Great Plains Heifer Development Program recaps first year
The Great Plains Heifer Development Program team held their first annual recap at Haskell Ag Laboratory near Concord, Neb. to round out and review year-one performance.
The event brought together consignors, local producers, industry partners and researchers to explore the possibilities for a second year of the program.
Program overview
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Beef Extension Educator Connor Biehler and Kiernan Brandt, professional service technician with Trans Ova Genetics and former Extension educator with South Dakota State University, spearheaded the program with a shared vision of optimizing and enhancing reproductive efficiency, longevity and heifer development.
This program is unique, as all heifers are consigned by producers looking to enhance their heifer development strategies and increase longevity in their females.
It offers a blend of services focused on the foundational principles of heifer selection, nutrition, management strategies, genetic tools for sire selection, estrus synchronization protocols, post-breeding management and more.
This year, 11 producers from across Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota consigned 132 heifers to the program, providing variability of type and kind for the program. Ultimately, this variability allows the program to look at more types and kinds and find what fits each indi-vidual herd best.
“The goal isn’t to create a new ‘tool’ but rather to help producers improve upon what they already have,” said Biehler.
Biehler and Brandt hope to continue to identify strengths and shortcomings of the cow herd in the Great Plains to figure out applicable methods to improve cattle longevity and decrease fallout of replacement heifers in every herd.
Data collected included frame score, pelvic measurements, reproductive tract scores prior to breeding, average daily gain (ADG) per pen and genomic-enhanced expected progeny differences to help with reproductive and nutrition decisions.
Performance review
From a nutrition standpoint, the program’s goal was to increase the plane of nutrition prior to breeding to help with breed-up. Heifers came in with body condition scores in the three to four range with a target to increase the score to six, which was met with an ADG of 1.67 pounds.
The goal is to produce replacement heifers which outperform their herd mates and are more likely to rebreed on time in the future.
“The only way to put pressure on a lowly-heritable trait like reproduction is to be okay with not getting 100 percent of females bred,” said Dr. Rick Rasby, UNL beef reproduction and management systems specialist.
The pregnancy rate reached in year one was slightly over the benchmark 87 percent with the overall conception rate after two cycles being 88 percent.
Next year, the plan is to incorporate the use of 14-day CIDRs, emphasizing consolidated group synchronization to tighten up the breeding window and increase conception rate.
Partnerships
Partnerships with Cattler, Cargill Animal Nutrition, Zoetis and ABS played a pivotal part in helping Biehler and Brandt make nutritional and breeding decisions in their program.
Representatives from each business spoke about this at the recap event.
Dr. Jarrett Proctor, Cargill animal nutritionist, covered nutritional development of beef heifers and explained how he helped Biehler tailor initial diet decisions to promote program goals.
The Cattler software system was used to track pen-by-pen performance and the animals’ overall health. The software tracks factors such as feed efficiency, how much is fed, ADG, cost and overall animal health and gives real-time updates and feeding recommendations, reducing issues caused by human error.
Zoetis’ Inherit Select Test was used for genomic testing to help with breeding decisions for each heifer. Along with speaking at the recap event, they cohosted a webinar with Biehler and Brandt to discuss their findings with producers.
Most of the semen used in the program was purchased from ABS.
“We knew many of the producers in the program and were familiar with the type and kind of their females,” said ABS Beef Sales Team Leader Stephanie Nelson. “We knew the kind of calves they were after and made sire recommendations based on this.”
Looking forward
The enrollment period for the 2025 Great Plains Heifer Development Program is open now.
Producers can find more information at go.unl.edu/heiferdev or by contacting Biehler at 402-624-8007 or heiferdev@unl.edu.
Abigayle Warm is the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center communications specialist. This article was originally published by UNL Beef on Oct. 23.
