Beef Tips - Winter 2021 Edition

Winter 2021

CentralStar Cooperative

BEEF

Tips

Focus on genetics that

Work For You There is no one size fits all solution when it comes to finding sires to propel you to your herd goals.

That’s why CentralStar is here to work for you. Along with people power and reproduction expertise, we have the bull power you need through Select Sires and Accelerated Genetics to make the most of your breeding program. Take a look at a few sires our beef specialists are excited about.

Contact your Beef Specialist today!

Indiana

7AN618 MARVEL This sire offers flawless design which blends into a tremendous rib shape, extra body, added dimension to his hip structure. His structural soundness combined with a pedigree that provides the ingredients to make him an impact sire with style!

7AN594 REGIMENT High seller and crowd favorite at the 2020 National Western Angus Bull Sale. REGIMENT blends a sought-after pedigree with incredible growth and carcass projections and an eye-catching look.

7AN624 DUAL THREAT DUAL THREAT is a new Sure Fire son offering more growth and carcass merit than his legendary sire. A medium size sire, DUAL THREAT is long-bodied, agile and sound. He has incredible projections for Marbling and Ribeye, high foot EPDs and adds high Docility and $Combined. DUAL THREAT is a truly elite bull.

7AN595 MOVIN ON New release, MOVIN ON, offers fresh and exciting genetics for Angus enthusiasts everywhere. He is a moderate, sound structured bull presenting straight lines and excellent feet and legs.

Greg Beavers 812.345.2299 greg.beavers@mycentralstar.com

Michigan

Ginni Sheridan 517.256.6190 ginni.sheridan@mycentralstar.com

Northern Wisconsin

Scott Ellevold 715.781.5635 scott.ellevold@mycentralstar.com

Southern Wisconsin

Trevor Yager 608.574.6142 trevor.yager@mycentralstar.com

Learn more about these sires at selectsiresbeef.com. Looking to order? Contact your CentralStar team member at 800.631.3510.

Top Sires of 2020 Check out the most popular bulls among CentralStar customers from this past year. Work with your CentralStar team to see how you can put these sires to work for you. If one of these don’t meet your interest, our 100+ page sire directory is bound to have something to match your goals.

7AN388 NIAGARA

7AN463 PLAYBOOK

7AN368 COMRADE

14AN497 NEW ADDITION

7AN528 GROWTH FUND

7AN418 PATRIOT

7AN466 RAINFALL

7AN545 WALL STREET

7AN483 PHOENIX

14AN553 COWBOY LOGIC

7AN580 HOME TOWN

14SM3101 FULLY LOADED

7SM65 UNO MAS

14AN502 TAHOE

7AN389 SURE FIRE

2 | CentralStar Beef Tips

PRODUCER PROFILE

SKOR CATTLE CO. Clear Lake, Wis.

By Scott Ellevold, CentralStar Beef Specialist

Photo provided by Shari Overby, Clear Lake, Wis.

Farm Background Shari Overby, owner of SKOR Cattle Co., has always had a love for raising animals.

That passion is what led her to start the Clear Lake, Wis. operation in 2003. Prior to starting the current beef herd, Shari honed her husbandry skills as the manager of a 500 head dairy. Today, SKOR Cattle Co. operates on 250 acres.

SKOR Cattle Co. sell cattle through a variety of routes and breed specifically for complete cattle that can fit the needs of any market. After retention of the best genetics and seedstock sales, remaining feeder calves are sold at 600 to 700 pounds. Overby takes pride in selling seedstock animals to private parties working to start or grow their own herds.

Synchronization protocol for spring calving this year.

Along with the continual care of the beef herd, Shari makes a conscious effort to work with and mentor the next generation of farmers on the different aspects of the industry. She uses her experiences and knowledge to help young farmers build and maintain their own herds with sustainable genetics and quality animals.

Breeding Program The genetics that go into and make-up the herd are a primary focus for Shari.

Herd bulls and replacement heifers are retained from the farm’s best cows with a goal of maintaining cattle that are fast growing and functional. To keep a 50/50 Simmental/Angus mix in the herd, Shari breeds heifers to registered Angus bulls while using registered Simmentals on cows.

Due to the space limitations on the farm, keeping a tight calving window is a must.

In the spring, Shari aims to calve 70 percent of the herd in early March, with the remainder of the herd calving 30 days later. The first year following the 7 & 7 protocol, the operation saw an 85 percent success rate after confirming bred cows at 35 days through blood pregnancy tests.

Herd Info The cow calf operation consists of 150 head of registered and commercial Simmental/Angus cattle. Genetics are a major focus for the herd with the bulk of the breeding stock made up of calves that have been retained from the best cows.

Shari’s goal is to maintain a uniform herd of docile and fast-growing cattle; knowing exactly what genetics and behaviors the cattle have is a huge advantage towards that goal.

“When you raise your own replacement cattle, you know the animals and what they are capable of doing within the herd,” said Shari.

A large portion of breeding is done using herd bulls, but the operation does utilize artificial insemination (A.I.) to keep introducing new and desired traits for the current markets. Shari uses only Select Sires bulls when utilizing A.I. Along with the introduction of some red lines, bulls like UNO MAS, REGIS and DECLARATION are favorites used on the operation.

