Breeding selection for a more fertile herd of cows

 

Over the last two decades, the calculation of milk checks has clearly gone in favor of component volumes over fluid milk pounds.    This has been difficult for AI studs who had focused on fluid milk volume (PTA Milk) with so few bulls initially offering truly good components.  Their advice to dairymen was to keep selecting “pounds” (PTA Fat and PTA Protein) when for breeding, the genetic response was twice as strong when you select “percents” (PTA Fat % and PTA Protein %).     Number of Jersey and Crossbred cows increased, but Holstein cow numbers remained static.
In that time period blended milk market butterfat in FMO 40 climbed from 3.50% to 3.75%.     Protein in comparison changed very little.

Genetic selection  and feeding  helped butterfat increase, but still holds back protein

Protein % is one of the most heritable of linear trait measurements.   Why do we not gain more protein yields?    This is important again after a generation of focusing on butterfat %.    This has been related to the continuing insistence on “higher PTA Milk” in sire selection, still followed by the larger AI systems.   They sell what they have, because they breed future bulls from the past success;  but this is done in a vacuum of understanding the limitations on performance that the prior selection emphasis has placed on the current breeding population.

One of the major limiters of higher protein yields is selecting for high angularity physiques.   The AI industry has ignored “Body Condition” as a genetically selectable trait.    Linear type has favored the high angularity type cow since 1970, and it has taken a toll on herd fertility.  

“First service conception” has fallen 1% per year in the first 30 years of “linear”

This data came from a conversation at an NAAB technical conference held around 2000.   (The reports from staff inseminators in the largest AI system at that time were this data’s source. )
It is noted that type scoring in all dairy breeds switched over from descriptive to linear methods from 1968 to 1972 – a highly suggestive coincidence.      What else could contribute to this?   The first Net Merit composite index (created by Dr Cint Meadows at MSU) shifted sire ranking from pounds of butterfat to pounds of milk, and the linear preference for “angularity” defining “dairy quality” came from corn feeding trials at MSU and other colleges following USDA’s lead in crop subsidies for corn and soybeans, rather than forage crops used for ruminant animals.

In other words, to make milk from corn instead of hay, we have to change the cow’s type.

Why such a trend in fertility?     First and most importantly, early indexes ignored fertility.   If a cow set a higher peak, she might extend her lactation.    Selection for bulls began to favor cows with the highest and most extended “peak” production.    Geneticists in that era truly ignored or had no understanding of how the genotype “rations” nutrient energy between four uses:

(One)      Finish growing  (first lactation cows were only 2/3 grown at that time)
(Two)      Make a lot of milk volume  (encouraged by new milk order fluid premiums)
(Three)   Put some useful nutrient solids in the milk  (butterfat, protein, lactose)
(Four)     Breed back as required to optimize productive life  (recover rearing cost)

What did selection favor?     Geneticists assumed all lactation “curves” were identical, and that culling the lower PD Milk yield bulls would also cull the cows that did not milk for 305 days.    As we now know, the cows with the longest productive life and the most regular calving tend to be the more persistent, “flat” lactation curve cows.     “Flat”, persistent lactation curves allow for a great many benefits:   Lower ration costs…   Lower reproduction costs…   Less metabolic disease and fewer veterinary costs…   less fluctuation in Body Condition score.     Taking a lesson from the Beef breeding industry and Grass dairymen, biologists observe that body condition score is highly correlated with optimal reproduction rates.

Cows in a “negative energy” state produce less protein and are slower to breed back.

Until a cow is on a positive energy plane, protein produced in the rumen will be converted into energy in the abomasum and absorbed to help the body keep up with its total energy demands.   Thus less protein shows up in the milk… and repro is slower.    Cows with lower Body Condition scores (condition lost from setting aggressively high peaks early in lactation) usually require Ov Synch intervention to get back with calf.    

Sires with “plus” PTA Protein % values are thus more likely to sire cows with optimal fertility.     

Update on what UPS is charging for shipping semen tanks

We just sent a UPS vapor shipper to Bennett Colorado. It was standard size, 31 pounds full of nitrogen and able to hold 13 canes of semen. The outbound charge was $ 82.49 and returning tank (via Return Label) was $ 83.56. This adds up to $ 166.05 for transport; in addition there are usually charges for nitrogen and rental of the shipper. Thus the totals are generally $ 200.

As you plan your spring semen needs, consider that if your sire selections are available at Cattle Visions we are an authorized Dealer, generally have shipments every two weeks in the breeding season, and when pooled with each other’s needs we cover those shipping expenses.

