Agricultural News
Marketing Goals, Drought Considerations Impact Wise Bull Selection
Fri, 02 Nov 2012 12:30:47 CDT
The 2011 drought which extended into 2012 has had an impact on many decisions that cow-calf producers have had to think about in the Southern Great Plains. Cow-calf specialist Bob Weaber of Kansas State University stresses the importance of making sire selections based on the producer's production goals, keeping in mind the impact of the continuing drought on resources.
"This last two-year cycle has really got people thinking back again about improving herd production efficiency and the benefits that heterosis brings to our commercial cow-calf sector particularly in terms of building cows that are more fit for our production environment."
Weaber says drought should figure into the bull-selection process, but producers need to consider their marketing end goals as well.
"If you sell calves on the rail in a grid-marketing system or value-based marketing system, end product traits like marbling, carcass weight, yield, and grade are relatively more important than growth traits to weaning, for instance."
Weaber says that the use of breed indexes to choose a sire is important, but he also feels that producers should match those index values with their own herd objectives upon selecting a sire.
If you would like to read more about bull selection considerations a fact sheet written by Dr. John Evans who was on the staff of Oklahoma State University is available by clicking here.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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