Heifer Selection and the Modern Beef Cow by Nate Smith, General Manager As we prepare for the upcoming 2021-2022 seedstock and feeder calf sale season, it’s worthwhile to look at how and why female selection has evolved in past years. More importantly, it seems like an appropriate moment to look at how the genetics and performance of females within the beef cattle system are critical to our industry’s resilience and success in an ever-changing, consumer-driven market.
the lowest production cost and the most profit potential. In the past, producers have used tools like dam history, heifer birthdate, phenotype and weaning weight to make their replacement female selections. Producers that buy heifers may purchase females almost randomly, without anything more than cost per head being their main consideration. These selection metrics vary from one operation to the next, often with limited commonality.
More than in any other agricultural industry, the production of a beef female is central to the success of a cow-calf operation. The ideal beef cow is in production for eight to 10 years, while the average breeding bull makes a genetic contribution for an average of four to five years. Although our focus is often on sire selection, we can see the dam is a key contributor to an operation’s genetics and can have a greater impact on long-term profitability. So, why have we relied so heavily on sire selection rather than on replacement females? There is no simple answer, but three things come to mind: tools to measure and manage data, cost and time.
We must also consider, even though most producers manage animals in a unique environment, they are typically working to produce the same general end product sold by quantity and quality. While every operation has its reasons to use different methods, it may be time to look at new tools and technologies that allow for at least one piece of the selection rubric to be standardized: genetic selection. This type of selection tool will allow producers to focus on a specific animal’s genes designed to move the operation forward compared to their peers, no matter the environment.
To understand this, we need to look at the common female selection protocols. Producers either rely on tradition or science. Both have a similar end goal: find a female with
Genetic are what we’ve been attempting to measure using traditional heifer selection practices, but in the past, we could not separate out management practices and environ-
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RED ANGUS Magazine October 2021
