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RED ANGUS THRIVE The Midwest Cattleman · February 4, 2021 · P24
continued from page 19 HEIFER-FERTILITY to avoid headaches,” said Deck-

Program tag for several years Looking Forward continued from page 22 er. “It won’t fit for everyone, but
some producers will take advan-
and has recently added the The Eck family plans to con- better job of managing a group of tage of new technology and ge-
electronic identification compo- tinue selecting Red Angus ge- heifers,” Decker explained. netic tools.”
nent. “We thought adding the netics with good maternal traits, It will more than pay for itself They are still actively recruit-
EID button would help when we moderate size for efficiency and in the long run; producers won’t ing for the project. Any produc-
marketed them on Superior,” he high-quality carcass merit. have to keep extra heifers and er can sign up a small or large
said. “It adds transparency and “We are trying to keep that expend money developing them, group. “For a small group close to
traceability.” cow size from getting out of then sell those that fall out of the university, Jordan Thomas’
The process and the paper- hand, so they are efficient on production their first year or two reproductive biology group will
work are easy. “It doesn’t take our hybrid grazing system,” said and start over with new heifers. collect the data. If it’s a small
long to fill out the information, Eck. “We love the maternal char- It works for some producers to group that’s far away, they’ll
scan the EIDs and send into the acteristics and mild dispositions keep a large group, develop and need a trained veterinarian in
Red Angus Association of Amer- of the Red Angus females. They breed them, and then let nature their area to collect the data.
ica.” are just so easy to handle.” sort them, but that method re- If it’s a large group (80 or more
They have also EID’d their Marketing locker beef direct quires extra resources to retain heifers), we can send Jordan
entire cowherd. “We invested in to the consumer also opened up more heifers. This DNA tool Thomas’ group to help collect
our chute set-up to include the their eyes to another revenue could fine-tune the process. the research data, for free,” said
scale and monitor,” said Eck. “It avenue. “We now have multiple “Precision agriculture is the Decker.
enables us to track the weights ways to market our feeder cat- future – we are trying to put
of our cows in the spring and tle – video auction, sale barn, more data into the process early
fall, the weaning weights of the private treaty, on the grid or
calves and then the sale weighs through the locker plant. It was TO PARTICIPATE: Information has already been collected
or finished weights of the calves. very reassuring that our genet- on Angus and SimAngus breeds, but the project is still actively
It’s interesting to see what each ics are on the right track when seeking Red Angus and Hereford producers to collaborate. For
cow is producing, and it syncs to we could see the high-quality heifers in a fall breeding program (breeding in November), the
my phone through Bluetooth so carcasses hanging and grading pre-breeding exam needs to be completed by mid-October. For
that I can look at my records on high Choice or Prime,” concluded heifers developing in the spring of 2021, there is plenty of time
the go.” Eck. “We are excited to feed out to get them enrolled. Participants will be accepted into the pro-
Covington added that from a more steers this coming year.” gram for the next two years until 5,000 heifers are enrolled.
veterinarian side, Kansas is try-
ing to get away from the metal For more information or to inquire about enrolling heifers,
clips and utilize the technology contact Jared Decker, cell 573-819-0837, office 573-882-2504,
of EID. DeckerJE@missouri.edu, or Jordan Thomas, cell 573-289-9592,
office 573-882-1804, ThomasJor@missouri.edu