January 10, 2023
Dickinson Research Extension Center Updates

The Bull Buying Season is Here



Douglas Landblom
DREC Beef Cattle and Integrated Systems Specialist
Dickinson Research Extension Center
Office: 701-456-1109; Mobil: 701-690-8245

Selecting bulls from seedstock producers for the upcoming breeding season will have long-term ramifications on cow herd performance and profitability. Cow-calf producers across the US are pro-generators that supply calves to the cattle feeding industry, which subsequently supplies the beef packing industry with market ready steers and heifers. For the cattle industry to be successful, seedstock producers set genetic progress in motion for the entire industry and cow-calf producers generate a massive supply of nutritious beef necessary for the nation’s food security as well as export supply for a hungry world.
 
As a cow-calf producer, where do I begin selecting bulls to replace my current bulls? The process really beings by evaluating those areas that need strengthening without sacrificing current genetic progress. One of the best tools for evaluating a cow herd’s strengths and weaknesses is to have the cow herd enrolled in a cow herd appraisal program such as the North Dakota Extension Cow Herd Appraisal Program – CHAPS. Programs such as CHAPS provide the cow-calf producer with valuable information about their herd and assist with identifying areas where improvement can be made. The program provides individual cow and lifetime progeny performance, and ranks cows in the based on their most probably producing ability (MPPA), which is useful for identifying individual cows that have shown less than desirable production performance. With this information in hand, determining herd weakness that can be improved through bull purchases becomes much easier. Unfortunately, producers with herds that are not enrolled in a cow herd appraisal program need to do their own calculations and appraisal.
 
Bull sale catalogs are packed with a lot of information on each individual bull and young sire EPD’s, which are calculated using the bull’s records and ancestral performance records. Well before the sale, potential buyers need to do their homework to determine how much they can afford to pay for bulls and the performance necessary to make genetic improvement. Compare bulls in a given sale or between different sales to identify several bulls that meet your criteria for making genetic improvement in your herd, because the bull you want may cost more than you are willing to pay. Genetic trait heritabilities are passed down from one generation to the next generation and the rate that genetic change can be made is variable. However, do not overlook areas that are lowly heritable such as fertility and stayability. These lowly heritable traits are extremely important and are improved upon over time. Growth traits such as weaning and yearling weight are moderately heritable and extremely important to herd profitability as well as herd fertility.
 
When buying bulls for calf production it is easy to focus on calving ease direct, weaning weight, and yearling weight values and ratios. However, it is very important to also pay attention to carcass and muscling values that include carcass weight, ribeye area, marbling, and fat depth, because these traits are highly important to calf buyers that grow, finish, and market the calves’ cow-calf producers sell. Balancing traits is important and helps avoid over emphasizing one particular area, which can lead to less than desirable long-term effects.

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