Introducing ‘Red Choice’ for Profitable and Successful Heifers by Harold Bertz, Director of Commercial Marketing
Beginning as a concept, moving into a pilot program and now available to the industry, the Red Angus Association of America is pleased to introduce the Red Choice heifer development program. Modeled after the extremely successful Show-Me Select program in Missouri, Red Choice incorporates vaccination, breeding and management protocols to create top-level bred heifers. The Red Angus female has long been considered the industry’s most-preferred; Red Choice will add another layer of management and planned mating to strengthen that value. Working closely with staff at the University of Missouri, RAAA staff has developed specific criteria to aid producers in developing high-quality replacement females. Beginning with vaccination protocol at weaning, heifers registered with RAAA or enrolled in the Feeder Calf Certification Program are eligible for enrollment in Red Choice. One of the unique features is a pelvic measurement and tract score. Sorting large groups of heifers based on their stage of puberty, as measured by tract score, can have a significant role in the success of early breeding. By sorting these heifers early, management decisions can be made quickly, cutting costs and increasing breeding success. Female replacement strategies can have a greater longterm effect on cowherd profitability than many other decisions made by cow-calf producers. Ranchers must evaluate long- and short-term effects of replacement choices and the combined sensitivity of market prices and the long-term reproductive integrity of their herds. Decision-making systems that focus only on the short-term effects of female replacement strategies do not measure such things as:
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reproductive soundness, replacement rate, comparative productive capacity between heifers and cows, death and morbidity rates, disease incidence, conception rates, comparative pregnancy distribution between heifers and cows, calving interval effects on weaning weight and prices, and effect of birth weight on dystocia and subsequent reproduction. Despite multiple publications outlining the various methods to increase ranch profitability through heifer development strategies, many ranchers have been slow to adopt methods that could significantly improve both genetics and profit. Because of the obvious potential to improve production, reproductive efficiency and individual ranch income, the Red Choice program for Red Angus and Red Angus commercial producers throughout the country allows them to focus on development of the replacement beef heifer. Selection and management of replacement beef heifers involve decisions that affect future productivity of an entire herd. Programs to develop heifers have therefore focused on the physiological processes that influence puberty. Age at puberty is most important as a production trait when heifers are bred to calve as 2-year-olds and in systems that impose restricted breeding periods. The number of heifers that become pregnant during their first breeding season and within a defined time period is correlated with the number that exhibit estrus early in the breeding season. The decision to breed heifers as yearlings involves careful consideration of the economics of production, and the