Reproduction Program Shari sticks to a strict vaccination program for all cattle in the herd, which fit well with the decision to introduce the new 7 & 7

“Knowing the ins and outs of my herd, Scott Ellevold (CentralStar Beef Specialist) introduced me to the 7 & 7 protocol and suggested trying it out,” said Shari.

“We started with 40 head and saw good results.”

CentralStar’s Role Having a full-time job off the farm, Shari relies on her CentralStar team to know what is going on and be able to make recommendations on how to meet the operations goals.

“CentralStar is a small piece of the big equation and I’ve been able to rely on Scott since starting my operation,” said Shari.

“It’s great that I don’t need to know how to handle everything because I know that I have someone available to help whenever I need them.”

Winter 2021 |3

Old school meets new technology: Digital innovation for heat detection

W

atching for heats is something you probably learned how to do as a kid. Sitting on the fence with paper and pencil ready to report to dad.

A profitable calving season starts with accurately and efficiently identifying cows in heat - this leads to a shorter breeding season and a tighter calving window tailored to meet your market.

Watching for heats takes not only knowledge but time, lots of time. While you might find solace in watching for heats, the pace of life today makes it increasingly difficult to carve out the necessary time.

Electronic heat detection systems have been around for a while but are recently surging in popularity among beef producers. From reducing labor,

Joe and Bill Oesterling, Oesterling Angus, Batesville, Ind.

4 | CentralStar Beef Tips

to shortening the breeding window and calving season, these systems improve the overall outcomes of reproduction programs resulting in savings in time, labor and money.

CowManager someone is watching all the time. The (phone) app is really convenient, you can be anywhere and still know what’s going on.”

Joe and Bill Oesterling have been using CowManager® in their registered Angus herd in Batesville, Ind. for three years.

Having a tight calving season is critically important to Oesterling Angus as they host an annual production sale in January. Prior to installing CowManager, the Oesterlings committed a lot of time and resources to watching for heats.

Joe and Bill like the around the clock monitoring CowManager provides which has improved their herd’s heat detection, conception, and pregnancy rates. “One of the goals we had when installing the system was to shorten our calving season,” recalled Joe. “We used to have a 90-day calving interval and last year we shortened it by three weeks. That’s significant!”

“We would have someone camp out there for four hours a day to watch for heats,” recalls Joe, “and we’d watch another hour at night. We had a lot of labor into it and we were still missing heats. With

“We have a lot of irons in the fire here and any tool that can save you labor has a place on this farm,” stated Bill. “We did a cost analysis before we purchased and it made sense,” said Joe. “We did look at Jeff Koch, ShowTime Cattle Company, Mooreland, Ind.

other systems, but accessibility of service is important to us and since we can get service from someone we were already working with and trust (CentralStar), we chose CowManager.”

Like Oesterling Angus, ensuring cows calve at the right time was the driving factor behind the decision to install CowManager for ShowTime Cattle Company, Mooreland, Ind. “Because we raise show cattle, we need calves born at certain times of the year and CowManager helps us get that done,” said owners, Jeff Koch and Jill Blake. “We use high-end genetics, sexed semen and sexed embryos. We have a lot invested in our embryos, so conception rate is extremely important.”

Home to registered Herefords, Jeff and Jill also provide custom feeding for an Angus herd. CowManager tags are put in all Hereford animals, as well as any embryo transfer (ET) recipients.

“CowManager has helped us catch more animals in heat and get them bred at optimal time, which means more pregnancies. After using it for just one season, I would not want to take it out – CowManager works!” stated Jeff.

Not only does CowManager identify animals with “normal” estrus cycles, it also provides insight to those that shortcycle or are not showing heats at all.

“Every herd has a few animals that never show heat, and CowManager finds those animals. Because of the information CowManager shows us we are able to reduce the number of “problem” animals we need the vet to look at and avoid that additional expense.”

While CowManager isn’t hard to use or understand, Joe points to the importance of interpreting the information. “Our pregnancy rate has increased because we have a better idea of when animals are fertile compared to visual detection,” said Jeff. “We’ve figured out what the optimal time to breed is for our herd. We breed animals based off the graphs.”

Better insights are not the only benefit Jeff and Jill see, “Time is a huge factor.

Instead of watching for heats three hours a day we rely on CowManager. We don’t have to teach anyone how to watch for heats, and when we are not here, we can see what’s going on with the (phone) app.

Even if you watch for heats you still can’t see what’s happening all the time – but

you can rely on CowManager to identify who is in heat. It’s very accurate and without it we would have missed cows.

We recommend the system to everyone we talk to.”

Available through CentralStar, CowManager tracks fertility 24/7 for each cow in the herd. An ear tag sensor is used to monitor each animal’s activity, providing reliable insights into the animal’s cycle, as well as the optimal time for insemination. These insights ensure lower insemination costs, higher pregnancy rates, shorter intervals between calvings, optimal use of sexed semen and embryo transfer results, as well as the opportunity to produce a more uniform calf crop. Additionally, CowManager can provide alerts for sickness, rumination and eating through the health module.

