Producers encouraged to buy this season’s bulls based on needs, not wants

In the midst of bull buying season, it can often be challenging to wade through catalog information and easy to become enamored with the fancy bulls headlining their respective sales.

However, in a Jan. 2 University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) BeefWatch article, UNL Professor and Beef Genetics Extension Specialist Matt Spangler encourages producers to reflect on what they need for their herd – not just what they want. 

Analyzing needs

To accomplish this, Spangler says producers need to objectively analyze how their herd is currently performing by reflecting on data such as current pregnancy rates, dystocia rates, age distribution of the cow herd, primary reasons for culling cows in the herd, weight of calves at the point of sale, post-weaning performance of calves, weight of mature cows in the herd and annual cow costs. 

“Knowing the answers to these questions helps identify areas requiring the most attention to improve profitability,” Spangler states.

Selecting bulls

Once producers have evaluated this information, they can begin selecting bulls to fit their breeding objectives, and although this process can sometimes prove challenging, Spangler says stress caused by annual bull selection can be reduced in a few simple steps. 

First, he encourages individuals to choose seedstock producers who sell a product they need and someone they can trust.

While structure and conformation are no doubt important, Spangler also recommends choosing bulls based on what is “under the hood.” 

“In other words, the goal of bull selection is to improve genetics, so select bulls based on genetic potential using expected progeny differences (EPD),” he states.

Additionally, Spangler suggests selecting for more than one trait, which will impact overall profitability. Producers can use economic selection indexes to do this.

“Value bulls or semen based on the potential to generate a return from the investment,” he adds. “In other words, if the ‘best’ bull sells for more money than he could generate for your enterprise – based on genetic value, number of cows he would be exposed to and cull value – then pass on him and buy a different bull that does have the potential for a positive return on investment.” 

Avoiding pitfalls

While Spangler does highly recommend utilizing proven tools such as EPDs and economic selection indexes to choose bulls this season, he further notes there are some pitfalls producers should try to avoid. 

First, he encourages producers to stop over-emphasizing calving ease direct, noting emphasis on this trait should be in relation to the current degree the operation experiences dystocia problems.

Those who retain replacement heifers should keep an eye on the mature cow weight EPD, if available, and pay close attention to female fertility. Spangler notes EPDs representing sustained cow fertility – such as stayability or functional longevity – represent the ability for a cow to remain productive in the herd. 

Spangler says producers who use economic selection indexes should focus on ones that fit their breeding objectives instead of using terminal indexes if they intend to retain replacement females. 

“Know or ask what certain EPD and indexes mean and what breed average is,” he concludes. “Do not buy a bull assuming he excels for a trait, only to later discover he ranks toward the bottom of the breed.”

Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.