Category: Breeding

Planning, reality and planning

Date: Dec 13 2013

A few generations of artificial insemination (AI) and breeding up to greater accuracy in calving ease let us hit the target most of the time.

Beyond looks: Choosing replacements, part two

Date: Oct 04 2013

Today, we share the second part of Mark’s advice, focusing on the genetics and performance side of choosing replacement heifers.

Beyond looks: Choosing replacements, part one

Date: Oct 03 2013

A good replacement heifer is one of the most important investments a cattleman will make. There’s no doubt phenotype should be a top factor, it shouldn’t be the only one.

Competing with quality

Date: Sep 24 2013

From the bright lights and shining hardwood of a basketball court to the cedar shavings of an auction ring, if there’s one ideal Pat Goggins believes in, it’s competition. Growing up the youngest of six boys born to sharecroppers can do that. It could come from his love of athletics or his early start as one of the most sought-after purebred auctioneers in the country, but whatever gave him that drive, the result is somewhat of an empire around a Billings, Mont., base. At the center is the Vermilion Ranch, where adding value to customer cattle helped earn the 2013 Seedstock Commitment to Excellence Award at the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand annual conference in Palm Desert, Calif., Sept. 18-20.

Angus cattle performance showcased

Date: Aug 16 2013

Winners of the 2013 Carcass Data Project (CDP) didn’t leave a lot of room for outliers. The top three contestants’ data in the Kansas Angus Association (KAA) annual contest were of exceptional quality and within 3 percentage points, at 89%, 88% and 86% Prime and Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand acceptance. Final standings were based on the top three calves from any owner, taking gain and CAB acceptance into account. With eight of John Wendling’s nine steers qualifying for the CAB brand, he edged out the competition and took home top honors with a $500 cash prize.

Mapping herd improvement

Date: Aug 12 2013

When Daryl Strohbehn retired as an Iowa State Extension beef specialist there was one project he wasn’t ready to give up the reins to.
Since 2003, he has tracked the profit values for sires of calves enrolled in the Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity (TCSCF). “To make things work in the cattle business today, it takes information based on sound data,” Strohbehn says. “I enjoy figuring out what that sound data is and what it might tell us.” The cooperative’s Sire Profit Analysis has grown from data on 35 sires in the initial report to 3,451sires evaluated in 2012.

More than one path to cattle profit

Date: Jul 25 2013

Live chat wrap-up: DNA and genomics

Date: May 09 2013

We invited users to eat lunch at their computers or near their mobile devices and discuss genomics and DNA testing with us.

If not born wild or mishandled, dollars add up

Date: May 08 2013

Nobody wants cattle with too much “attitude,” but it takes focused genetics and handling to improve docility in a herd. “We’ve always tried to be careful about selecting bulls for disposition,” says Roger Jones, of Tri-Tower Farm, near Shenandoah, Iowa. “It’s very important to us to have a cowherd that we can handle, without a lot of wild calves in it. You know, the cattle do better in the feedlot when they aren’t wild.” Since he operates both enterprises, Jones knows how those issues carry from the field to the feedlot.

A Day in the Life of a Kansas Rancher

Date: May 07 2013

Today, Debbie Lyons-Blythe, who regularly updates her blog “Life on a Kansas Cattle Ranch,” gives us a snapshot of what Sunday looked like at their place.