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Female selection key to herd quality |
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By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition |
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May 30, 2002 -- What does a Texas A&M professor/Extension beef cattle specialist really think about comments that indicate ranching is a hobby or recreation? "I take great argument with all those people who say a lot of you are in business for a hobby; a lot of you are in business for recreation, shared Dr. Larry Boleman. "I'll tell you, it's a lot of recreation to be out there struggling with that calf at 3 a.m., trying to pull it out of that cow with the cow kicking you and crap falling on your head. "Then, you call the vet and he charges you $200 to wake up, another $100 to come and another $100 to fix the problem for a calf who's worth about $250. That's great recreation!" Boleman gained the crowd's attention with this assessment as he began his presentation at the recent Kollege of Knowledge offered at the Santa Roundup. Boleman addressed economic considerations for cattle selection in purebred cow herds at the event held at the Double S Ranch in Schulenburg. Much of the same criteria used for bull selection can be used for female selection, Boleman said, and the better the cow, the more profit is in the rancher's future. The professor/specialist presented a chart for the "Economic Effects for Genetic Trait Selection and Management Practice Application" which he urged producers to refer to for a real picture of "profit or loss." "We've always said, if you put the bull with this cow, you raise better heifers you can put back in the herd," he said. Most of the time, the conversation is about choosing the right bull for your herd, but Boleman said the choice of cows is equally important in the long run. "It's exactly like selecting a better bull. The reason we give so many talks and spend so much time on the bull is because we can put one bull to 20 to 40 cows. So if we're going to get 20 to 40 calves out of her, it's very important we don't make a mistake there," said Boleman. He talked about culling, and said that if a cow does not get pregnant for a couple of years, it's probably time to get rid of her. Another criteria is the weaning weight of the calf. "In essence, the percentage of calves weaned per cow returns in dollars is twice as much as growth rate, and 20 times as much as carcass merit for comparative increments of improvement," he added. He said the reasons for a cow failing to wean a calf include failure of the cow to settle, stillbirths, deformities, abortion, accident, disease or predators. All must be considered when culling your herd. Like most experts in the field, Boleman referred to good recordkeeping practices as being one of the most important parts of having a good herd and good cows. Nutrition and management programs were cited as a necessity to demand top dollar at the marketplace. Along with all of the other things to consider, Boleman said visual appraisal is still very important in female evaluation. Even with all the "mechanical devices" available to determine things such as composition of gain, degree of muscling, skeletal dimension and structural correctness, along with masculine and feminine characteristics, the trained eye is still the best for selection. With U.S. herds documented to be at an average of less than 40 head, Boleman said selection is that much more important for the bottom line of a producer. "The national average is about 35 to 38 cows in the average herd. About 65 to 85 percent of producers, depending on which standards you're looking at, had cows in herds less than 50 head. The predominate figure you come up with is about 20 to 30 cows," he added. With herds this size, producers need to make educated choices when purchasing cows in order to keep their bottom line in the black. |
