Oklahoma Farm Report - Beef Industry Has Dramatically Improved Due To Enhanced Genomics, Says Jarold Callahan, Express Ranches

Beef Buzz News

Beef Industry Has Dramatically Improved Due To Enhanced Genomics, Says Jarold Callahan, Express Ranches

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 08:54:37 CDT

Beef Industry Has Dramatically Improved Due To Enhanced Genomics, Says Jarold Callahan, Express Ranches The beef industry has come a long way from the days when Jarold Callahan would look at his colleagues in the OSU agronomy department with envy about their advanced breeding program.

Today the former OSU animal scientist is president of Express Ranches, a position he has held for the past 25 years.

Callahan recently visited with Ron Hays, Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director, about how the beef industry has adopted new technology and dramatically improved genetics.

This "review" comes as Callahan and his staff are preparing for their fall bull sale Oct. 5. Express Ranches is the largest producer of registered seed stock in the U.S. and they have claimed the top Angus breeder of the year award multiple times.

Callahan said one of the biggest technological advances for the cattle industry has been the introduction of genomic EPD's.

This is the best estimate of an animal's genetic value as a parent combining all available sources of information.

I was always a little jealous of the agronomy department of the advancement in the plant breeding they were able to do using genomics and DNA, Callahan said.

He noted the beef industry is now able to use that same technology and expects rapid progress and improvement.

What you really have with a genomically enhanced bull is that it should give you greater confidence the bull is going to produce more accurately regarding his EPD's, Callahan said.

It takes more of the guesswork out of the selection, he said.

We believe it is going to allow our industry to raise a better product and make our producers more profitable, he said.

Building the Express brand around improvements in the breeding technology has received full support from the man at the top, Bob Funk.

Bob has been super to work with and has a lot of vision, Callahan said.

The market will tell you how big you can be in the seed stock business, he said.

We sell between 1,500 and 1,800 bulls, Callahan said.

I've been here 25 years and a lot of guys wanted to buy an Angus bull just to make the calf crop black and polled, Callahan said.

Now that has really changed as we have customers come in here extremely sophisticated and know exactly what they want based on the animal's EPD's

The beef industry has come a long way as people have intense, concentrated breeding programs, he said.

Callahan said the demand created by Certified Angus Beef has been tremendous.

American beef from our producers is something that is sought after worldwide, he said.

I think beef is in a better position today with the consumer than it was 15 or 20 years ago, Callahan said.

Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear more of Ron's interview with Jarold Callahan.

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