Spring 2023 FRONTLINE Beef Producer

BEEF PRODUCER

25 Spring ‘23 FEATURED 14

Bud or Tub?

There are many corral designs and some of the most popular in recent years have been Temple Grandin’s curved chutes/tubs and Bud Williams’ Bud Box. In this article, Heather Smith Thomas tackles the big question. Just which is better for my operation?

Tough Country, Tender Beef

IBBA Director of Field Services and Strategic Projects, Kyle Caldwell, talks about how the data is starting to debunk the mindset behind the infamous “Eared Discount” that breeders have faced for many years

Development Programs for Brangus Heifers

36

Jordan Thomas, Ph.D. Reproduction Specialist at the University of Missouri discusses if there is anything we should be doing differently in terms of heifer development for our Brangus Heifers and discusses what he’s seen be successful in herds over the years.

BEEF PRODUCER

Utilizing A.I. in Heifers

by Jeremy Jackson, International Brangus Breeders Association (IBBA) President

Oneof the simplest ways to make genetic progress in your commercial cattle herd is including artificial insemination in your heifer breeding program. It’s also my favorite group of cattle to breed. Most folks can’t justify buying a $20,000 to $100,000 bull to turn out on heifers but they sure can justify paying $20 or $25 a straw to A.I. to the same bull. Technology through fixed time A.I. has made it very simple to get over 50 percent of your heifers pregnant without having to watch heats if the heifers are mature enough to breed and the protocols are followed properly.

There are several highly proven Brangus calving ease sires that work great on heifers. These bulls and many others can easily be found in the 2023 Brangus Sire Directory. Brangus breeders from around the country have the opportunity put their bulls in the directory and help make it the largest collection of Brangus sires available. If you have not received a copy of the directory, it can be accessed by going to www.gobrangus.com and scrolling to the bottom of the home page. You can also contact the office at 1-210-6968231 to have a copy shipped to your home.

One of the most obvious advantages to using A.I. in heifers is that it can help get more calves on the ground at

the start of calving season. We all know that those calves born early in the calving season are going to weigh more at weaning and their dams or much more likely to get rebred early when bulls are turned back out. This also creates a much more uniform group of calves when you go to market them. Heifers are my favorite cattle to A.I. because they are also the easiest to work with. Most folks supplement their heifers and have them tame as dogs. The heifers are also probably in close proximity to your working facilities or can be easily moved there. An added bonus is that you don’t have to worry about having to sort their calves off since they don’t have any yet.

Even if you don’t know how to A.I. heifers, it’s usually pretty simple to find a professional to help you with the process. Consulting with your vet is probably the best place to start. Your vet may be able to help you themselves or refer you to other local professionals. If you want to learn how to do it yourself, most large cow states have several companies that put on A.I. schools. Jump on the computer and a quick search will probably lead you to several different class options. As always, thank you for choosing Brangus for your seedstock needs. Please feel free to reach out if there is anything we can do to assist you.

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The Era of

Genetics

Darrell Wilkes, Ph.D., International Brangus Breeders Association (IBBA) executive vice president been. More beef from fewer cattle consuming less total feed. That is the classical definition of efficiency.

Ninety percent of the improvement in beef production in the next 20 years will be due to genetics. That’s my thesis, and I believe I can back it up with sound logic and a look at history.

An outside observer learning about beef production by watching Yellowstone on tv might think that the beef industry is about the same as it was when the mythical Yellowstone Ranch was founded in the 1800’s. Cowboys still gather cattle with horses, sleep in a bunk house, play poker and get in fist fights. Maybe some cowboys haven’t changed much, but cows have.

Over the past 45 years, the beef industry has been able to produce more beef with dramatically fewer cattle in inventory. Our “carbon footprint” per pound of beef produced has declined dramatically. Any student of the beef industry, or anybody with some grey hair, can explain most of this with pure common sense based only on simple observation. As Yogi Berra said, “you can see a lot just by observing,”

In the “old days”, not that long ago, there were three calf crops on the ground for every cow in inventory. One crop was nursing their dams, another crop was yearlings, and another crop was in feedlots. Our cycle time from “birth to beef” was pretty long. Through advancements in nutrition, abundant grain supplies, complete build-out of the feedlot industry and the economic pressures to reduce cycle time – because time is money – a typical feedlot steer or heifer is now harvested before its younger sibling from the same cow has been weaned. And carcass weights are heavier than they’ve ever

Genetics has played a major role in this. Can anybody out there remember the first time you weighed a 1,000-lb yearling? Or weaned a 700-lb calf? I can, and I’m really not that old, or so I tell myself. So, genetics has been a huge part of this improvement in efficiency, but a lot of credit goes to the other scientific disciplines of nutrition and health.

