who were the ‘weigh and pray’ folks,” Radakovich says. “They would stand by the scales and pray that the animal weighed more than he did the time before. Then there was the systems group, which I was a part of, who asked questions such as ‘Is bigger really better?’

“The weigh and pray guys thought that the systems guys were nuts and these 

two approaches led to some pretty good arguments.”

At that time, some were leaning heavily toward advancing methodology and figuring out how to standardize data collection and utilization, which then led to discussion about the direction of the seedstock industry. During this critical time in the industry, BIF facilitated this direction through the exchange of ideas.

Mark Enns, Ph.D., professor of animal breeding and genetics at Colorado State University and organizer of the 2018 BIF Symposium, also got his first exposure to BIF as a graduate student in the ‘80s. “BIF helped create the unified vision for genetic improvement throughout the beef industry and established common ground for all the breed associations and all the cooperative breed improvement groups to work under,” Enns says.

“We cannot discount the brilliant minds who came up with the idea for BIF and recognized the need for it.”

Throughout the years, BIF has made significant contributions to the beef industry, particularly the seedstock sector. “BIF has allowed the smaller, family seedstock producer to compete on the same playing field with the larger seedstock producer,” Radakovich says. “BIF standardized evaluation so that the smaller operators could utilize the methodology, could pursue an objective selection process and could compete with larger operations. Without the standard methodology, they would not have access to those tools.”

Current BIF President Donnell Brown, R.A. Brown Ranch, Throckmorton, Texas, remembers his first BIF meeting.

“BIF was the first cattle meeting I went to after I graduated from college,” Brown says. “I was able to talk with the scientists whose research I had studied and talk to the breeders

whose catalogs I had been pouring through. They were the leaders in the beef industry. It was inspirational.

“There was no policy and no politics. It was just a meeting about the facts and how we would use the resources we had to more Continued page 34

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climate, adaptability, disease tolerance and feed efficiency are big issues.

“Genetic evaluation may help us balance the competing needs of global beef production with sustainability and conservation,” Enns says. “The United States is a firstworld country and our needs are different than those in third-world countries who are simply concerned with finding a protein product to eat. Understanding these competing visions and how genetic tools can be used to address these visions is important.”

Radakovich agrees. “The population increase of today and tomorrow poses a great threat to resources and as beef producers, we have to figure out how we can remain sustainable under this pressure that gets worse and worse all the time. We must be adaptable with fewer and fewer resources. Our big advantage is that cattle are ruminants and can consume feedstuffs that can’t be consumed and converted by other protein sources.”

Genomics can be comparable to the computer age with gene mapping and epigenetics as the next cutting-edge technologies. Genomics and genetic advancements will also allow commercial producers to concentrate on other issues.

“If a commercial operation is doing well genetically, then they can move on to address some of the larger, industry concerns such as environmental issues, food safety and animal welfare. A good manager can only handle a few topics at a time and if their genetics are solid, then they can worry about the other concerns,” Radakovich says.

Matt Spangler, Ph.D., associate professor of animal science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln believes that “genetic evaluation will change such that ‘seedstock’ will drift further and further away from ‘purebred.’ The data used to inform genetic merit will be weighted more heavily toward commercial-level data. The entities participating in data generation for genetic evaluation and seedstock production will change such that there is more alignment between the end product and germplasm at the nucleus level. The general nature of breed associations, and their role, will change. I’m not sure if these changes occur in 10 or 50 years, but they will occur.” 

BIF CELEBRATES 50 YEARS Continued from page 33

efficiently and effectively raise better beef.

BIF is still about that.”

Today’s Challenges and Beyond

Fifty years later, genetic evaluation has progressed to genomically enhanced EPDs, across-breed evaluations, evaluation indexes and EDPs on a huge array of traits.

Today’s cattle industry is also faced with a great many issues including animal welfare, the environment, diet and health, and food safety, all of which can be affected by genetics in some part.

According to Enns, BIF will help guide the industry in how we use, validate and verify the rapidly evolving genomic pipeline and put these new traits to use. Regional evaluation will be a big thing in the future, including the development of regional EPDs and development of specialized adaptability traits. Scientific attention to these traits has been coming for the past 5-10 years and is now becoming more important for regions of the world where

1/4 Vertical, 4 color Prime Time Comanche Cattle Company Winter 2018

Comanche

Cattle Company Proven Akaushi Genetics Selling registered,

full-blood Akaushi cattle through private treaty.

