Bull Buying Not So EZ!!!

Jim Selph, Desoto County Extension Director/Livestock Agent

This article is the first of a new addition to the South Florida Beef/Forage Programs Web Site that will be referred to as the "Article of the Month". With it being the beginning of the traditional bull buying season in Florida, an article on Bull Buying is appropriate and timely. A good friend of mine, advertises his bulls (I will not use his words here) as having Testicles, Capacity and Muscle. Three pretty good things to focus on when buying bulls for Florida conditions. But, there is just a great deal more to focus on than those three phenotypical expressions in bulls.

In developing the title for this article, I have taken a different spin on this issue than Dr. Rick Machen, Associate Professor and Extension Livestock Specialist, has done with his article titled: "Commercial Bull Selection Made EZ". This is an excellent article on Bull Selection and I would encourage you to read it. You can find it at the Texas A&M Animal Science Web Site by searching their Beef Publications. Rick, many of you may remember, was at Ona in the late 80's. He starts with step 1. Determine the goals and direction of the breeding program. From there he asks a question: Is all I need a masculine bovine to freshen my cows? If true, he then tells you to buy the cheapest bull available, regardless of the source, wait 283 days and if no new calves appear, sell the bull but do not complainyou got exactly what you paid for and were entitled to.

Yearling Angus Bulls

Here I want to take a different slant on the goals and direction of the breeding program. The trends of some of the Purebred Breeders, has been to pick one certain trait and focus nearly their entire effort in selection aimed at improving that particular trait. Some focused on size, others on sheath, and even others on milk, just to name a few, but usually a one-sided approach to selection. In the past, most of these either single or multiple trait selections were made by the Seedstock Producer, while the Commercial Cattlemen would typically use visual observation to make selections. Today, Commercial Cattlemen are beginning to look harder at selection traits. Commercial Cattlemen will have to exert care not to fall into the same single trait trap that some of the Purebred Breeders have at times fallen into.

The really hot ticket among many cattlemen is carcass traits. Carcass traits are important and carcass EPD's should be used. However, they should not be used exclusively in selection of bulls and replacement heifers. If you compare the traits for maternal vs. feedlot performance vs. carcass, you make a decision of their order based on this fact. If your cows will not work for you in your environment, then your problems are a lot larger than whether or not your steers perform in the feedlot or grade and have good carcass performance. Although carcass traits are highly heritable, there are environmental factors that influence whether or not the calf will express his potential. Extremes in weather (hot & cold), days on feed, ration quality and length of feeding can change the carcass performance of steers/heifers of the same genetics. Other things such as age of castration, implant protocol, and the length of the feeding period can do the same. In using carcass information, you must know what the industry target is for carcass characteristics:

Characteristics	Target	Acceptable Range

Slaughter Weight	1225	1025 - 1350
Carcass Weight	775	650-850
Ribeye Area (sq. in.)	14	11 - 15
Ribeye Area/ cwt. of Carcass wt.	1.8	1.7 - 1.9
Yield Grade (1 - 5)	2	1 - 3.5
Backfat Thickness (in.)	.4	.3 - .6
Quality Grade	Choice	Prime - Select
Marbling	Small	Slight - Abundant
Maturity	A	A

Most producers in Florida (90%--1998 South Florida Beef Forage Program Survey) raise their own replacement heifers. That being the case, the focus of genetic selections will come from the sire and certainly maternal traits should be considered. Birth weight, mature weight, and hip height are highly heritable. I am sure you are no different than I am in how we feel about a cow that will drop a calf and walk away from it. The cow that shows no maternal instincts is just not the type of brood cow that we want in our herd. We also have to think about performance both at the ranch and in the feedyard. Weaning weights, yearling weights, ADG, and feed conversion are just some of the performance traits. Although most producers put the greatest emphasis on weaning weights, yearling weights are also important as an indicator of the acceptable slaughter weight that the industry is trying to obtain.

I probably should have titled this article "Single Trait vs. Multiple Trait Selection of Herd Sires". I did not though, because I wanted cattlemen to focus more on the difficulty of the overall selection process and that it is not as easy and singular in focus as some would have it appear. That 1225 pound slaughter weight calf is produced by a frame 5-6 cow that in moderate flesh (bcs of 5) weighs 1200 - 1300 pounds and when mated to bulls of equivalent frame and weight. If we go strictly for a carcass trait, then we can quickly get in trouble with cows that are too large for the Florida environment. A good road map to selection would begin with a thorough understanding of where a cow herd is and where we want it to be in the future. Then use the tools available to select with, such as EPD's and actual animal performance, ratios, etc. The final selection tool should be visual appraisal of the animal. To accomplish the task of buying the right bull to go into the cow herd is not easy. The producers who have been the most successful have stayed to the middle of the road and with multiple traits in their selection process. Again I encourage you to look up Rick Machen's article and read it. If you can't find it, give me a call and I will make a copy for you. Good luck in your bull buying this fall.

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