Aside from veterinary medicine, nutrition was really the first scientific discipline that gave rise to animal science departments at land grant universities. Since that time, the science of ruminant nutrition has advanced exponentially. Not only have nutritionists learned to tweak perfectlybalanced feedlot rations, they have developed supplements that allow cows to better utilize available low-quality forage. Recently we have learned that cow nutrition the last half of gestation has life-long effects on the fetus that’s inside them during that time. Nutrition has had an incredible run of innovation. Only a fool would suggest that the science of nutrition has reached its ceiling. Advancements will continue. That’s how science works.

Having made an appropriate “tip of the hat” to the scientific discipline of nutrition and the scientists that have built out that discipline, I still believe that the bulk of the upside from here in terms of beef production efficiency is directly tied to genetics. In the last 20 years, the US beef industry has gone from 60% Choice or better to 80%+. Carcass weight has increased 100 lbs and the cattle are younger at harvest. This did not happen because we learned how to feed them that much better. It happened because we bred them better. We couldn’t have done it without good

Floyd Brangus Lack-Morrison Brangus Parker Brangus

Brangus Brown Brothers Ranch

Lot

Lot

nutrition of course, but we could not have done it without improved genetics.

The improvements due to genetics have been so dramatic and obvious that no rational person can deny it. The seedstock industry has now earned the respect of the feeding and packing sectors. They know full well that the results they see in the feedlot and the packing plant are tied to genetic improvement that comes from seedstock breeders providing genetically improved bulls to commercial producers.

I’ve been around the beef industry long enough to remember a time when the feeding and packing industries didn’t give much credence to the seedstock sector. They called us “the purebred boys” and considered us kind of like window dressing – a fringe element – a side show. I tell a joke about some feedlot friends of mine who couldn’t spell EPD in the 80’s. It’s a joke, of course, but the fact is they didn’t consider genetics that important because they doubted that the seedstock and cow-calf segments would ever really apply the science of genetics in a productive and predictable way. So, they waved us off and stuck with what they knew. Nutrition. They thought they could fine-tune nutrition, perfect the use of growth promotants, and make any ol’ beef steer into marketable beef.

For many decades, that was the mindset. But over the past 20 years in particular as beef quality has rocketed higher along with improved growth performance and carcass payweight, the value of genetics has become overwhelmingly obvious. Now, everybody in the beef supply chain gets it. This is where things kick into high gear. The pace of genetic change will accelerate and the gap between the users of good genetics and those who just get their cows pregnant will get wider and wider. Feeder cattle buyers will get

more aggressive as they seek to procure the best genetics – and the price will get higher. The pool of buyers for genetically unimproved cattle will shrink – and the price will get lower. If you run cows in tough country, but want to produce feeder cattle that the buyers fight over, the best place to start is at a Brangus bull sale. You’ll find bulls with comprehensive EPDs which allow you to tailor your bull selections to the improvement goals for your herd. The era of genetics is upon us. Brangus will keep you in the game. GO BRANGUS.

Bud or Tub?

Determining the Best Cattle Working Facilities for Your Operation

by Heather Smith Thomas

Beef cattle producers generally work their animals several times a year—preg checking, vaccinating, weaning calves, or processing arrivals at a feedlot—and want it to go as smoothly as possible. The goal is to have it easy for the crew and easy on the animals. There are many corral designs and some of the most popular in recent years have been Temple Grandin’s curved chutes/tubs and Bud Williams’ Bud Box. Many ranchers have spent a great deal of money installing elaborate working facilities in hopes those designs would solve some of the problems that often arise when a crew is working a lot of cattle, but tend to forget that the most important thing is the way the cattle are being handled; any facility is only as good as the people who use it. Good stockmanship and low-stress handling are key— knowing how to put the cattle through a facility, understanding natural behavior of cattle, and using your body position to direct their movement in the proper direction.

starts with how we handle cattle day in and day out,” he says. “Facilities should be designed with the animal’s behavioral tendencies in mind. We want animals to flow through a facility—essentially, to feel a pull forward from their

Jordan Thomas,

Ph.D. Assistant Professor and Beef Cow-Calf Specialist at the University of Missouri, has worked cattle through a lot of different facilities all around the country and says he is thoroughly convinced that stockmanship is equally important if not more important than the design of the animal handling facilities.

“We set cattle up to have either a lowstress or a high-stress experience when they go through a handling facility. Obviously, that starts with how we bring cattle into the trap or pens that day. But on a deeper level, that really

Aerial Shot of Tub System

Some problems exclusive to the tub systems include issues such as looking like a dead end and the solid sides seperating you from the animals.

behavioral instincts instead of a push forward from our continuous pressure. The best facilities allow cattle to move just in response to where the handler places himself or herself in the space. I am partial to Bud Box systems personally, as those systems help us focus on our own position in order to position the animals: how we apply and release pressure,” says Thomas.

In debating facility design, many folks try to compare Temple Grandin designs with the Bud Box. Whit Hibbard (a Montana rancher who teaches schools on low-stress stockmanship and does a lot of consulting around the world) says there are two major approaches to facilities. “One is Temple Grandin’s solid-sided curved tub system. The other end of the spectrum is Bud Williams’ open and straight Bud Box system. The solid-sided curved systems were developed simultaneously in the 1970’s in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, and popularized in the U.S. by Temple Grandin. The basic idea is to separate the human from the cattle as much as possible—shielding cattle from the human—the idea being that the sight and presence of humans impedes good cattle flow and causes them to balk,” he says.

“The tub system is based on curves. The premise is that cattle will think they are going back where they came from. But from a cows’-eye view, going around a curve, do cattle really have the ability to think they are going back where they came from? As far as they know, they are going into unknown territory,” says Hibbard.

“Solid sides have a negative effect. If you separate the humans

from the cattle, you can’t use stockmanship; you can’t use your body position effectively to encourage movement. Also, with a solid-sided tub system the cattle are coming from an open alleyway, and when it transitions from open to solid, many animals balk because it’s different; all of a sudden it’s enclosed,” he explains.

“When you go into a tub, what does it look like to a cow? It looks like a dead end because it’s a wall. Cattle tend to balk, so people often end up relying on a crowd gate to force the animals to go into it. To Temple’s credit, she says the tub should be used as a pass-through system. I totally agree with that; these systems work better if people bring fewer animals from farther away (so they are following one another rather than in a mob) and with enough momentum to put them all the way through the tub. The mistake people make is bringing too many animals, using the tub for storage (a bunch of cows waiting to go to the head-catch, squeeze chute, scale) and lose all the momentum. If the animals can’t keep moving, they start thinking about going back; they balk or try to turn around, and you get resistance,” he says.

“Plus, most people don’t know how to work a tub properly. They should work it from the front so the animals can come by them, instead of pushing them from the rear, which is what most people do.”

Most tub systems put the people on a catwalk above, where cattle perceive them as predators. “When they look up and see you, they tend to stop. Secondly, the catwalk is almost always on the outside arc of the curve, which puts you behind

the cattle. These are prey animals and they don’t want to turn their back to you!” They want to keep track of where you are, and want to turn around and look at you instead of continuing forward.

“The four main problems with tub systems are that it looks like a dead end, the solid sides separate you from the animals so you can’t use stockmanship effectively, it puts you in a predator position on a catwalk, and puts you on the outside arc and behind the animals. There are none of those problems with an open, straight Bud Box. The cows come down an open alleyway, and going into an open Bud Box is much more inviting than going into a solid tub,” says Hibbard. “The advantage of a Bud Box is that when you put animals into it and take the proper position, when they figure out that they can’t go any farther they will turn around--and can come back where they came from. They can’t do that in a tub. The only way they can try to go back where they came from is in a Bud Box where they literally turn around and retrace their steps.”

