WHAT DOES TOTAL HERD REPORTING HAVE IN COMMON WITH GOLF?

WHAT DOES TOTAL HERD REPORTING HAVE IN COMMON WITH GOLF?

by Darrell Wilkes, Ph.D., IBBA executive vice president

I like to play golf. I don’t get the chance much these days, but I enjoy it nevertheless. Mark Twain described golf as “a good walk, spoiled.” On that point, I disagree with the famous author. When I played golf more often, I could usually get 5 or 6 par scores in an 18-hole round. The other 12-13 scores weren’t quite so good. I’ve had my share of “Elways”, which is a 7. And plenty of “snowmen”, which is an 8. This is golfer lingo to ease the pain of actually verbalizing such pathetic scores.

If only selective reporting was allowed in golf! If selective reporting was allowed, I would only report the holes where I had a par, or even a rare birdie. That would make it appear as though I was a pretty darn good golfer, but clearly it distorts the truth.

Selective reporting describes a situation where a person only reports data that is favorable or “looks good”. It distorts the truth. IBBA adopted Total Herd Reporting (THR) to reduce or eliminate selective reporting. THR accomplishes this by charging an annual fee for each productive/active cow and by NOT charging for calf registrations or data submission or most transfers.

As odd as it may sound, there are certain factors in other breed associations that actually encourage selective reporting. This was not the intent, but it has that effect. If you have to buy a $40 A.I. certificate in order to register a calf, and if the calf isn’t very good, it is easy enough to just not register the calf and save the $40. While these systems allow and encourage breeders to record the calf and report the data, even if it is never registered, it is foolish to think that everybody does this. In addition, some associations charge a per head fee to submit weaning weights. If you have a calf that isn’t really good enough to register, are you going to spend more money to submit the weaning data? Not likely. This scenario results in a lot of missing data. It amounts to selective reporting. Again, that is not the intent but it is the result.

It is not a stretch to say that those breed associations that do not have Total Herd Reporting would like to move in that direction. They know the problem with selective and incomplete reporting. They know it exists and they know it’s a problem. IBBA made the move to THR many years ago and lost some members because of it. The complaint I’ve heard from those whom I’ve contacted is that THR was just a

clever way for the association to “get rich”. Get rich? Are you kidding me? Our THR fee of $25 covers the registration of a calf, one free transfer of that calf, management of all weight, ultrasound and DNA data, and comprehensive genetic evaluation of the enrolled cow and her calf. We could charge for all those items separately like many others do, and I can guarantee that the final cost would not be less than what you currently pay in THR.

If a cow has a poor calf and the breeder chooses to not record it, the person paying the price is the breeder. They’re only kidding themselves. Ignoring the poor performance of the cow does not make her poor performance go away. With a THR system, there is no cost to register the calf or to record any additional data such as birth weight, weaning weight, yearling weight, ultrasound etc.

The greatest benefit of THR is the quality of maternal performance data that is gathered. A cow is expected to make a progeny record every year. Even if her calf does not survive to weaning, or is culled shortly after weaning, it is important to record that she actually had a calf. Recording such data will become more important moving forward as we are likely to make changes to the Stayability EPD that increases the emphasis on reproduction. It is not really informative to give a cow credit for remaining in the herd just because the owner decided not to cull her. If she remains in the herd until she’s 9 or 10 but only weans a calf every 18 months, one could argue that she really did not deserve to stay in the herd and there should be a penalty. The penalty should be reflected in the fertility index and the Stayability EPD.

Brangus cows are notorious for maternal productivity and longevity. Even though a good Brangus steer will compete with the best of the best in a feedlot or on the rail, the Brangus cow is probably always going to be the claim to fame for this great breed of cattle. Having systems that capture good maternal performance data are obviously critical. THR is an essential part of that.

July 1 is the official “Inventory Date” for THR. Prior to that, you will receive emails and other correspondence from IBBA encouraging you to clean up your inventory in preparation for the final THR invoicing. Webinars and tutorial videos will be available to help members complete their THR chores in the most efficient and effective way.