FINDING THE PERFECT MATCH: THE ART OF BULL SELECTION

BY MEGAN UNDERWOOD, M.S.

“Selecting the right bull is a bit of an art,” explained Dr. Mark Enns, professor in animal science at Colorado State University. “The producer has to consider management, environment and market.”

When selecting a bull, the producer must first consider how they will market his progeny. This allows the producer to narrow down the traits to consider from both an income and output standpoint. If a producer is selling weaned calves with no premiums for having higher marbling calves or at any auction with no data, a focus on weaning weight will increase profitability for the operation. However, if there is value to be associated with the weight of the calves post-weaning through providing data or a repeat customer purchasing calves based on performance, a producer will add other traits to their selection decisions because of their value to the operation.

If a producer is retaining ownership through feeding cattle in a backgrounding operation and retaining ownership through the feedlot to then sell the calves on a carcass quality basis, the producer will add other traits such as carcass weight, marbling, ribeye area and yield grade to their selection criteria. At this stage in the production process, the producer is getting paid through the grid thus, needing to switch their selection focus to carcass weight and the end product.

“The first step is narrowing down what the producer wants to focus their selection on,” said Enns. “It’s really trying to decide how the producer will market their animals and how they will receive their value.”

The next step is developing the context for selection and knowing where the animals will be in production, each operation has its own environmental challenges. Operations located in areas of high elevation must account for the concern of elevation tolerance and high mountain disease. Operations in the Southeast along the Gulf Coast or in the desert Southwest have to select animals for heat tolerance.

“There are new tools being developed to enable producers to select for specific environmental challenges and identify animals that are less susceptible to those,” explained Enns. “Producers can improve profitability through increased performance and survival.”

Producers need to understand the availability and quality of forage.

Operations located in areas prone to drought risk, need to focus on moderate mature cow size and milk production. When forage availability is scarce, animals can underperform in a particular production system.

“Producers need the availability of supplemental feed resources to determine if genetics with higher production levels such as higher milk production and mature cow size, can work in their operation,” said Enns.

A key production challenge is the availability of labor specifically during calving season. If an operation lacks the labor needed to devote time to watching animals calve, the producer needs to focus on selecting bulls with a strong calving ease EPD.

“Cow-calf producers should consider the reproductive ability of their animals. Use the tools available to select animals that are reproductively efficient and sound, the traits of stayability, heifer pregnancy, scrotal circumference, it depends on the tools available to increase the genetic propensity of reproduction to ultimately increase profitability,” explained Enns.

Producers need to identify their primary cost centers, specifically on the lines of feed requirements. Mature cow size and milk production have a larger impact on cow-calf producers who sell weaned calves. Cow-calf producers must consider how many cows they can run on a certain area of land. These producers may have to run fewer cows due to the availability of feed resources but can improve the level of performance in fewer cows. Producers retaining ownership of calves in the feedlot should focus more on improving feed utilization as they can reduce input costs and improve overall profitability.

“It’s my perception that we’re getting a better set of EPDs in genetic evaluation to address the contexts of selection such as environmental constraints, to better select animals for a specific production system and location,” said Enns.

Selecting bulls with genomicallyenhanced EPDs (GE-EPDs) allows the producer to have better accuracy on young bulls. GE-EPDs in young bulls include their own performance and genetic ability thus, giving the producer more peace of mind in their purchasing decisions.

“A law of genetic improvement from a herd standpoint is the more accurate a producer is in selecting animals that are genetically superior, the faster they can make progress in their specific traits,” said Enns.

A rule of multi-trait selection is the more traits a producer selects, the slower the progress is on any one trait. Following the approach of creating a selection process with fewer, specific EPDs and characteristics to focus on, allows producers to have more rapid genetic improvement in their operation. Focusing on specific traits can make a difference in the overall profitability within the context of marketing, environment and management systems, ultimately improving overall profitability in production systems.