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Is Modern Technology Worth It?

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Beef cattle breed associations are proving that they can, and will service the beef industry far beyond the seedstock sector. The American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) provides many services to the commercial cattle producer. As any business owner knows, you are not successful unless your customers are successful and satisfied. So why not provide the AGA members and their customers the tools necessary to be successful?

The beef industry has known for years the importance of collecting data at the seedstock level but is also finding the value in gathering information for commercial operations as well. Collecting information can help find the management practices that are producing the best results as well as the inefficiencies in the operation. Addressing those inefficiencies is sometimes as simple as cutting spending, other times, it means using modern technology to help manage the operation. Then there is always the conversation that starts with the question, “Is it worth it?”

Before answering that question, we first must consider what modern technologies are available to the commercial cattle producer. The answer, Smart Select Service and the Maternal Edge DNA panel, both provided through the AGA. Smart Select Service and the Maternal Edge DNA panel complement each other very well concerning breeding selection and herd management.

Smart Select Service gives the commercial producer the power to select the best breeding stock they have to be the future leading females. Our visual evaluation of animals and our intuition does serve us well when selecting high-quality animals. However, there are those unforeseen traits that can be discovered by using Smart Select Service. Measuring weights, tracking growth, following top producing bloodlines, and many other traits can tell a producer so much about their cows. In these past few years, bull prices have stimulated the question, “Are these bulls I’m
investing in truly producing the quality of calves I have selected him for?” Tracking the progeny’s performance will show what that bull or bulls are actually producing. Smart Select Service will manage the herd data, but how do you know the program is worth having? The data collected is run in the National Cattle Evaluation along with all the registered cattle from breed associations in the multi-breed evaluation. What that means is the commercial herds will have genetic tools which are more accurate because they are compared against more animal’s performance data. This program opens up so many opportunities for producers. So many incredible things are discovered from data that puts thoughts into a different perspective and redirects how cattle are managed. One of the most interesting facts of Smart Select Service is that it is available to any breed of cattle. This is possible because the AGA runs the data through the multi-breed evaluation.

The Maternal Edge DNA Panel is a great tool to  follow up with Smart Select Service. The low-density DNA panel is designed to select Gelbvieh-influenced females to be the top replacement heifers. The Maternal Edge DNA profile evaluates heifers on six traits: calving ease, maternal calving ease, weaning weight, yield grade, marbling, and carcass weight.

DNA testing tells us what our eyes fail to see when we are standing in person looking at that animal. DNA testing is becoming more important because it is verification. As cattle producers head to bull sales, they see more bulls with Genomic-Enhanced EPDs (GE-EPDs). When producers are buying young bulls with GE-EPDs, they are buying bulls will more accurate EPDs than a bull without GE-EPDs. Some commercial producers now expect to see the GE-EPDs and will only buy bulls with genetic testing. So if producers expect to see the genetic information on their bulls, why should producers settle for anything less on the females in their herd. The most elite females and males, AI sires and donor dams, have DNA testing to anticipate that their genetics are going to be very repeatable and predictable. If the beef industry follows the example of the pork and poultry industry, advancing genetic progress will become the forefront of every selection decision.

To answer the initial question, “Is it worth it?” When looking at the initial investment, Smart Select Service is only a $1 per head. Now that seems like a reasonable enrollment fee doesn’t it? But is that really the only interpretation of that question, the initial investment? Another way to answer that question is to think about the value of getting to know each individual animal. If a producer knows each animal and has the phenotype and genomic data to back up breeding and management decisions to become more efficient, what value can you place on that?

The Cattle Business: You Get Out of It What You Put Into It by Myron Edelman

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Do your cattle sell for the average price? Do you ponder the thought of why some cattle sell for more than other cattle selling on the same day, that are seemingly the same? The better question is, what steps are you taking to ensure your cattle are reaching their full marketable value?

The fundamental value drivers of cattle health, weight, growth, efficiency and carcass value really do not change. However, words like “value-added” have taken on many different appearances over time. Most of us remember the beginning of USDA process verified programs (PVP). The most common PVP was source and age verification that once automatically added dollars to the bottom line. Now that age verification is less of an issue, it is much more common to see documentation of certifications playing a role in the final price of cattle. Those certifications may include: certified all-natural, humane handling, or documented vaccination protocols, which are certainly all common practices developed over recent years. Perhaps, what is more interesting is that fewer producers capitalize on programs that set them apart from the average when
cattle prices are at the highest point. As markets soften, ranchers are more likely to take extra steps to ensure their cattle bring the highest dollar amount possible.