In a tub system you do not get the mind change in the animals. “You are unable to make your idea their idea—which is to go through the tub. By contrast, in a Bud Box, you get this all-important mind change. When you take them into a Bud Box, by virtue of its design, you can capitalize on four strong natural tendencies of prey animals. One is that they want to see the source of pressure; they want to turn and look at it. When they go into the Bud Box and you come in behind them and close the gate, they turn around to look at you,” he says. Secondly, the animal wants to see a way to get away from the pressure. “Thirdly, another strong natural tendency (which we can use to our advantage in a Bud Box) is the fact they want to go around us. They’d rather come back past us to get away, rather than go away from us, because then they don’t have to turn their back to us and can keep the source of pressure in their sight,” says Hibbard. “Fourth, when you go into the Bud Box and pressure them against the back end, they want to turn around and go back.

Simultaneously they will be turning to see you—the source of pressure—and want to come around you. When they do, they see the opening where you want them to go, and almost every time they will take it—whether going up a chute or onto a scale or into a truck or trailer,” he says.

| COMMENTS FROM A TEXAS RANCHER |

Joel Ham is a 4th generation rancher on a family ranch at Big Lake, Texas. He runs cattle and sheep and has been utilizing Bud Williams’ principles for many years. He met Bud Williams in 1989 and was fascinated with what he had to say. “The main thing to understand about the Bud Box is that it does not make cattle work better. It only allows the handler to be in a better position—to allow the animal to do what it wants to do. Many people who don’t understand Bud’s stockmanship want to have the newest facility and technology, thinking it will solve their problems but it won’t make cattle work any better, unless we learn to work cattle differently,”

Joel says.

“This is the main thing about a Bud Box, and it also needs to be designed the way Bud designed it. People often try to improvise or cross it with what they are accustomed to. I worked in one at a feedlot when I gave a stockmanship demonstration for their BQA certification program. They called it a Bud Box, but it was about 30 feet long, which is way too long, and it had an angle at the front where the cattle

A tub system is built on a system of coercion and only one way out, whereas the Bud Box lends to the animal’s natural instincts of seeking openness.

go into the chute.”

The angle put the handler in the wrong position and cattle would stop. “I watched the processing crew loading cattle in it, and they were getting behind the cattle, pushing and cramming them in like most people do when working cattle.

I had to use that facility for the demonstration and had trouble getting cattle to go up in there. So the next year, I took a flag, and used it a little bit in front of me—not to beat on the cattle, but give them something to see. It helped a lot, but it would have been better just to build the facility the correct way,” he says.

“People are always trying to change and improve on things, but you can’t improve on the Bud Box. People still have the idea they have to force and push cattle to get them where you want them. Bud’s concept was to fix it up so that what you want the cattle to do was what the cattle wanted to do.” If they want to go in the chute, then you’ll have very little backing up, and much better flow.

“The reason cattle stop and back up in a chute is because they don’t want to go in there; they were forced. When they get in there, they don’t know how they got there, so they want to go back. Their mind is not going forward; we only had their body going forward. We need to work with their minds, not their bodies. The Bud Box by itself does not do anything; it allows you to do something better.”

Dawn Hnatow was one of Bud’s students and currently leasing two ranches in Texas and doing consulting, teaching

people about stockmanship. “My opinion is that most facilities for handling livestock are not designed for the animals; they are made for people. They don’t take the animals’ natural inclinations into consideration. They are built with the idea of keeping people safe, and as distant from the animals as possible, and giving the people someplace to hide because they are out of position to properly influence the animals. All of these things are counterproductive; they are not conducive to good cattle flow or efficiency,” she says.

“I’ve worked in just about every kind of facility. My experience has shown me that straight, open-sided square systems flow much better than any of the curved and circular designs and snakes. Those tend to take away the animals’ ability to see, so they become hyper and stressed.” Being prey animals, they fear what they can’t see.

“They know you are there, but they can’t see you, and that alarms them. They haven’t survived for thousands of years by being oblivious and unaware! It causes them more anxiety when they know you are there and can’t see you!” she explains.