Join us for Ranch Day June 16 at Bar 73 Ranch southeast of Canyon,Texas

Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

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Elevating the Industry

The 2018, 50th Anniversary BIF Symposium promises to address all this and more.

“BIF is the one meeting where you get the interaction of the genetic improvement leaders in both industry and academia,” Enns says. “If what we are developing in science is not able to be translated to the industry, then we are wasting our time.

There has always been this free-flow conversation of constructive criticism for the betterment of genetic improvement. This meeting is where the appropriate application of science is developed by discussions of the people using the science and the people developing it.”

Lee Leachman, Leachman Cattle of Colorado, Wellington, Colo., and BIF vice president, agrees. “This is the meeting where practice and theory meet, and the learning is going both ways. If you want to stretch your imagination but do so at a level that can be put into practice, this is the place to do that,” Leachman says.

For 2018, the first day is dedicated to what the future of beef production looks

like in North America. The speakers, breakout session and wrap-up will evaluate the future from a variety of viewpoints, including beef quality, sustainability, efficiency and traits not yet considered.

The second day is about data – how to collect it, who will own it and how it’s used.

How can we better leverage all the data in an internet-permeated society? This year’s program is also about helping the industry look at the possible/probable issues that will need to be addressed over the next 50 years.

The meeting also includes a Young Producer’s Symposium, an evening at the CSU Stadium Club, a Friday dinner out sponsored by Leachman Cattle of Colorado and Zinpro, and area tours on Saturday.

The 2018 BIF Research Symposium and Convention is hosted by the CSU Department of Animal Sciences, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and the Colorado Livestock Association. For more information, a full schedule and registration information, visit www.beefimprovement.org. PT

HYBRIDS, REPLACEMENTS AND ON THE RAIL Continued from page 29

BOLZ RANCH

course, Bain says that it could still be used in a breeding program.

If anyone is considering using Akaushi genetics, whether on the male or female side of the herd, Bain says he believes it can do nothing but help a commercial producer in the final stage, and in as few as one generation because GridMax was designed to fit virtually any commercial breeder’s program.

“It doesn’t have to be a three-way rotational process that takes 15 years to get there,” he says. “We can do it in one generation and put people in a position on the beef side that they’ve never been before. I want commercial breeders to understand that this was made to fit their program,” Bain says. “We’re all about helping them get to the end product, which is a quality, consistent product for the consumers.

There are numerous ways to market this, either terminal or replacement, through anything parent verified.” PT

AKAUSHI CATTLE

We will be selling 10, 2- and 3-year-old fullblood bulls and 10-20 crossbred heifers and cows set to calve in March.

B

RAISED ON GRASS AND FINISHED ON OUR GRAIN. RETAIL MEAT FOR SALE

B

TIMOTHY BOLZ | BOLZ RANCH 4990 SW 21ST, TOPEKA, KS 66604 | 785-231-7339 DOCBOLZ@GMAIL.COM | AKAUSHIKANSAS.COM

35

www.akaushi.com • Spring 2018

NEW MEMBERS

BROKEN WINDS

New Lifetime Members

CATTLE COMPANY

Comanche Cattle Company, Canyon, Texas Farnsworth Heritage Trust, Downing, Mo. Viduarri Land and Cattle LLC, Refugio, Texas

Registered Akaushi Cattle Percentage Blood

New Members

and Purebred

Andrew and Susan Velasquez, Flatonia, Texas Rocky Creek Farms, Patrick Boykin, Austin, Texas Chun Ranch, Jim and Kathy Lewers, Cloverdale, Calif.

Sullivan Creek Ranch, LLC, Greg Anderson, Vinemont, Ala. Dell Creek Farm, John Dell, Parkton, Md. Billion Ranch, Gina Erazo and Claudia Vargos, Lantana, Fla. Mark Harrison, McComb, Miss.

