We see our role in the cattle business as being seedstock producers. That is, we produce bulls that help the ordinary or commercial cattleman produce better cattle to sell. “Better”, however, has different meaning for different people. In the past 41 years we have seen many changes in the cattle market and more are coming. Increasing emphasis on the quality of the food we eat has added responsibility to the cattleman’s job.
Listed here are the traits that we look for in our cattle and that we consider very important. Since artificial insemination allows us to use genetics from all over the angus world it is important to have goals in making selections. And these are ours.
1) Perhaps most important to us is calving ease. Without a live calf everything else is worthless. And several things are measurable---birth weight, calf head size, pelvic size in the cow. Red angus requires that all calves be weighed at birth and only a few breeders measure calf head size and cow pelvic size. We only do the first. In the last 25-30 years we have worked hard to select small calving bulls. And in the last 20 years our calf birth weights (both cows and first calf heifers) are as follows--- 50% in the 50-60 pound range, 30-35% in the 60-70 pound range, and about 12% in the 70-80 pound range. Less than 3% of our calves weigh over 80 pounds at birth. Sometimes we like a bull for breeding, but if he himself weighed over 80 pounds at birth we hesitate to use him until we see what his calves are going to weigh---in red angus the information about a bull’s calves will be readily available.
2) Fertility. This is a more difficult trait to measure with numbers, but it is obvious to the observant cattleman. We like for our females to be ready to breed after 16 months of age, although we don’t breed them until older. And we like for our bulls to be the same. Early sexual maturity is a measurable trait. And we like for a cow to wean 60% of her body weight in her calf and to be bred back herself.
3) Carcass quality. The last 41 years have seen many changes in the beef market place and the most significant is the emphasis on carcass quality. Cattlemen are already being paid a premium for more highly marbled beef. The USDA quality grades of Select, Choice, and Prime are based on marbling and are keys to how cattlemen are paid for what they produce. For us that means looking for and using bulls that are very high in marbling and that pass that on to their progeny. Angus are a high marbling breed anyway, the best of the British and Continental breeds. And we like to select individuals that excel in that quality. We like to guarantee our bull customers that the calves a bull will produce will be high in marbling and qualify for premiums.
We have other goals, of course. Docility is important, milk production in the cow, scrotal size in the bull calves, udder structure, etc. But the three above are important. Cow size is usually not important to us. Either in the cow or the bull. A large cow is an inefficient cow. Expensive to maintain and difficult to breed back. And large bulls produce large cows. As mentioned above---we like for a cow to produce 60% of her body weight in the calf at weaning. For a 1400 pound cow that’s an 840 pound calf at weaning----difficult to do on cow milk and grass. For a 1200 pound cow that’s 720 pounds and for a 1100 pound cow 660 pounds. Our “ideal mother cow” should weigh between 1080 and 1150 pounds and maintain herself and her calf and breed back within 60 days of calving.
Listed here are the traits that we look for in our cattle and that we consider very important. Since artificial insemination allows us to use genetics from all over the angus world it is important to have goals in making selections. And these are ours.
1) Perhaps most important to us is calving ease. Without a live calf everything else is worthless. And several things are measurable---birth weight, calf head size, pelvic size in the cow. Red angus requires that all calves be weighed at birth and only a few breeders measure calf head size and cow pelvic size. We only do the first. In the last 25-30 years we have worked hard to select small calving bulls. And in the last 20 years our calf birth weights (both cows and first calf heifers) are as follows--- 50% in the 50-60 pound range, 30-35% in the 60-70 pound range, and about 12% in the 70-80 pound range. Less than 3% of our calves weigh over 80 pounds at birth. Sometimes we like a bull for breeding, but if he himself weighed over 80 pounds at birth we hesitate to use him until we see what his calves are going to weigh---in red angus the information about a bull’s calves will be readily available.
2) Fertility. This is a more difficult trait to measure with numbers, but it is obvious to the observant cattleman. We like for our females to be ready to breed after 16 months of age, although we don’t breed them until older. And we like for our bulls to be the same. Early sexual maturity is a measurable trait. And we like for a cow to wean 60% of her body weight in her calf and to be bred back herself.
3) Carcass quality. The last 41 years have seen many changes in the beef market place and the most significant is the emphasis on carcass quality. Cattlemen are already being paid a premium for more highly marbled beef. The USDA quality grades of Select, Choice, and Prime are based on marbling and are keys to how cattlemen are paid for what they produce. For us that means looking for and using bulls that are very high in marbling and that pass that on to their progeny. Angus are a high marbling breed anyway, the best of the British and Continental breeds. And we like to select individuals that excel in that quality. We like to guarantee our bull customers that the calves a bull will produce will be high in marbling and qualify for premiums.
We have other goals, of course. Docility is important, milk production in the cow, scrotal size in the bull calves, udder structure, etc. But the three above are important. Cow size is usually not important to us. Either in the cow or the bull. A large cow is an inefficient cow. Expensive to maintain and difficult to breed back. And large bulls produce large cows. As mentioned above---we like for a cow to produce 60% of her body weight in the calf at weaning. For a 1400 pound cow that’s an 840 pound calf at weaning----difficult to do on cow milk and grass. For a 1200 pound cow that’s 720 pounds and for a 1100 pound cow 660 pounds. Our “ideal mother cow” should weigh between 1080 and 1150 pounds and maintain herself and her calf and breed back within 60 days of calving.