“I’ve seen more Bud Boxes now around the country,” Hnatow says “and I’m always interested to hear people’s opinions about how they work. Even if you are a little bit out of position, they still work a lot better than a tub system. The cattle can keep you in their sight and get what they need, to give you what you want, and that should be our whole approach to working livestock in the first place.”

by Kyle Caldwell, I

TOUGH COUNTRY Tender Beef

Brangus Breeders Association

“The Eared Discount”: a conundrum that Bos indicus cattle producers have faced for many years. This discount has been levied against calves at the time of market to compensate for the shortcomings we have all heard before. “Brahman-influenced cattle do not marble as well as British breeds”, “Indicus beef is tougher than beef from other breeds”, etc… There is no shortage of scientific articles that could corroborate these claims; but they tend to overshadow traits that Brahman-influenced cattle do best: better thermoregulatory ability, better bug tolerance, and raw maternal productivity. Not many can dispute the heterotic value a good Brangus cow brings to the herd. However, many cattlemen are put in the position of making a trade between maternal productivity and growth efficiency with on-the-rail performance, still receiving “The Eared Discount” when it comes time to market their calves.

About a month ago, I made a trip to the OKC West Livestock Market to purchase a load of steers on behalf of the International Brangus Breeders Foundation for round 2 of the Brangus Value Project. When the cooperator’s steers came though the ring, it was quickly apparent that I would be competing with these order buyers tooth and nail to take these steers home. They were easily some of the best-looking

Director of Field Services and Strategic Projects

calves on the block that day and ticked every box: preconditioned 60 days, two rounds of modified live vaccines, genetically verified to high quality Brangus parentage… and they brought a $7.00/cwt premium. I was sweating bullets bidding on those steers, but once it was all said and done, I had to smile. The same order buyers that levy these eared discounts were more than willing to pay a $6.00 premium for those set of feeder steers. The difference? Information. When management and marketing are done well, coupled with Brangus genetics, that “eared discount” suddenly turns into an “BRANGUS premium”. Now that the thrill of the auction block has passed, the next question must be asked: “Will there be a return on investment after paying these premiums?” If the results of round one of the Brangus Value Project can be repeated, we’ll make our money back and then some. The first round of the Brangus Value project saw 90 steers sired from five of the most high-use Brangus and Ultrablack bulls on the market, along with one Angus reference sire, shipped to a Southwest Kansas feedyard from two cooperating producers in Texas and Oklahoma. Compared to thousands of other steers in the lot at the same

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nternational

(IBBA)

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time, the 2 groups of Brangus and Ultrablack-sired calves were, on average, ¾ of a pound more feed efficient and brought $51.51/cwt and $95.79/cwt premiums when sold on a grid. After arriving at the packer, the IBBA-sired steers graded 92% USDA Choice and higher, 51% of which graded upper 2/3 Choice and 7% USDA Prime. Tenderness testing yielded similar, exciting results: all 5 IBBA sire groups landed in the “Tender” and “Very Tender” category, in line with the Angus reference sired calves.

Next week, I will be heading up to northern Missouri to visit with a potential Brangus Value Project cooperator who continually battles wild temperature spectrums, insects, humidity, and fescue toxicity. He is considering Brangus as a solution and wants to make the most of the information gained from the first round of the BVP. The results speak for themselves. Brangus cattle have proven to be the swiss army

knife “do-it-all” breed, capable of creating high-quality beef in tough country. In the modern beef industry, grading Choice is no longer a premium, it’s the expectation. Even though over 80% of feeder cattle are grading Choice, the demand for high quality beef continually increases. If producers are to meet this demand, it is essential to utilize cattle capable of not just surviving but thriving in harsh conditions from the deserts of Nevada to the Texas hill country, to the fescue belt, all the way to the wetlands of Florida. Cattlemen today no longer need to barter meat quality for maternal productivity and growth efficiency. The progress the Brangus breed has made so far could not have been made without the tireless efforts of progressive Brangus breeders all over the U.S. We still have a journey ahead of us, and plenty we can improve on. As the markets take a positive turn in the coming months, Brangus is in a unique position to help cattlemen everywhere capitalize on the ever-growing demand for high quality beef.

CATTLEFAX TRENDS

STEER-HEIFER PRICE SPREAD

DOES THE MATH SUPPORT THE SPREAD?