We will charge you the same price for each bull as they are priced at Cattle Visions. Thus we are able to save you $$ by covering the shipping expense... and you do not have to deal with a trip to town to return the shipping container either.

Bonus: we pour nitrogen into these shippers when they arrive. Semen is cooled to liquid N2 temperature (180 degrees colder than vapor temperature in the shipper) before we take it out, thus your semen is handled safer and will arrive in better condition than if you have to take it from the shipper at your farm without nitrogen in the straw cups. Our effort is to insure your conception potential at time of insemination. What is that worth on premium price sires?

Have you watched an NRCS “water infiltration” demonstration lately?

 

Byron Seeds’ annual “Cover Crop Field Day” was April 22 in Rockville, Indiana.   As part of the program they had their county NRCS staff do a “water infiltration” test with blocks of soil and sod taken from Samuel Fisher’s working farm nearby.
These blocks included:
A tray of fully tilled soil (as you would find in conventional row crop farming)
A tray of disked sod (as you would find in rotating from hay to any row crop)
A tray of over-wintered cover crops
A tray of perennial grass-based pasture

After spraying with water to simulate 1 ½ inches of rainfall, and catching water in jars that either “ran off” the top of the soil or “infiltrated” through the layer of soil, the trays were dumped upside down to compare the effects.

Surprisingly, the full-tilled soil had most of its “rainfall” run off: underneath, the soil remained totally dry (none of the rain infiltrated that soil where you would be planting your seed).
The disked sod passed roughly half the rain away as runoff, half infiltrating the seed layer.    Water clearly followed the path of roots into the soil mass.

The remaining two samples were totally watered, having absorbed all the “rain”.  Lots of root hairs were clearly visible, and were acting like sponge to absorb water and storing it in the growth zone of the topsoil.

In the opinion of the NRCS people, cover crops are the superior way to build soil, and when your farm includes animals, their “residues” feed the soil biology best.

Distributors for  Byron Seeds  (featuring Kingfisher brand)

Did you know?    Besides club calves, we have these:

Limousin:   Homozygous polled.    Red hair.

Among dairymen who are transitioning their herds from “dairy” to “beef” breeds we have had a demand for various unique sire combinations.    Polled Red Limmy was one of those that was particularly difficult to locate…  until we figured out a source from Europe (Masterrind, a major AI system in NW Germany).    We now have semen on the bull “Torphy” and at a fairly reasonable price.

Belgian Blue
Pretty much a terminal cross (the females can be difficult calving due to double muscling), but producing amazing lean carcasses that have an edible muscle proportion that rivals the most efficient of pigs.

Wagyu
In Japan, these smaller frame but superior marbling cattle are the basis for that ultra-premium “Kobe Beef” eating experience.    For those seeking calving ease on heifers and have a “grassfed” freezer beef market, these have great potential.

Dual-purpose German Fleckveih
A significant number of grass-based dairies are utilizing this breed to produce milk without needing grain supplements.   They have strong annual calving fertility due to summer heat resistance and good body condition maintenance.   Deacon bull calves often top the local sale barns, because they look “beefy” compared to the many Angus x Holstein calves (often confused with Jersey x Holstein dairy crosses)
Fleckveih was one of the early source breeds for the American Simmental.

MSU Polled Hereford
One of the last polled Hereford sires bred in MSU’s now dispersed purebred herd was “MSU Yarborough 37H” purchased by Dallas Sutliff of Bannister MI.    He was a younger full brother to a $50,000 syndicated Colorado-bound sire MSU bred.
Dallas collected more semen than needed and is sharing it commercially with us.

Pinebank Angus
You may see ads in specialty grazing publications like Stockman for the strain of New Zealand Angus cattle that have strong feet and durable legs.   We have them.

Distributors for “Cattle Visions”  (your comprehensive sire source)

Products that may complement your management:

Conklin “Fastrack”

This may be the most well-known of probiotic feed supplements, providing an assortment of rumen microbials that help cattle get through transitions (like weaning) and get on feed efficiently (when entering feedlots for finishing).

There are handy oral paste forms useful when prepping cattle for shows and sales as well as powdered top dresses for bunk rations.     The oral paste will also help a stressed calf (eg, twins, rejected by a heifer, born in the rain, etc) get up and go.

