THE FIRST STEP IN FINAL PRODUCT PRODUCTION
REPRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY:
CALVING EASE
In the spring of 1983 we implemented a program of stacking pedigrees to create a
calving ease product. This changed our focus from the show ring and performance to product
production for specific functions for the commercial cattle industry. We did this
by going back to the 18th century breeding concept "like begets like" to produce
a more predictable product.
Our System 1 cattle have been developed to create a genuine source of calving ease seedstock. The bulls we have used are stacked 4 and 5 generations deep in low birthweight EPDs. These bulls are then bred to cows with similar genetic makeup and production history of low actual birthweights. We feel very confident that we have developed a superior calving ease product, not just from our own experience, but from the reports of the many cattle operations that are presently using our products.
Today with the concern of excessive cow size that is developing in the industry, we see an expanded role for the S-1 cattle. System 1 bulls can not only be used for calving ease, but also as a way to maintain a more reasonable mature cow size. The cattle in our S-1 program are identified by a S1 at the end of their name.
Our S2 cattle are designed around moderate birth weight EPDs (less than 4 lbs. of birth EPD). System 2 cattle also give you the opportunity to add more growth to your cow herd without adding excessive birth weight. These cattle are identified by a S2 at the end of their name.
The two largest expenses in a cattle operation are cow maintance and bringing replacement females into production, whether one has a commercial or a seedstock operation. For the last 35 years we have collected an enormous amount of data, that we have used to improve our seedstock base. Below are listed the traits we feel are most important when evaluating reproductive efficiency.
1. Birth weight EPD
2. Acutal birth weights
3. Length of gestation
4. Dam's calving interval
5. Sires' daughters calving interval
6. Semen quality (sires must produce viable, freezable semen at a year of age).
7. Milk EPDs (we are very concerned with excessive milk or lack of milk)
8. Mature size EPD
9. Longevity
With the use of the genetics offered in this catalog, we have actually reduced birth weight, thereby reducing calving difficulty we have imporved performance and at the same time reduced mature size. We feel very confident that these two traits are most important in improving the longevity and reprodutive efficiency of the cow herd.
IMPROVING THE COMPOSITION OF THE FINAL PRODUCT:
If we look at growth EPDs as how quick we produce our product, then we must look at carcass EPDs as the kind of product we produce. Our goal at Green Garden is to produce the seedstock that will improve the composition of your final product.
Using carcass EPDs as a selection tool for the kind of product we produce, we have been aggressively stacking positive marbling EPDs in our cattle. In our 1999 Production Sale, 100% of our offering will have positive marbling EPDs or will have been sired by bulls with positive marbling EPDs.
The ability to grade choice or better and hang up a well muscled carcass is important to us all. We all know people who are eating less beef because of the inconsistency of the product available in the grocery store. We need to ask ourselves if we would buy any product on a regular basis that did not perform as expected. According to the 1995 National Beef Quality Audit, we need to produce at least 6% more prime product and 10% more average choice product to meet present and future demands for domestic and export trades.
The graph below, which was copied from the 1998 Fall Sire Summary, shows where our herd sires fall in the distribution of evaluated angus bulls in the United States for the marbling trait. The average marbling EPD for the Angus breed is +.05, which equated to a small 50 or halfway through the low choice grade.
The Bulls that Sell
The bulls we will be selling this year have been evalutated on a high roughage, low concen trate ration. We feel they express their genetic growth potential and structural soundness under this program and are ready for service.
Research indicates that EPDs for young bulls maybe as much as nine times more accurate for making selection decisions than adjusted weights and ratios. However, for a better undestanding of birth weight comparions, we have included, in our catalog, both the actual birth weights and the age of dam on each lot. The reason for doing this is to give you the opportunity to convert birth weights to a two-year-old basis, using the chart below:
Birth Weight Adjustment Chart
5 year old cow through 10 years of age .........Subtract 6.7 lbs.
4 year old cow to 5 years of age ....................Subtract 5.6 lbs.
3 year old cow to 4 years of age ....................Subtract 4.1 lbs.
2 1/2 year old to a 3 year old .........................Subtract 2.5 lbs.
2 year old to 2 1/2 year old ............................Subtract 0 lbs
For example, take a 5 year old cow that had an 86 pound calf, to convert this calf's weight to a 2 year old basis, you would subtract 6.7 lbs., in other words the same calf out of a 2 year old heifer would have weighed 79.2 lbs.
Research also indicates that the normal calf crop out of a sire can vary as much as 3
deviations on either side of his birth weight average. If a sire's calves averaged 84 lbs.
at birth, and the normal deviation for birth weight is 10 lbs., you could expect most of
the calves born to weigh between 74 and 94 lbs. Study also indicates that a small
percentage of his calves could fall 2 deviations from the average, or from 64 lbs. to 104
lbs. It is also possible to have an occational birth 3 deviations from the average, or
from 54 to 114 lbs. As stated above, the tendency is for cattle to breed more like
their EPDs than their individual records.
The cattle highlighted in grey boxes throughout our catalog are either positive marbling EPD cattle or are sired by positive marbling EPD bulls. Ultra-sound scoring for marbling will be available sale day.