Page 20 - MWC 08-19-2021s

The Midwest Cattleman · August 19, 2021 · P20
Time to Implement Single Trait Selection
Time to Implement Single Trait Selection

By Chip Kemp, Director, ASA & IGS Commercial and Industry Operations

Sometimes the obvious people seem to hinge on this not profitable.
hides in plain sight. And it simple little word. Vaccine You probably even remem-
is obvious that our beloved is derived from the Latin ber ads from the day. I bet a
bovine is often at the core of “vacca”or “vacci”. Meaning printed pachyderm still re-
plain truths. cow. Vaccination translates sides in the memory bank of
Meat, of which we are con- roughly to “pertaining to the some. And yet . . .
fident beef is the most ap- cow”. All this derives from We all know the story. Car-
pealing version, has clearly the work of Dr. Edward Jen- cass weights have increased
impacted the development ner who, in the 18th century, aggressively for many years.
of the human brain, physi- used exposure to cowpox to Packers have incentivized
cal well-being, psychological provide immunity for small- this progression as they
health, and the economic sta- pox. continue to move the heavy
bility of various societies. You Or maybe we should dis- weight and yield grade dis-
don’t need to take my word cuss the most plain of truths. counts to allow for this trend antagonisms associated with
for these things. Do your own You and I need the cow to be to garner higher and higher heavy pressure for growth
homework. I’d encourage you profitable. To generate more grading percentages. traits.
to explore voices who operate revenue than she costs to ac- Neither good nor bad. Just Regardless, many would
in other arenas and may not quire, raise, and maintain. an observation of what is. state growth and marbling
be fully in philosophical align- Again, this is obvious and in As the genetics have EPDs have been the most
ment with us on every issue. plain sight. But is it really? been developed to allow for heavily selected for in recent
But we can find commonali- I can recall, as an under- this shift, one would then as- years. And this clearly seems
ty on this topic. Explore the grad, having a certain pro- sume with confidence we’ve to be the case. So, have we
works of anthropologist Dr. fessor drive home the real- also seen a significant up- devolved or reverted back to
Leslie Aiello to consider the ity that was quite evident tick in weaning weights. But, the 90s? Are we single trait
relationship between animal in the beef business in the ironically, that hasn’t come to selecting again? In some
protein consumption and early 90s. Single trait se- pass. Dr. Dave Lalman’s work cases, likely so. As a com-
brain size and function. Or lection was dangerous. He at Oklahoma State Universi- mercial bull buyer what to
consider Dr. Drew Ramsey’s could back this up with facts, ty has shown this time and do? Clearly, you need growth.
article “Do Happy, Healthy charts, and various glimpses again. We’ve seen essential- And marbling. And cow lon-
Brains Need Meat?”. Parts of profit and loss within beef ly no measurable increase in gevity. And lower feed costs.
of this short essay will en- operations. He could drive industry-wide average wean- The answer lies in plain
rage you, but those can’t take this home with basic visual ing weights over the last sight. You need a tool that
away from the fact that he appraisal as we studied the three decades. Many have can appropriately balance
Boyle Ranch
Boyle Ranch
still states with certainty physical implications of sole- speculated this is a result of the various revenue streams
that people need to consume ly focusing on a leaner, larg- management and nutritional and expense centers within
meat. Or check out the meat er animal. Or he could take factors limiting on-ranch ge- your business. If such a tool
Annual Private Treaty Bull Sale
consumption vs. Gross Do- us to a feedlot and listen to netic expression. existed, it would allow you to
mestic Product chart at our- the “colorful” commentary Many believe that weaning appropriately allocate your
worldindata.org. All confirm by yard leadership and their weight and yearling weight selection pressure for ter-
what you and I know. Beef local cattle buyer. This pro- EPDs are amongst the most minal merit AND cow lon-
is overwhelmingly a positive fessor, you’ve probably heard important selection criteria gevity. It would allow you to
for individuals and societies. of him — Dr. Jerry Lipsey, for a bull buyer and hence, avoid sacrificing all growth,
Another example of the essentially had the full ar- amongst the most import- as some would suggest, to get
cow’s influence on modern so- senal of tools to highlight to ant factors when identifying the ultimately low input cow
ciety is in a word we hear all his students why this model sale-day value of a bull. For (and the resulting calf that
too often today — “vaccine”. of animal agriculture simply those commercial customers offers very little to the in-
The rise and fall of person- couldn’t sustain itself. The retaining ownership on their dustry at large). Again, such
alities, policies, parties, and long and short of it – it was terminal calves this would a tool would be less about
make perfect sense. If you maximizing one trait while
Boyle Ranch
Boyle Ranch
Boyle Ranch Available Private Treaty sell at weaning, is it as clear hemorrhaging cash to cover
CFFS Balboa 409D • ASA# 3183671
Fleckvieh Cattle
cut? You need to generate a up the deficiencies in anoth-
Multiple sons available
Annual Private Treaty Bull Sale
calf that has market appeal er. And believe it or not, this
l 18-month-olds and
to the next owner. But cow tool would actually single
Yearling Fleckvieh
size. But feed costs. trait select for the only met-
Bulls available.
Some might make this ric worthy of single trait se-
same line of argument re- lection – PROFIT.
l Selling a group of
garding the modern-day em- These tools do exist. And
open replacement
phasis on marbling. Though, fortunately, they are readily
heifers this spring.
it should be said, it doesn’t available. You know them as
• 18-month-old and Yearling appear that the antagonisms INDEXES. And they appear
Bryan Boyle
Bryan Boyle
Fleckvieh Bulls available.
CFFS Balboa 409D • ASA# 3183671 • Selling a group of open (or negative impacts) asso- all the rage. And as a result,
CFFS Balboa 409D • ASA# 3183671
712-870-8666 • boyle_bryan@yahoo.com
Multiple sons available replacement heifers. ciated with heavy selection can be confusing if one isn’t
Multiple sons available
Bryan Boyle 4824 110th Street • Washta, IA 51061
pressure for marbling are careful. Every week it ap-
l 18-month-olds and
www.boyleranchfleckvieh.com
Yearling Fleckvieh
712-870-8666 • boyle_bryan@yahoo.com very dramatic. Maybe not pears a new index gets craft-
even negative at all. Cer- ed to appease another seg-
Bulls available.
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4824 110th Street • Washta, IA 51061 tainly not as obvious as the ment of the industry. It seems
l Selling a group of
www.boyleranchfleckvieh.com • Follow us on Facebook
open replacement
heifers this spring.
Bryan Boyle
Bryan Boyle
712-870-8666 • boyle_bryan@yahoo.com
4824 110th Street • Washta, IA 51061
www.boyleranchfleckvieh.com
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