P Tests

Is it inconvenient to get your veterinarian out to ultrasound or palpate for that time when you need to know if you have a pregnancy?    Emlabs’ “P Test” has found favor with many of us for its economical and relatively easy (noninvasive) use.     Measures hormone levels in the urine of serviced animals.

Estrotects     and    Tail chalk

These are the two most common aids to heat detection that work with visual observation.     The “estrotect” glues over the tailbone and glows in color if the cow is mounted and stands.     The concept behind Tail Chalk is you apply it to cows you are watching every two weeks (or after any rain hard enough to wash it off) and—if rubbed off—you know a heat is in progress.

CIDRs

The estrus synchronizing aid preferred by Embryo Transfer tech’s as providing the “tightest” window for heats with a minimum of hormone injections necessary.  
Developed in New Zealand, you insert into the vagina using the applicator they designed for it, leave it in for seven days, then remove it, give lutalyse, and you should see each animal “in heat” in 48-54 hours.

Breeding  is  mostly  in  full  swing  now  for spring  calves

That miracle of nature—depending on breed, you service your cows today and in nine months and a few days find a newly-delivered calf in your pastures.

Did you pick the right bulls to get the calf you wanted?    We like to help with that.   Clay has been observing the leading club-calf breeders for years now, and can add his insights if you want them.     Sue keeps track of your semen orders and gathers them together to minimize or eliminate shipping costs from diverse sources.

If you are not yet confident in your breeding technique and have no one nearby to help you, give Greg a call and coax him into stopping by for some pointers.

We stock new and used semen tanks, extra canisters, AI equipment and kits, thaw warming units, a range of AI supplies, and provide nitrogen for freeze branding as well as keeping your on-farm tank cold.    Complete service is our goal.

 

Mich Livestock Service, Inc    ph (989) 834-2661     Ovid, MI        Distributor for “Cattle Visions”

 

There is only one “Y” Chromosome variant left in USA Holstein breeding?

 

You have probably seen the articles over the last three years…, reporting on Dr Chad Deckow’s work in genetics at Penn State University.     Influenced by the thinking of older geneticists such as Leslie Hanson of University of Minnesota (see his article in the April “Progressive Dairyman”) his team of researchers have sought out rare semen on bulls from 50+ years ago whose line of sire (Y chromosome) descent differs from what has come forward after the implementation of linear trait type evaluation with “modified contemporary comparison” production indexes.

“Ranking” of sires under various composite indexes (combinations of production and type, now also with health traits) has steadily reduced the number and diversity of sires considered to be “sires of sons” for competitive AI service.     Since the introduction of Genomic selection and its focus on “accelerating” generations, the number and diversity of “bull mothers” has also been reduced, and pedigree inbreeding coefficients (as monitored by Dr Hanson) have risen fast.

Why do we fear inbreeding?

There is an observed general loss of “vigor” traits as the genotypes being mated become more “homozygous” (similar in gene possession).       Under Genomic selection, the highest ranking females to mate to the latest ranking sires would be their full sisters…  those with genotypes that possess the same “marker genes” as their full brothers.     This constitutes “inbreeding” on the molecular level as well as (and perhaps more relevantly to the issue) on the ancestral level.

In spite of this, AI studs pursue ever-closer matings as they produce the higher imputed indexes under the current Genomic selection procedure.     To Dr Hanson and many others this is a basis to pursue crossbreeding (assuming other breeds still have different genotypes in ranked sires).

JUST  WHO  ARE  “ANCESTORS  IN  COMMON”  TO  HOLSTEINS  TODAY

According to Dr Deckow (confirmed in Holstein USA “Redbook” sire summaries) the two sires who dominate AI sire lines are Round Oak Rag Apple Elevation (born 1965) and Pawnee Farm Arlinda Chief (born 1962).     For a period of time until 1990, a third sire, Penstate Ivanhoe Star (born 1960) was in the running, until two lethal recessives (*CVM and *BLAD) carried by “Star” and his prominent son, Carlin M Ivanhoe Bell, put them into the background of pedigrees with no new “Y” chromosome descendants surviving in sire line AI.     In the case of “Elevation” and his contemporary “Chief” they represent half of the total genotype (roughly ¼ each) carried by a typical modern Holstein.    ( In fact, the only two sires active in AI in the USA today that do not carry the “Y” chromosome from “Elevation” and “Chief” are Dun Did Black Onyx and Gloryland Jaguar, available from Triple Hil Sires  [which we carry] . )

What made the 1960s a seminal era in Holstein breeding?

