Page 38 - MWC 4-21-2022s

May 6* SEMO Show-Me-Select Heifer Sale, Fruitland, MO 660-281-5518 May 20* Southwest Show-Me-Select Heifer Sale, Carthage, MO 417-466-3102
May 7 Great American Pie Annual Limousin Sale, Lebanon, MO May 21 MO/KS/AR/OK Angus Sale, Ozark, AR
May 13* Show-Me-Select Heifer Sale, Farmington, MO 573-756-4539 May 21 West Central Show-Me-Select Heifer Sale, Kingsville, MO
May 14* Armitage Livestock At the Ranch Sale, Claremore, OK 918-607-6808 May 28 Soaring Eagle Farms Production Sale, Springfield, MO
May 14 Central States BBA Mid America Futurity & Sale, Locust Grove, OK Jun 4 Show-Me-Select Heifer Sale, Palmyra, MO
May 14 V-Bar Cattle Co Complete Dispersion, Beloit, KS Jun 11 Wallen Prairie Ranch Beefmaster Prod Sale, Lockwood, MO
May 20 South Central Show-Me-Select Heifer Sale, Vienna, MO
**Sale Dates as published earlier this season. Sales are subject to change or cancellation. Confirm directly with Breeder or Sale Management.
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YOU CAN HAVE tail and cutability advantages,” carcass characteristics. individual feed intake and pro-
continued from page 34 Hunt says. Given the remarkable im- ducing bulls with the genetic
value, and that’s quality grade. So yes, Wulf says, the genet- provements the beef business potential to increase the feed ef-
So, we have cattle now that con- ics exist to produce high grad- has made in increasing upper ficiency of your calves,” he says.
vert pretty efficiently and they ing carcasses and do it effi- two-thirds Choice and Prime “And if you aren’t owning
hang up a desirable carcass.” ciently. And that’s a win-win, he carcasses, it’s clear the same the cattle all the way to har-
“As market signals have says, because it lowers cost of genetic strides can be made in vest, work with a feedyard and
been passed through the pric- production while meeting con- feed efficiency. But you can’t start building a history on your
ing system for commercial cat- sumer expectations. capture that value if you sell calves and how they perform.
tle, seedstock producers have “It’s always good if we pull your calves at weaning. Track improvements from year
focused on improving marbling cost of production out of the Fortunately, there are val- to year so that you’re able to
and accelerated that trait im- system. On top of that, if we ue-added programs that allow capture that value.”
provement over the past five get better resource utilization, cow-calf producers to capture That can be best achieved
years,” says Dan Hunt of Ox- it lowers our carbon footprint. the carcass value they’ve bred with crossbreeding, says Dr.
ford, Neb., a cattle feeder, seed- Given the era we’re living in, into their herd. The benefits of Kee Jim, CEO of Feedlot Health
stock producer and president of where cattle are in the cross- feed efficiency flow to all cattle, Management Services. There’s
the North American Limousin hairs of being part of climate whether they’re marketed con- no question the genetics exist to
Foundation (NALF). change and we want to be part ventionally or are in value-add- produce Yield 1 and 2 cattle that
Genomic marker panel up- of the solution, that’s a good ed programs, says Jerry Wulf, marble well. “Generally, that’s
dates by International Genetic story to tell.” a Morris, Minn., cattle feeder, most easily achieved through
Solutions (IGS), a multi-breed Feed Efficiency and the cow-calf producer and seed- crossbreeding (a Continental
genetics effort which Limou- Commercial Beef Producer stock genetics supplier. That’s breed such as Limousin or Lim-
sin is a part, along with updat- Up to now, there has been because, in today’s marketing Flex on British-based cows) to
ed USMARC data, document little incentive for cow-calf pro- environment for cattle feeders, get the maximum combination
the significant improvement ducers to select for feed efficien- feed efficiency is the number of a balance between gain, feed
in marbling characteristics for cy because there hasn’t been a one driver for potential profit- efficiency and carcass.”
both Limousin and Lim-Flex good way to monetize it. ability. According to the North Amer-
cattle, Hunt adds. That’s certainly true if you However, when feeding cattle ican Limousin Foundation, the
“Genomic testing, breeder sell your calves into a commod- for value-added programs that Limousin and Lim-Flex mar-
focus and the heritability of ity market. But just like prop- don’t allow production technolo- bling EPD value has improved
carcass traits have enabled all er health management on the gies, genetics, specifically better 0.25 to 0.35 over the past five
of us as seedstock producers to ranch, there are potential pre- feed efficiency genetics, is the years. What’s more, Limou-
make rapid genetic gain in car- miums for cattle with a genetic only lever to pull, he says. sin and Lim-Flex cattle have
cass quality,” he says. “In fact, ability to convert feed to gain So how can a cow-calf pro- achieved this improvement
the marbling EPD value in our more efficiently while still pro- ducer make money by selecting while still maintaining a signif-
breed reflects an improvement ducing high-grading carcasses. for feed efficiency? One way, icant lead on ribeye and backfat
of 0.25 to 0.35 for both Limou- According to Dr. Bob Wea- according to Wulf, is to become EPDs. That gives Limousin and
sin and Lim-Flex, making them ber, professor and head of the part of a value-added program Lim-Flex actual retail and cut-
very comparable to other Conti- Eastern Kansas Research and that rewards more efficient cat- ability advantages. And that’s a
nental breeds.” Extension Centers with Kansas tle that also produce the upper win-win all around.
What’s more, Limousin and State University, the heritabili- two-thirds Choice and Prime
Lim-Flex cattle have been able ty of feed efficiency is around 0.3 beef that consumers demand.
to achieve this improvement to 0.4. That makes it moderate- The other is to work with
while still maintaining a signif- ly heritable, much the same as feedyards in producing the type
icant lead on ribeye and backfat the production traits of wean- of cattle they demand and will
EPDs. “That gives us actual re- ing weight, yearling weight and pay up for. “Work with a genet-
ics supplier who is measuring