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Customized Bull Selection Maximizes Investment Dollar By Becky Mills, DTN/Progressive Farmer Bull prices continue to climb this year, with recent sales reports showing average prices for that new commercial herd sire in the $10,000-to$20,000 range. While few would argue a good bull is a worthwhile investment, it has become a sizeable one. Just how much should an operation invest in a herd bull? That question came up in a Cattlemen’s Conference session led by University of Nebraska animal scientist Matt Spangler at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association summer meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. Spangler has a new tool he hopes producers will use to analyze and compare bull prices, based on the operation and its unique set of goals. Funded by a USDA grant, Spangler, along with colleagues from the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Kansas State University and Theta Solutions LLC, developed iGenDec, a new software tool that enables
a producer to customize the bull-selection process. Rather than relying solely on selection indexes provided by breed associations, producers will be able to use this software to plug in information from their own operations and get customized economic selection indexes. For example, a producer selling calves at weaning rather than backgrounding may find the most profitable bull for that operation is different from that of another operation, based on those unique marketing goals.
Beefmaster Bull ON THE COW SIDE and rank an entire digital bull Here, producers supply catalog before going to a sale. information ranging from a Spangler explained, “You herd’s dystocia percentage, can rank those bulls based on THE CALF SIDE pregnancy rate, average cow their genetic differences and The breed composition of age and annual cow cost. the unique objectives and ecothe calf crop is an important Whether a producer buys or nomics of your operation.” part of the iGenDec equation. raises replacement heifers also Spangler noted iGenDec has A producer who retains owninfluences the index. gone through extensive alpha ership and sells on the grid and beta testing. The Beef Imwould enter into the calculation AVAILABLE BULLS provement Federation (BIF) finished calves’ average feedlot After entering numbers for formed a subcommittee to inand carcass information. The the herd, data is put into the vestigate the possibility of hostsoftware will even ask for the program for available bulls, ing the software and making it average price received for cattle. including bulls from different widely available to the U.S. beef Spangler recommends using a breeds. The software is deindustry. multi-year average. signed so a producer can enter continued on page 32