By 1960, frozen semen was a fully adapted AI technology, allowing any breeder with a semen tank full choice of sires as desired in mating to his better cows.    Both “Chief” and “Elevation” rose to the top of Holstein USA’s TPI ranking list, and “Star” was high on the list of sires proved to mate well with these two stellar sires.     All three of these were found to be improvers for Protein % once this trait was first summarized in the 1970s (and drove USA genetic exports to Europe in the 1980s, reinforcing demand for their descendants as embryo donors).

Hidden underneath the obvious that fascinates data-driven geneticists, are some similarities in how these super sires were originally bred:  aAa Breeding Guide (Weeks Analysis) was used to plan the matings producing them:  linebreeding (to Johanna Rag Apple Pabst) had influenced the ancestors behind them.      These sires were all bred prior to the “contract mating” era that controlled new AI sire selections from 1980 forward, by Breeders whose primary focus was the generation of useful heifer replacements, and they considered more than “indexes” to do so.

What was unique about “Johanna Rag Apple Pabst”?

Born in Hartford WI in 1921 [100 years ago], this bull came from a dam who had produced 1034 pounds Butter (890 lbs butterfat) from 19786 pounds of milk in 365 days as a three year old, a remarkable accomplishment, roughly twice what better Holstein cows usually produced under similar farm management—and at a level of butterfat 1.0% higher than Holstein average.    This cow had a symmetrical udder with four evenly-placed teats of moderate size that would adapt to the new milking machines being developed.      Young “JRAP” was shown extensively and in spite of his “round” appearance was so functionally correct he was “All American” three years in a row.    His owners, after four years of service, consigned him to the 1926 “Clark’s Holstein Classic” as a newly-proven sire.     This was an annual extravaganza with 250 head offered.

How breed history used to be made

A newer Holstein breeder in Quebec, Thomas Macaulay (whose business was Insurance and as an amateur geneticist had a sideline in breeding hybrid seed corn) had been seeking a herd sire for his Mount Victoria herd (prefix: Montvic).      He had specific goals:   4% butterfat (Canada’s Holsteins were notoriously low in that era),  machine milkable udders, and sound type with no hidden recessives that would support a sustained linebreeding program.

He ended up paying $ 15,000  to get JRAP at the Clark Classic.    After the sale he negotiated the return of JRAP to his breeder’s farm to be bred to as many of his own daughters as possible in a time period determined by the eventual railroad shipping of the bull across the border.    Those inbred calves (six later going to Mt Victoria a year after) included a prizewinning two year old at the Royal Winter Fair and a new two year old butterfat record – pretty much confirming JRAP possessed no lethal recessives and had the genetic quality to withstand linebreeding.

How many purebred breeders in the AI era stick with a plan, beyond using the highest indexing or show type sires to compete in those high profile but limited size markets?    A century ago, as the dairy industry was growing and developing, most leading breeders had an outline to follow irregardless of prestige or popularity – they expected the cattle produced from their breeding to be useful in improving the herds (and therefore the well being) of neighboring dairymen.

Lines of descent from JRAP to “Ivanhoe” --  “Arlinda Chief” --  “Elevation”

The Montvic herd only had 20 years to develop (1922 to 1942) with JRAP at its head from 1926 to his death in 1933.     Only 70 head were catalogued for the dispersal (36 cows, 34 heifers and bulls) forced by Mr Macaulay’s death and the strictures of World War II on available labor.    Yet the release of these animals into the broader Holstein fraternity (up until then only service bulls had been sold to others) quickly influenced early AI cooperatives in Canada and Eastern USA to acquire Montvic-descended bulls for their farmers.

Penstate Ivanhoe Star  (1960)
JRAP sired Montvic Chieftain:  who sired Raymondale Successor:  who sired Raymondale Ideal Successor:  who sired Montvic Rag Apple Gladiator:  who sired Osborndale Ty Vic :   who sired Osborndale Ivanhoe:  who sired Penstate Ivanhoe Star.

Pawnee Farm Arlinda Chief   (1962)
Sir Inka May *RC sired Carnation Emperor:  who sired Emperor of Mount Victoria:   who was bred to JRAP- sired Montvic Rag Apple Colantha Abbekerk:  who birthed Montvic Rag Apple Sovereign *RC:  who sired ABC Reflection Sovereign *RC:  who sired Rosafe Pearl Hannibal:  who sired Pawnee Farm Reflection Admiral:  who sired Pawnee Farm Arlinda Chief.