Prices for feeder heifers and heifer calves are almost always discounted compared to same weight steers. This is particularly true when demand for replacements is low during non-expansion years such as this one. The level of heifer discounts is often a cause of discontent for sellers and a question often asked is, is it getting more severe? Are feeder cattle buyers “stealing” your heifer calves when they are paying $15-$20/cwt back of your steer calves just because they can, or is the discount justified by the economics? Hopefully this analysis helps explain the math behind heifer discounts.

Discounts paid for heifers can be validated by the math as shown in the accompanying table. The discounts paid for heifers this fall equated to nearly identical fed break-evens on those cattle at slaughter. This statement is more accurate for calves than for yearlings, with calf-fed steers and heifers both having identical breakevens at $156/cwt this coming June and July, respectively. Yearling heifers did have a little lower breakeven compared to steers, but when adjusted for normal basis levels early vs. late April, the difference narrows considerably. Oklahoma sale barn prices were used for the

purpose of this illustration because of the volume of sale barn data and to eliminate regional bias.

So, what is behind these numbers that makes the math works this way? One of the first things that should jump out at you when looking at the table is the difference in feed cost of gain between steers and heifers. Steers feed to gain conversions are better than heifers. The steer over heifer advantage increases with placement weight. A 550-pound steer is about 5 percent more efficient than a 550-pound heifer, and that advantage for steers widens to 7 percent at 750-pound placement weights.

It is important to note that there are some significant differences in feed efficiency between calves and yearlings as well. As placement weight increases feed conversion gets worse, although average daily gain improves. This is simply a function of the “S” shaped growth curve. Efficiency is greatest in the middle of the “S” curve, which for a steer comes around 400 to 800 pounds, and around 400 to 700 pounds for a heifer. A 550-pound calf is going to have a 7 percent efficiency advantage over a 750-pound yearling, regardless of sex.

It’s all about the rollback. Prices for all classes of feeder cattle are higher than they have been since 2015. With feed costs that are historically high such as they have been this year, cost of added gain is close to the cost of historically high-priced feeders. The closer that cost of gains are to the selling price of the feeder, the less potential there is for “rolling them back.” Take a look back at the breakeven table. The projected total cost of gain for heifer calves is $1.61. That’s only 8 cents back of the average price paid for a 5-weight

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Oklahoma heifer this past October. The $1.56 projected breakeven is 11 cents back of the purchase price. Compare that to a 550-pound steer. A projected total cost of gain of $1.43 compared to the purchase price of $1.85 (18 cents per pound over a same weight heifer). The steers rolled back 29 cents per pound, even though they will eat the same highpriced ration.

Projected cost of gains for the yearling heifers were actually a tick higher than the average purchase price which only allowed for a 3-cent rollback compared to a 13 cent per pound rollback for the same weight yearling steers.

The table also illustrates that being able to add more pounds makes for a larger rollback. Heifer out-weights typically run 100 to 150 pounds lighter than steers. Heifers simply mature at lighter weights and feeding beyond that limitation can cause significantly higher cost of gains as efficiency drops – remember that “S” shaped growth curve? Heavy heifers are at a higher risk of YG4 and YG5 discounts than steers but generally don’t run up against heavy weight discounts. Both yearling and calf fed steers will have the advantage of additional pounds added in the feedlot to rollback the breakeven prices further than heifers.

Is this year abnormal? The final point to make is, that even with higher priced rations, heifer discounts during 2022 were within the historically “normal” range for most of the year. There were a few weeks in March and then again in October when the discount for 5-weight heifers exceeded the 10-year

range, but the yearling heifer price spread remained right in the middle of the 10-year range. The charts used to illustrate this are percent discounts, because when prices are higher the actual dollar difference can be wider but the relative difference (percentage) that directly affects the difference in outcome.

There are plenty of factors that affect actual steerheifer price spreads on any given day, in any given market: quality, local weather/moisture conditions, demand for replacements, time of year, preconditioned vs. unweaned, etc. However, those factors just cause adjustments up or down from the baseline economics: steers are going to feed more efficiently than heifers, will have a lower cost of gain and can put more pounds on in the feedlot.

