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Texas is a huge beef state. In fact, it is one of the leading beef-producing states in the country. Right here in Victoria County alone, we have about 60,000 mother cows in production that add about $30 million to the agricultural income. All these mother cows require the right genetics to produce and achieve herd goals.

Many folks overlook the importance of bull genetics, and selection is crucial for herd genetic success. You cant tell everything you need to know about a bull just by looking at him. There are more tools than ever at your disposal in the beef industry. We will explore just a few in this article.

When looking for a new herd sire, many bull buyers get lost in all the data and acronyms that go along with selling purebred bulls today. In the past, most buyers evaluated bulls just by looking at them or by comparing them with other bulls in the pen. Today, bull breeders have a lot more data to offer buyers who want it, in addition to those who still like to just look.

Initially, that data included birth, weaning and yearling weight, adjusted for the sex of the calf; since males are heavier, and for the age of dam, due to the influence of milk production higher in older cows, lower in younger ones. Similarly, records on other traits such as carcass, fertility, longevity and docility were also collected.

About 60 years ago, it was realized that bulls and females could be evaluated for their actual genetic value in these traits. Each animal in the breed could be selected on their true genetic merit. These values were called Expected Progeny Differences or EPD. The EPD is calculated for each trait and for each animal in the breed. The EPD is reported in the units of the trait measured, for example pounds for weight. Each EPD also has an accuracy value that tells you how close the EPD really is to the animals true genetic value. It has made accurate selection to improve performance very easy.

Using DNA, beef cattle geneticists have been using genetic markers to improve the accuracy of the EPDs from young animals, especially young bulls, so that they can be selected earlier for traits of importance. They are called Genomic EPD or GE-EPD. Now, even young animals can be selected and used reliably to improve our genetics. This earlier selection also reduces bull development costs since the better bulls are identified earlier and more average and below average bulls are culled. Selecting younger bulls will improve selection success by reducing the amount of time between when a bull is selected for breeding and his calves actually hit the ground.

Select bulls using EPDs to improve traits that are of economic value to your operation. Select bulls that have a good health program and have passed a breeding soundness examination.

For more information, please call the Victoria County Extension Office at (361) 575-4581.

Matt Bochat is a County Extension Agent Ag/Natural Resources Victoria County Texas A&M Agrilife Extension.

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Herd genetics begins with the bull | Agriculture | victoriaadvocate.com - Victoria Advocate

This entry was posted on April 2, 2022 at 1:45 am and is filed under Longevity Genetics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |