Six Vital Questions You Must Ask Before Buying a Herd SireBy Tom Elliott
The purchase of a herd sire is a major investment, both financially and in terms of the genetic makeup of your herd. Even though a bull only contributes 50 percent of his genetic material to each calf, the number of calves he sires dramatically increases the magnitude of a bull’s contribution. Furthermore, producers tend to place greater selection intensity on bulls because they select a smaller percentage of bulls, change bulls more often than cows, and can cull more bulls. In fact, the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center estimates that 80 to 90 percent of genetic improvement in a herd comes from bull selection.
Under the best of circumstances, there is always some risk that the herd sire you purchase won’t accomplish your goals. We’ve all experienced these disappointments. To help reduce that risk I’ve put together this article exploring some of the most important questions you need to ask prior to purchasing a new herd sire. I’ve also asked a number of my colleagues in the seedstock industry, as well as other leading experts, to share their thoughts in order to give you the best possible advice and balanced perspective. While this article is intended for registered cattle breeders, most of this material is also applicable to commercial producers.
Over the years when I was at the N-Bar, we bought many herd sires ranging in value from $2500 to $120,000, and most were good genetic additions to our herd. However, we made a few mistakes along the way. I want to share some of those mistakes with you, and offer solutions to help you avoid making the same mistakes. I also want to give you some common sense guidelines to increase the effectiveness of your herd sire purchase, and to help you add value to your breeding program.
The most common mistake producers make, as outlined in our previous article, Five Costly Bull Selection Mistakes and Their Solutions, is “Failing to Establish Goals.”
Before you do anything, you have to determine your priorities and what you want to accomplish within your herd. Random selection of bulls will result in random production results. Begin by assessing your herd’s present strengths and weaknesses. Then select the breed, a breeder, and finally a bloodline and the specific bull that will take your herd in the direction of your goals.
Lee Leachman of Leachman Cattle Company in Billings, MT agrees with the notion of choosing a breed, selecting a breeder, then selecting a bull. Further, he states, “One of the first things is determining priorities in terms of breeding objectives, and having a sense of where cow herd is today and where you want it to be tomorrow. Pick the breed that will do that for you. Then the tough part starts.”
Determining Breeding Objectives
1)What are my breeding objectives?
Planning for success in the cattle business requires the thoughtful development of goals. Begin by assessing your present strengths and weaknesses. The benchmark competitive production parameters such as cost per pound of calf weaned per cow exposed to bulls, calving interval or yearling weights.
Develop a vision related to the direction of the industry, your personal view of the landscape and the resource base to be managed. State this vision in terms of specific goals, then develop strategies which can move you toward those goals.
When buying a herd sire, “pick breeders who have a program in the direction that you believe in,” says Lee Leachman.
“Select herd bulls from a program like yours or like you would like yours to be,” agrees Dave Nichols of Nichols Farms in Iowa. “Then choose a bull that excels in traits you want in your herd.”
“In genetics all animals revert back to the breed average and average of the herd which bred them,” continues Nichols. “For example, if the breeder you are buying from has no selection criteria for udder soundness, the chances of getting a bull that will improve that trait in your herd are slim - even if his dam has a good udder. You are better off buying a son of an average udder quality cow from a herd that emphasizes this trait if indeed udder quality was one of the traits you are looking to improve.”
Nichols says to closely analyze selection criteria of a herd before you ever start looking at the bull. EPDs are the best tools to verify the traits that relate to calving ease, growth, maternal traits and carcass.
As pointed out earlier, random selection of bulls will result in random production results. Similarly, selection for too many performance traits will reduce the likelihood of successful results. To significantly improve production efficiency and income, registered and commercial producers need to document their present level of production and establish goals for five to 10 years in the future. An effective long-range goal answers three questions: What do you want to accomplish? Why do you want to do it? How will you accomplish the goal?
Performance of any cow herd must be measured in both economic and production terms. Beef production on a commercial scale is generally a function of growth management. The four major growth responses that can be impacted and most easily measured are:
- Percentage of calf crop weaned per cow exposed.
- Length of calving season
- Weaning weight
- Yearling weight.
Factors that contribute to total growth in the herd are reproduction, survival rate, genetic potential and environment.
Other genetic selection traits that are critical to the production environment are:
- Milk production.
- Mature size.
- Ability to store energy (fleshing ability).
- Adaptability to stress.
- Calving ease.
- Lean yield and carcass traits.
Selecting a Breed
2)What breed of bull will best help me achieve my objectives?
In this article, we have assumed that you have already made this choice. At the N-Bar, we recommended Black Angus as your foundation breed. But many breeds offer a wide range of positive qualities. Study those qualities and select the breed that will bring your herd closest to realizing your goals. Then move on to the complex challenge of selecting a breeder and a herd sire.
Selecting a Breeder
3)Does the breeder have a line-breeding philosophy that coincides with my own?
“Line breeding is the acid test for all genetics,” says Jeff Ward, managing partner of Sinclair Cattle Company in Pennsylvania. “There are 4,000 genetic differences in genetic brothers. For us to improve we need to close the gap on genetic differences. Line breeding is a format that helps us reach that final goal.”
“Heterosis,” continues Ward, “is the benefit you get from cross-breeding, and it is free. It has been lost with the mongrelization of the nation’s cowherds. There is little in this business that is free. Take advantage of operations that help perpetuate the amount of heterosis you can receive through line-breeding. Those are added dollars in your pocket.”
4)How long has the breeder been in business?
“The average Angus breeder’s life is seven years,” says Ward. “Look to an institution that has weathered the test of time, and has stayed afloat during the ups and downs of the cattle market. That’s a breeder that has a plan to do their best to create a product that is genotypically sound.”
Ward names Angus operations like the N-Bar, Jorgensens, Gartner-Denowh, Dale Davis and Graham’s as breeders who have had a true commitment to genetic improvement.
5)Does the breeder give me a good explanation of where his program is headed?
“Pick a breeder who will provide you with lots of reliable information in the form of performance testing information,” says Lee Leachman. “Write for a breeder’s information catalogue or brochure.”
“There are dramatic differences out there among breeders,” says Leachman. “Some have a clear idea of where their program is going, and they explain it to you. Others don’t explain it to you and often don’t have a good idea. If you can’t get a good explanation of where a breeder is going, it may be because he doesn’t know.”
Jeff Ward says do your homework. Study the pedigrees of bulls that make contributions in our business, and seek out those breeders for advice. Dave Nichols says read catalogues and advertisements.
“Look at what the breeder is presenting,” says Nichols. “If he’s showing you a photo of a show bull, but promoting ‘range-ready, proven young bulls’- what is he promoting? What are you really going to get from his program?” Nichols says call or write breeders who seem to have a program you have an interest in, and ask them to send you all the information on their herd.
“Do your research well before you’re going to need the bull,” says Nichols. “Not ‘let’s see what’s coming up at the sale this Thursday.’“
6Does the breeder I’m considering buying from have a reputation for integrity?
“Don’t buy a herd bull from anyone you wouldn’t trust with your credit card,” says Dave Nichols. “You should only buy a herd bull from a breeder in whom you have total trust. You need to know that their records are accurate and honest, their birth weights are honest - because, in effect, you are handing your checkbook to that person. That sire can have a tremendous effect on your financial outcome for years.”