Development Programs

FOR BRANGUS HEIFERS

by Jordan Thomas, Ph.D. Reproduction Specialist University of Missouri

Developing heifers is my favorite part of what I do on my own operation. Now, admittedly, that’s partly because heifer development is the most profitable enterprise I have on paper... It’s always nice to actually make a little money. But I also just like the challenge of taking a weaned heifer calf and turning her into a productive cow-calf pair. Tackling that task is rewarding in more ways than just economically.

When it comes to Brangus heifers, is there anything we should be doing differently in terms of heifer development? In many ways no, but I want to highlight a few of the areas in which the bar is especially high for Brangus heifers because of their Bos indicus influence.

AGE

When it comes to heifer development, it is important to realize that Bos indicus-influenced heifers reach puberty at later ages on average than Bos taurus heifers. I will agree with any of you who believe the Brangus breed has made a lot of progress in selecting for heifers that reach puberty at younger ages than the original Zebu cattle imported into the United States. That is almost certainly true, and, with proper management, Brangus heifers can certainly still be bred to calve at two years of age as recommended for straightbred Bos taurus heifers. In fact, I will argue vehemently that commercial heifers have to be bred to calve at two years of age

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Cody Glenn (601)508-8689 Cody@TownCreekFarm.com www.TownCreekFarm.com

in order to be profitable. The economic advantage of calving for the first time at two years of age rather than at later ages was clearly demonstrated in research decades ago, including in research done using Bos indicus-influenced heifers in the southern U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s. The only thing that has changed since that time is that commercial cow-calf margins are even tighter. So, let’s not think we can afford to develop heifers to calve for the first time at two-and-a-half or three years of age.

If you are struggling to have heifers that are pubertal when they begin their first breeding season, the first thing to ask is whether they’re old enough. If that feels backwards, let me say it this way: how long is the length of the calving season in your cow herd? If your cows are calving for over 60 days, the youngest heifer calves could actually be just 13 months old at the start of their first breeding season, not 15 months old. Heifer calves born late in the calving season simply don’t make good replacement heifer candidates in many cases, as they are inherently up against this challenge of being too young when they start their first breeding season. Either shorten the calving season in the cow herd or opt not to develop later-born heifer calves as replacement candidates.

TARGET WEIGHTS

I will be honest: some folks refer to my own heifer development strategy as “the Hunger Games.” I am not a fan of heavy supplementation programs or overly fleshed heifers. That said, I would make some slightly different choices if I were working with heifers of later-maturing biological types. The right supplementation program and/or allocation of higher quality forages can go a long way for Bos indicusinfluenced heifers.

Most producers are familiar with the concept of a target weight, with a common recommendation being that heifers are developed to 55-65% of the weight of a mature cow by the time of breeding. Among Bos Taurus, there is some debate as to whether a 55% versus a 65% target weight is most appropriate and economical. However, research has shown Bos indicus-influenced developed to lower target weights had lower rates of puberty attainment and poor pregnancy success. I encourage producers of Bos indicusinfluenced heifers to use a 65% target weight.

Remember that target weight is the minimum weight for heifers in the group, not the average. If there is a lot of variation in age and weight of heifers, split heifers into different management groups so that lighter weight, younger heifers can be pushed harder nutritionally. Also, be sure that you are aiming at the right target: your mature cows may

not weigh what you think they do. If you can’t obtain actual weights on cows, estimate mature cow weight based on cull cow sale weights. Since cull cows are often thin when sold, be sure to correct these weights for body condition score. One condition score for a typical Brangus frame size would be approximately 100 lbs.