Since prices peaked for the current market cycle back in 2014, ranchers and farmers are continuing to look for new mechanisms for putting distance between their cattle and the market average. What about science and prediction? Perhaps the most beneficial strategies for building prestige for producing the most sought after feeder cattle that demand better than average price or reputable high-level replacement females that garner premiums in the market can be found through genetic selection.

The American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) can assist producers with tools for management and genetic improvement through Smart Select Service (SSS). Recording the data points is simple and something that most producers already do as routine management practices. Examples of data points that producers need to record to benefit from SSS are individual cow identification numbers and birth dates, from their ranchers can record as much information as is suitable for their own operations.

What predictive information is provided by SSS? Feeder profit index (FPI) is indicative of how feeder cattle will perform in the feedyard. FPI is calculated from EPDs that most producers use in the bull buying process. Cow-calf producers can compare their cattle to the rest of the Gelbvieh and Balancer® population for FPI and make the decision of applying selection pressure for traits like growth, marbling and feed efficiency that directly impact the FPI measured in their cowherd through SSS. The mother cows on your ranch can also achieve a STAY score when enrolled in SSS; that is indicative of cow productivity over time. Applying selection pressure toward STAY EPD and the $Cow index will help increase that STAY score. As you can see, obtaining the ability to measure your cows’ genetic progress may speed the rate of genetic advancement and keep pace with the Gelbvieh and Balancer population, which is steadily improving, indicated in the graphics. Genetic information along with routine management information can all be recorded in $mart Select Service available through AGA.

I think we can all agree that it takes more than one small practice to build the high-quality distinction cattle producers are striving to achieve. A modern beef industry demands sound practices in herd health protocols, historical performance as well as genetic advancement. Why not allow the AGA to assist you, through SSS, in documenting your sound management procedures and genetic progress? If you put into your cowherd the power of information, what you get out of  your cowherd can be the difference between getting lost in  the mass of average cattle and being recognized and paid for supplying the best possible cattle on the market.

A Young Producer’s Perspective by Morgan Winchester

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Growing up in the center of cow-calf country, I have gained respect and understanding for cattle breeders and for the amount of time and the work put into each calving season. I’m also reminded that I am thankful for the Gelbvieh breed because I have learned the importance of raising the right breed fit for the environment. Choosing the right breed for an operation will help make your herd best for the goals and purposes you set for your operation.

I have grown up on our family’s farm that was started by my great-grandpa and has been passed down to family members since then. My uncle currently runs the farm with the help of my younger brother and cousin. We now run around 200 head of registered and commercial Gelbvieh and Balancer® cattle. It is a family farm where we all contribute to helping out any way we can, not only do we raise cattle but each of the grandkids show at both national and local fairs. All my life I’ve grown up around Gelbvieh cattle and have learned the ins and outs of the breed from the cow-calf operation standpoint to the showing standpoint as well. With all that being said, that’s why I know and believe that the Gelbvieh breed is one the best choices you can make putting it in your herd. Gelbvieh can have such a significant impact in the cow-calf industry and to the producers. Here in Missouri, we have warm summers and cold winters and some unpredictable weather changes in-between, Gelbvieh cows adapt easily to the different weather. The most important thing about putting this breed into your cow-calf operation is their maternal qualities that include fertility, milk and calving ease. Gelbvieh were used in Germany as milk cows before they were brought over to the United States, which makes sense that they have a good milk yield. Not only is Gelbvieh good from the mothering standpoint but also in the growth and replacement side too. The breed is also known for their weaning and yearling growth as well. Not to mention they are known for more pounds of calf weaned per cow. Now, why would you not want this breed in your cow-calf operation?