Youens Cattle Company, La Grange, Texas Beadnell Riverside Farm, Luke Beadnell, Warrensburg, N.Y. Augustine Ranch, Kenneth and Sharon Augustine, Tatum, N.M. Mauney Farms, Roger Mauney, Sharon, S.C. Santa Maria, Jose Zamudio, MD, El Paso, Texas Calvin Mack, Goodwin, S.D. Angel Hand Ranch, Toni Trimble, Rosanky, Texas Josh Eaton, Quinlan, Texas John and Catherine Stanley, Stockdale, Texas Longgaard Meat, Caroline and Brian Kreiberg, Denmark Nunley Brothers, Richard H. and Robert B. Nunley, Sabinal, Texas

1/4 Vertical, 4 color Prime Time Outta Line Ranch Spring 2018 Joe Beltz Join us for Ranch Day June 16 at Bar 73 Ranch southeast of Canyon, Texas

Canyon, Texas (806) 683-7329 cowhand@me.com

WANTED 5-8 Akaushi steers or open heifers (halfblood or more) to harvest. Must be grass fed, no hormones or antibiotics and at least 18 months of age.

EW

BE SEEN BY MORE THAN 8,000 READERS!

Interested in Advertising in Prime Time?

Reserve your space for the summer issue of Prime Time no later than June 14, 2018.

For more information, contact: Advertising Sales Representative

Please contact

Outta Line Ranch Ed Waldron

103 LCR 637, Groesbeck, TX 76642 nursefarmered@yahoo.com (903) 390-8159

Jessica Ebert (785) 477-1941 jebert@blueprintma.com Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

36

Have a Great Photo?

We Want to See It!

AD INDEX

We’re looking for photos of Akaushi cattle to beef up our collection of stock photos for use in the magazine.

Grab your camera and start taking pictures of everything Akaushi – calving, bulls, whole herds, Akaushi cattle and people, all seasons, all colors, horizontal, vertical … you name it!

Select photos will be used in upcoming issues of the Prime Time. You might even see your photo on the cover of the magazine!

Simply email your high-resolution photos to kbedolli@blueprintma. com. Be sure to include your name and location, so you can receive credit for your photograph.

Individuals whose photos are used in the magazine will receive recognition at the American Akaushi Association (AAA) Annual Convention. And if your photo is used on the cover you will receive an AAA hat and HeartBrand® Beef t-shirt. PT

Allflex......................................................... 7 American Akaushi Association.................. 9 Big Bend Trailers..................................... 13 Bolz Ranch LP......................................... 35 Bovina Feeders Inc................................... 5 Bright Sun Farms.................................... 27 Broken Winds Cattle Company............... 36 Brush Creek Ranch................................. 30 Callicrate Banders................................... 12 Comanche Cattle Company.............................................. 34 Cross Winds Ranch................................ 31 Dove Creek Wagyu Cattle Company...... 15 Elgin Breeding Service Inc............................. 3 HeartBrand Cattle..................................... 2 JMK Cattle............................................... 11 Landair Inc............................................... 26 Legendary Akaushi Genetics LLC........... 17 Mix 30...................................................... 29 NeoGen/GeneSeek................................. 19 Outta Line Ranch.................................... 36 OvaGenix................................................. 25 Slator Ranch Akaushi.............................. 33 The Cattleman......................................... 21 Victory Beef LLC...................................... 38 Will-Acres Farm....................................... 37 Ztags/Temple Tag.................................... 23

AMERICAN AKAUSHI ASSOCIATION

7th Annual SAVE THE Convention DATE! OCTOBER 26-28, 2018

Make plans to join your fellow Akaushi breeders for the 2018 American Akaushi Association Annual Convention in San Marcos, Texas, this fall.

Two years ago we had the opportunity to tour Bovina Feeders and Caviness Beef Packers.

This year, we will be taking a tour of a major broad line food distributor. Members will see firsthand the continuation of our Akaushi HeartBrand product distribution. Contact AAA Executive Director Bubba Bain for more information.

More information, including a schedule and registration information, will arrive in future issues of Prime Time, but mark your calendars and save the date.

Headquarters Hotel

Will-Acres Farm WE RAISE AKAUSHI/RED ANGUS CROSS CATTLE AND SELL FARM-TO-FAMILY CUSTOM BEEF

STEVE & TANYA WILLIAMS

(512) 392-6450

21221 FINCH DRIVE, NEOSHO, MO 64850 (417) 529-8316 • WILL-ACRES@HOTMAIL.COM

Embassy Suites by Hilton San Marcos Hotel Conference Center & Spa 37

www.akaushi.com • Spring 2018

Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2018

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