While you might find watching for heats a break from the rat race, using new school digital innovation for monitoring your herd’s reproduction and health has definite advantages. To learn more about how CowManager can work in your herd contact a CentralStar Beef Specialist.

How does CowManager work?

Ear sensor Revolutionary ear sensor provides accurate information about your herd’s fertility, health and nutrition. The sensor fits around an RFID tag.

Router A complete plug-and-play system. It collects extremely accurate data using (solar) routers that will be installed in your barns, pastures or feedlots.

Real-time alerts CowManager monitors your herd 24/7 in any situation, regardless of farm size. You receive real-time cow information on your smartphone and computer.

Contact the CentralStar Beef Specialist in your area to learn more about how to put CowManager to work in your herd.

Winter 2021 |5

How do you

preg check?

Conveniently order your sampling supplies online at www.mycentralstar.com.

Take advantage of multi-test discounts on the same sample.

Pregnancy results are available within 24 hours of receipt via text, email or the online portal.

Blood pregnancy testing through CentralStar is a convenient and affordable way to detect pregnancy in your herd. With greater than 98 percent accuracy, blood pregnancy testing can be performed as early as 28 days post breeding on beef cattle.

Did you know...

The same sample submitted for pregnancy testing can be tested for diseases that can be detrimental to your herd. Testing is available for: • Johne’s • BLV (Leukosis) • BVD • and more!

Visit mycentralstar.com/diagnostic-services to learn more about all the diagnostic testing options offered through CentralStar.

Save your veterinarian a trip; order your sampling supplies through your CentralStar team member or online at mycentralstar.com and pull the sample yourself. Not sure how to pull a blood sample? Watch CentralStar Beef Specialist, Ginni Sheridan, explain how with simple step by step instructions.

The new Accelerated Genetics Beef Website is now available. Visit www.agbeef.com to see the most up to date information on all Accelerated Genetics sires.

6 | CentralStar Beef Tips

New Red Angus Trait

T

ProS

he Red Angus Association has developed a new index called the Profitability and Sustainability Index (ProS). ProS is an all-purpose index that covers economically relevant traits across all aspects of the beef supply chain from conception to carcass. The new index is determined through a combination of HerdBuilder (HB) and GridMaster (GM) indexes and is expressed in $ per head born.

The ProS index will provide producers from all segments with information they need to make cattle management decisions in order to become more profitable and work towards greater beef industry sustainability.

The ProS index encompasses conception to harvest, the traits

included in the index are as follows: Calving Ease Direct, Calving Ease Maternal, Weaning Weight, Milk, Mature Weight, Heifer Pregnancy, Stayability, Average Daily Gain, Carcass Weight, Dry Matter Intake, Marbling, Backfat and Ribeye Area.

Each trait in the model is weighted based on the effect that the trait has in terms of increasing profitability. For an animal to be high in the ProS index, they must have favorable values for many of the included traits.

Red Angus released the new ProS and the updated HB and GM indexes on the top 200 most used sires in early October 2020.

Select Sires and Accelerated Genetics have 7 bulls that made the top 10% for the ProS index.

14AR2091 NIGHT FOCUS 14AR2093 SUPREMACY 7AR86 STOCKMARKET 7AR78 TESLA 14AR2085 ATOMIC 14AR2094 TOPGUN 14AR2075 REBEL

ProS $185 ProS $160 ProS $159 ProS $156 ProS $155 ProS $154 ProS $153

3rd out of the top 200 19th out of the top 200 20th out of the top 200 24th out of the top 200 29th out of the top 200 31st out of the top 200 35th out of the top 200

DOMINATING The Field Select Sires genetics make an impact with the Indiana Beef Evaluation Program.

The Indiana Beef Evaluation Program (IBEP) puts together a performance test twice a year to promote performance testing and carcass evaluation of beef cattle and serve as an educational tool. IBEP works to assist breeders in identifying sires whose progeny excel in growth rate, feed conversion and carcass value, and aid beef producers in obtaining superior, performance tested bulls.

Progeny of Select Sires bulls have been dominant, winning the IBEP Get-of-Sire Award 12 times across the past ten years of this event.

Bulls awarded with the Get-of-Sire honor have included sons of eight different Select Sires bulls, including:

7AN258 TOTAL 7AN249 BIG EYE (2x) 7AN207 BEXTOR 7AN350 CONFIDENCE 7AN388 NIAGARA (4x) 7AN379 ALL IN 7AN389 SURE FIRE 7AN395 FORTRESS

Winter 2021 |7

P.O. Box 23157, Lansing, MI 48909-3157 800.631.3510 • mycentralstar.com Return Service Requested

We’ve got you covered with herd management products for your whole farm. Contact your CentralStar Specialist or call 800.631.3510 for your copy of the 2021 Product catalog.

Connect with us at:

PRODUCTS CONVERT Protect Your Genetic Investment

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Convert™ Day-One Calf Gel is a trademark of Select Sires Inc. and is manufactured by Agrarian Solutions® All claims, representation and warranties, expressed or implied, are made only by Agrarian Solutions and not by Select Sires Inc.

8 | CentralStar Beef Tips