  BeefTalk:
Bull Shopping Can Be a Success with the Right Data
By Kris Ringwall, Extension Beef Specialist,
NDSU Extension Service
The signs of a new breeding season are apparent at the North Dakota State
University Dickinson Research Extension Center. Heifers are scheduled for their
final prostaglandin injection on May 27; the mature cows on June 10. The dates
of these estrous-prompting hormone injections represent a 21-day shift to later
calving.
Injections for the cows may need to be split into two days, depending on
labor availability. We’ll use the same protocol for breeding cows that we’ve
used for several seasons. The cows will receive an injection of gonadotropin
releasing hormone (GnRH) on June 3, followed by the prostaglandin injection. The
cows are timed inseminated to Angus bulls and exposed to Hereford clean up bulls
as soon as they are out of standing heat.
Roughly half of our cows conceive by artificial insemination to Angus sires.
The rest are sired by the Hereford clean up bulls, which means the cleanup bulls
must be a significant part of our breeding program, not just another bull to get
the cows bred.
I’ll note here that there are many cattle breeds to select from. Our
selection of Angus or Hereford is not to indicate the superiority of any breed.
You need to select the breed that fits best with your enterprise and marketing
plan. The Dickinson Research Extension Center does need to breed cows in a
consistent, well-planned manner. A random assortment of various breeds wouldn’t
reflect the way most ranchers manage their herds and it wouldn’t help us in our
mission of research and demonstration.
Our marketing plans call for all the calves to be fed out to finish, and all
heifers retained until breeding. Extra heifers are sold as grass yearlings.
Bull selection starts with the breed. The Hereford, when used in a defined
crossbreeding system, allows the Center to capitalize on the effects of
heterosis and assures a calf, depending on sex, suitable for retained ownership
in the feedlot or as a replacement heifer. In selecting bulls to follow a timed
insemination program, the bulls need to sire calves capable of rapid growth, be
well-muscled, and have reasonable birth weights. In addition, the female calves
will be held for replacements and the steers fed until harvested in a commercial
feedlot.
A review of the American Hereford Association Average EPD values for young
sires was in order. The research center’s Hereford bull inventory lists 18 bulls
with an average birth weight EPD of 7.2 pounds, weaning weight EPD of 44 pounds,
yearling weight EPD of 75 pounds and milk EPD of 15 pounds.
For young bulls within the Hereford breed, the average birth weight EPD is
3.8 pounds, weaning weight EPD of 35 pounds, yearling weight EPD of 59 pounds
and milk EPD of 13 pounds .
The shift to a later calving date will limit calving checks to once a day.
Bulls with a lower value for birth weight and a greater yearling weight would be
beneficial. To accomplish this goal, before to traveling to the local bull sale,
I selected nine bulls with an average birth weight EPD of 4.4 pounds, weaning
weight EPD of 49 pounds, a yearling weight EPD of 82 pounds and milk EPD of 17
pounds. The bulls were also required to gain more than 3.5 pounds per day and
have a ribeye area per hundredweight of body weight greater than 1 square inch.
As with most desires, price and budget impact the end result and seven of
those nine bulls averaged $3,628 -- more than our budget could stand.
But, given the excellent set of records available at the sale, we still came
home with nine bulls, two that I had previously identified and seven additional
bulls. The bulls we purchased had an average birth weight EPD of 5.1 pounds,
weaning weight EPD of 48 pounds, yearling weight EPD of 80 pounds and a milk EPD
of 15 pounds. The nine bulls had an average of 1.13 square inch ribeye area per
hundredweight of body weight and an average daily gain of 3.18 pounds.
While the bulls weren’t exactly the bulls I set out to buy, the bull sale was
a success. We purchased an excellent set of bulls that will increase weight in
our calf crop to offset the later calving date while producing slightly lighter
calves at birth. As an additional benefit, the ribeye area per hundred weight of
the bulls went up, which should be a positive when the calves hit the rail.
Well the bull pen is full and it’s time to work the calves. May you find all
your ear tags.
Your comments are always welcome at
www.BeefTalk.com. For more information,
contact the North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement Association, 1133 State Avenue,
Dickinson, ND 58601 or go to
www.CHAPS2000.com on the Internet. In
correspondence about this column, refer to BT0140.
###
Source: Kris Ringwall, (701) 483-2427, kringwal@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu
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Graphic --
Hereford Bull EPD Values
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Birth Weaning Yearling Maternal
Weight Weight Weight Milk
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Breed Average* 3.8 35 59 13
Current Bulls 7.2 44 75 15
Purchased Bulls 5.1 48 80 15
Center Gain +2.1 +4 +5 0
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