PRE-BREEDING EVALUATION

A pre-breeding exam typically consists of a reproductive tract score and a pelvic measurement done fairly close to the start of the breeding season (e.g., around 30 days prior to breeding). This information can help you identify poorly matured or potentially problematic heifers in order to avoid spending further time and money on development and breeding. If I bought a set of Brangus heifers to develop, I would absolutely pay to get this information. Here’s why. A reproductive tract score is a direct assessment of the pubertal status of a heifer. Your veterinarian will palpate the reproductive tract, evaluating the size of the uterus and the structures present on the ovaries. In addition to determining whether the heifer has attained puberty, this is a good opportunity to identify any heifers that have already become pregnant or have an abnormality (incomplete reproductive tract, ovarian cyst, etc). Reproductive tracts scoring will have a cost, but the idea is to identify heifers that are poor candidates and avoid incurring additional development, breeding, and health costs on these heifers. Many producers also value the information they get about the group. For example, if less than half of the heifers are cycling (reproductive tract score 4 and 5), there may be some nutritional adjustments that can be made. Pelvic measurements are another screening tool to consider, especially if you have a history of some calving difficulty in your heifers. Hard pulls, C-sections, and death loss are all risks you want to take out of your program. Research in Bos taurus heifers has shown that reproductive tract score is predictive of pregnancy rates to fixed-time artificial insemination and pregnancy rates by day of the breeding season. In recent experiments with Bos indicus-influenced heifers, we found much the same relationship between reproductive tract score and date of conception within the breeding season. Remember, when it comes to heifer development, it is not just about whether a heifer becomes pregnant but about when she becomes pregnant. Heifers conceiving early in the breeding season have much higher lifetime productivity as cows in the herd. Think about reproductive tract scoring as a tool to assess pubertal development of heifers directly rather than relying on weight alone as an indirect indicator.

PROGESTIN-BASED ESTRUS SYNCHRONIZATION

Don’t be misled into thinking estrus synchronization and AI isn’t an option for Brangus or other Bos indicusinfluenced heifers. In one recent experiment, we reported results using the 14-d CIDR-PG protocol among Bos indicusinfluenced heifers in a subtropical environment and Bos taurus heifers in a temperate environment. Although pregnancy rates to fixed-time artificial insemination were lower among Bos indicusinfluenced heifers overall due to lower average reproductive tract score, similar pregnancy rates were observed within respective reproductive tract score categories. Similarly, in a separate experiment, we also found the MGA-PG protocol to be effective in Bos indicus-influenced heifers, with similar results to those published for Bos taurus heifers when accounting for reproductive tract score. Long-term progestinbased protocols function similarly in Bos indicus-influenced and Bos taurus heifers from a physiological perspective. The lower results we sometimes see in Bos indicus-influenced heifers are largely due to lower rates of cyclicity. Whether Bos taurus or Bos indicus-influenced, a large proportion of heifers need to be pubertal prior to synchronization for best results.

Don’t miss the forest for the trees though: progestinbased estrus synchronization programs are especially helpful for later-maturing heifers because of the fact that some prepubertal heifers are induced to start cycling by the protocol. That is a big, big win for getting more heifers to conceive early in their first breeding season. I often lament that more of the nation’s heifers are not receiving a timed AI service at the start of the breeding season, not only because it is relatively easy to pull off an AI program in heifers, but because the use of progestin-based synchronization would itself do so many heifers good.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I could go on and on about heifer development—in fact, I suppose I already have. For more on the topic of selection and development of replacement heifers, including heifers from Bos indicus breeds, take a look at some of the publications in the University of Missouri Extension manual Whole System Management of Beef Cattle Reproduction (extension.missouri. edu/cb28), published just last fall. Best of luck in your heifer development endeavors in 2023.

NOVEMBER

members and industry affiliates the opportunity to promote themselves through Brangus Publications, Inc.’s (BPI) print and digital mediums. IBBA’s printed publications are produced by BPI and are distributed to a mailing list, comprised of addresses in Australia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Philippines, Thailand, and the United States; with a circulation of approximately 2,000.

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True 3/8th x 5/8th Brangus were developed 70 years ago. They fit the environment better and thrive in the heat and still produce good, high-quality BEEF.

Dr. Joe Paschal Emphasizes the Benefits ofTrue Brangus.

• True Brangus can take the heat…they have larger and more numerous sweat glands.

• Carcass Merit…120 OCF steers graded 95% Choice & Prime.

• Longevity…you can expect 1 to 2 more calves in their lifetime.

• Better Foragers…adapted to grazing on forage and shrubs.

• Increased Heterosis…growth enhanced by the stabilized 3/8 Bos Indicus in OCF’s 3/8 x 5/8 Brangus resulting in better performance with less inputs.

• Higher Internal & External Parasite Tolerance OCF is in our 8th year with no fly treatment!