SIGNS It s Time for a New Sire

by Macey Mueller for the Red Angus Association of America

Good bull can be a big investment. After spending significant time and expense to find just the right fit to complement your cow herd genetics and meet production goals, it can be a tough call to sell or retire that sire. Three industry professionals weight in with their tips and strategies for determining whether a bull is worthy of another breeding season.

1. HE FAILS A BREEDING SOUNDNESS EXAM PRIOR TO TURNOUT

It can be difficult for a bull to effectively do his job if he is not in top physical condition. Lindsay Waechter-Mean, Ph.D., Nebraska Extension beef systems educator and licensed veterinarian, said a BSE is “cheap insurance” that can provide valuable information about a bull’s potential breeding ability.

“It doesn’t cost you much to figure out a whole lot of information on your bull,” she said. “the physical exam looks at his feet, legs, eyes and scrotum and measures how well he can extend and the semen sample looks at motility and morphology – how well the sperm are swimming and if the proper amounts are being produced.”

While structural issues or eye problems are typically easy to cull for, Waechter-Mean said if sperm sample is deemed unsatisfactory or a sample cannot be collected, she encourages producers to retest the bull 30 to 60 later.

“It doesn’t have to be one and done when it comes to semen testing, but if a bull is not satisfactory at turnout, I recommend using a replacement until you retest,” she said. “Timing can make a difference because the process of making sperm actually takes 60 days, so if a bull suffers an insult like frostbite 30 days prior to the BSE, it might not be evident in the sperm sample. It really helps to test bulls right before turnout to get the best idea of their potential performance.”

Bruce Risa is a Red Angus seedstock and commercial producer from northeast Montana, where winter low temperatures can linger in the single digits and temporarily impair sperm cell production.

“Our winters can be pretty tough,” he said. “A lot of guys around here will do BSEs in March and have a bull fail, but give that animal two more months on green grass and all of a sudden he’ll pass the exam.”

Risa has his bulls tested right before turnout on June 24 but admits replacement is not easy that late in the year.

“If a bull is not sound when it’s time to turn out, we don’t take any chances,” he said. “It can be hard to find a good bull for sale that late in the season, so we try to keep and older bull on hand for those circumstances.”

Risa added that he always retests new bulls regardless of their results at the time of purchase.

“A lot can happen to bulls, especially young bulls, in the short amount of time between sale season and turnout,” he said. “Our theory is just to do it right before they’re ready to go to work, so we know for sure they are sound.”

2. YOUR CALVES ARE MISSING THE MARK

Lindsay Upperman, Ph.D., Red Angus Association of America’s beef cattle geneticist, said genetics are

...CONTINUED ON PAGE 66 always improving and investing in a younger bull is the fastest and most effective way to make genetic progress and improve profit potential in the next calf crop.

“There is something to be said for proven bulls, but if you are taking your calves to market and they’re just not stacking up against others, it may be time to find a bull with stronger traits or more genetics progress,” she said. “Some producers will try to make nutritional changes to make up pounds, but we’ve seen recently how drought conditions can affect the nutritional resources we have available from year to year so that’s not always a cost-effective approach.”

“Genetic progress is the one thing you can always advance if you’re willing to make that investment.”

3. HE’S GOT A BAD ATTITUDE

Disposition is often near the top of any producer’s list and Risa is no exception.

“If something shows temperament to us, we remove it immediately,” he said. “In my experience, if he shows poor temperament as a yearling, he’s going to carry that all through his life. At least as a yearling you can handle him, but if you have a 4-year-old bull with a bad attitude, he can make things pretty miserable when it’s time to pull him from the pasture or expecting him to get along with other bulls.”

Waechter-Mead said disposition is No. 1 on her list as well, especially when it comes to heifer bulls.

“Heifers have a tendency to be kind of flighty and nervous, so if you don’t want a bull that’s going to be too aggressive and not able to do his job,” she added.

4. YOUR PRODUCTION GOALS CHANGE

If you have traditionally sold your calves at weaning, your bull selection may have been heavily influenced by Birth Weight or Weaning Weight EPDs, but if you have made the decision to background or even retain ownership through the feed yard, you make need to hone in on bulls with higher Yearling Weight or carcass values. Likewise, if you have historically been a terminal operation but are now planning to retain replacement heifers, you may need to look for bulls with stronger maternal traits.

Upperman said one of the easiest ways to select for multiple traits and best estimate a sire’s overall impact is to use one of RAAA’s indexes, which combine EPDs for several traits into a single economic value.

• HerdBuilder – ideal for selecting bulls to develop profitable replacement females and maximize the value of non-replacement marketed progeny.

• GridMaster – used to maximize the profitability of feeders in the feed yard and on the rail.

• ProS – a balanced approach that covers economically relevant traits across all aspects of the beef supply chain from conception to carcass.

“To maximize profit potential, you really need to consider quite a few selection traits in relation to each other,” Upperman said. “Indexes are valuable tools to make those comparisons in light of their economic impact.”

5. HE’S GETTING TOO BIG OR HE CAN’T MAINTAIN CONDITION

While there is not a specific age limit on a bull’s ability to breed, most make it four or five years before they either get too large or develop health issues causing them to decline in condition.

Waechter-Mead said optimal bull size should be relative to the size of the cows. Heifer bulls often need to be replaced sooner than other herd bulls because they can get too large to safely service smaller females.

On the other hand, some bulls have a hard time regaining condition after a breeding season, where it’s common for a bull to lose anywhere from 100 to 400 pounds.

“Most bulls are working their tails off for 60 days, so it’s not unusual to see them decline in condition, “ Waechter-Mead said. “But if they have ample nutrition available, they should be bouncing back to a body condition score 5 or 6 fairly easily without requiring extreme supplementation.”

6. YOU ADD FEMALES TO THE HERD

Even the best bull has his limits, so if you recently expanded your herd, you make need to invest in an additional bull to improve the chances of all cows being serviced.

Waechter-Mead said a good rule of thumb is that a bull can typically cover as many females as his age in months, up to 30 months.

If he’s a 16-month-old bull, then he could probably cover 16 head,” she said “Once he gets past 30 months, I usually say one bull for 30 cows, depending on the size, terrain and condition of a pasture. If he has to track a long way up in the hills or has limited access to quality nutrition, you’re probably going to need to have an extra one.