I have witnessed first hand this breed having a positive impact on our family’s herd. So when it came time for me to start my own herd, there was no doubt in my mind that I would start my herd with Gelbvieh cattle. That year I took out a USDA loan and bought my first few cows to start my herd. From there, I watched the amazing abilities of this breed and got to witness it in my operation. One vivid memory was when I watched one my first-calf heifers give birth to twins in the middle of winter. To most producers, red flags would start popping up in their head when I said a first-calf heifer having twins in the midst of winter. My uncle, cousin, and brother went out and moved the new mom and babies into the barn to keep them warm and he watched them as the days went on. Him and I watched them grow day by day. We watched a new mother claim, raise and care for both of her calves. From this experience and many others, is why I am confident in the Gelbvieh breed and the positive influence and impact it can make in the cow-calf industry and a producer’s herd. With their natural abilities and traits, there’s no doubt that Gelbvieh cattle would make a difference in anyone’s cow-calf operation.

Breed Associations: Thing of the Past or Key to the Future? by Kari White

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Any cattle producer knows that margins are getting increasingly tighter even in the most successful beef operations. Savvy producers are constantly assessing inputs into their business, looking for places to become more efficient. It’s at times like these breeders may ask whether being part of a breed association worth the cost.

Breed associations in the United States formed in the early 1900s as a way to keep track of pedigrees for purebred animals. Since that time, breed associations have evolved to store and process huge amounts of data used for large-scale genetic evaluation on every animal in the database. Such evaluations are beneficial for every sector of the beef industry, as high performing seedstock for economically relevant traits can speed genetic improvement in commercial animals bound for the food supply chain. Economically relevant traits have grown to include not only end-product traits, such as carcass weight or rib eye area but also include traits to measure cowherd efficiency, such as Stayability or Heifer Pregnancy. Such traits are vital to the bottom line of any operation, ensuring the most efficient animals possible remain in production. Efficiency in this way decreases the cost of production by decreasing input cost derived from developing heifers who don’t breed or buying replacements for animals that remain in the herd only a short amount of time. Further efficiency for commercial producers can be found in seedstock evaluations that are comparable across many breeds, such as the International Genetic Solutions multi-breed evaluation. Such evaluations make Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) comparable across breeds such as Gelbvieh and Balancer®, Simmental, Red Angus, and Limousin, making the search for the right bull even easier for commercial producers.

In addition to traditional genetic selection tools like EPDs, breed associations have begun to incorporate huge amounts of genomic data into their evaluations. Such data helps explain more variance for each trait, leading to higher accuracy selection tools for producers. High accuracy genomic-enhanced EPDs benefit commercial producers by reducing risk when it comes to buying young bulls for breeding. Genomic enhancements are often the equivalent of several calving records, making the performance of animals more predictable. Genomic data was traditionally cumbersome to incorporate into genetic evaluation because of the high volume of data. Now, however, large evaluations are moving toward methods to incorporate genomic data all in one step. This so-called “one step” method will revolutionize genetic evaluation by using both genetic and pedigree data at the same time, creating a more accurate evaluation for all animals. Such a transition is possibly the greatest advancement in beef cattle evaluation in over 20 years.

Breed associations are also transitioning to collect more data from the commercial sector. Traditionally, the data flow stopped after animals were sold into the commercial market. Now, however, commercial programs are being developed to collect performance data from the cowherd that can be used to give information on seedstock animal performance. All sectors of the industry can benefit greatly from this type of integration, as more information leads to more accurate selection tools to accelerate genetic improvement. Commercial producers can even add genomic information to their herds through ultra-low density panels that test for useful subsets of genomic data. Having both genetic and performance information all in one place on animals enables commercial producers to pull reports that indicate the performance of each cow and how useful they are to the herd.

With the ever changing markets, some seedstock breeders may be looking for alternatives to breed associations to calculate their selection tools, such as a within-herd evaluation. While such alternatives may seem appealing to some breeders, the argument could be made that such evaluations only increase expense for producers. Breed association evaluations have the benefit of cutting edge technology, input from industry leaders in animal breeding and genetics, constant quality control, and continuous research into novel
economically relevant traits. Very few (if any) within herd evaluations have access to such advancements. If the goal is to provide reliable, easy to use selection tools to the commercial producer for industry-wide genetic advancement, multi-breed association evaluations are an
obvious choice.

So, while some producers might be questioning if it’s worth the cost to be part of a breed association, maybe the real question is: can they afford not to be? More importantly, can our commercial beef industry stakeholders afford to miss out on the valuable genetic
information breed associations provide to maximize efficiency in their operations?