Actually, “Arlinda Chief” carries eight pedigree crosses to JRAP as a result of a deliberate line-breeding from a series of “Rag Apple” herdsires used by Lester Fishler in Nebraska. 

Round Oak Rag Apple Elevation
Wisconsin Admiral Burke Lad, bred to his own daughter, sired Weber Burke Cyclone:  who sired Wis Ideal:  bred to his paternal sister, sired Wis Burke Ideal:  who, bred to his own daughter, sired Tidy Burke Elevation.    (The dam of old “Lad” shares some ancestral relationship to JRAP).   This is the inbred “Burke” sire line that produced Round Oak Rag Apple Elevation.

JRAP sired Montvic Chieftain, who sired Montvic Chieftain 6^th, the first “Rag Apple” sire behind the dam of “Elevation”;  next came Montvic Pathfinder Prizetaker (sired by Montvic Pathfinder, son of Montvic Chieftain from a JRAP daughter);  then Glenafton Gaiety (seven crosses to JRAP); then Osborndale Ivanhoe.      This the ancestry of Round Oak Ivanhoe Eve, linebred “Rag Apple” the dam of Round Oak Rag Apple Elevation.

 

Where did that take us?

“Elevation” sired Hanoverhill Starbuck.     His two most AI- dispersed sons were Madawaska Aerostar and Ronnybrook Prelude.     The great Picston Shottle is sired by a “Prelude” son and from an exceptional “Aerostar” daughter.

Contemporaneous to “Shottle” and with some similar pedigree influences is Braedale Goldwyn.    His biggest impact comes through sons “Atwood”, “Aftershock” and “Gold Chip”.      He holds a record as siring the most daughters scored “Excellent” under Canadian type classification.

 

“Arlinda Chief” sired SWD Valiant.     He in turn sired Hanoverhill Inspiration the first Canadian AI sire to produce over one million straws of semen, and who sired the grandam of “Shottle”.

“Arlinda Chief” sired Milu Betty Ivanhoe Chief (from an Osborndale Ivanhoe dam).     He in turn sired Cal Clark Board Chairman (from an “Elevation” dam).    His most widely-dispersed son is To-Mar Blackstar (whose dam combines “Ivanhoe”, “Elevation” and “Arlinda Chief”).

 

What sire combining “Elevation” and “Arlinda Chief” with multiple pedigree crosses to both is a dominant sire line progenitor in the Genomic era?      “Mountfield SSI Dorcy Mogul”  (recently deceased after producing 1.7 million straws of semen, with more sons, grandsons and further descendants among Genomic selected AI sires worldwide than any other sire.)    

 

“Ivanhoe Star” sired Carlin M Ivanhoe Bell *BL.      Before BLAD recessive was identified, this sire was on track to dominate the “Net Merit” index world.      An influential son who escaped the curse of BLAD was Southwind Bell of Bar-Lee.

IS  LINEBREEDING  A  GOOD  THING,  OR  A  RISKY  THING?

Based on the history of cattle breeding in the AI era, it can be both.     Earlier sires in formative AI were generally linebred, and they are the foundation for modern sires in use today.

At the same time, we keep being told that inbreeding is a potential danger to the functionality and profitability of our cattle.     Little consensus exists on how this danger occurs—most advisors focus on pedigree interrelationships, but others suspect it is “like to like” mating systems (following index ranking without regard for physical mating characteristics over multiple generations).

The latest question is how much of this is a result of being so focused on only one “Y” chromosome in the sire lines being selected for AI?     Again, there are mostly questions and a paucity of answers.

Mich Livestock Service, Inc   ***    “For the Best in Bulls”    and    “For Quality Forage Seeds”

How long should a momma cow last in a herd?

 

We could debate this for hours, and never reach a consensus.     In nature, a cow can live 25 years.     In the theoretical world of geneticists (sitting at a desk with a computer in their face, and no cows in sight) the perceived “genetic trends” skew most choices made and recommendations given.     The mainstream AI industry of dairy-focused studs with companion beef breeding programs are key promoters of emphasizing EPD’s and overlooking any observation of cattle behavior.    They are selling semen on traits with half (or less) the measured heritability of natural fertility, disposition, udder conformation, foot structure, and many other key cow characteristics.     They promote “indexed” performance gains over consideration of incremental cost of producing those gains.     Thus the use of creep feeding to “enhance” pre-weaning rates of gain, rather than pasture fertilization and cattle managed on the land in symbiosis with the soil biology, that could feed them in a more ecologically sound, less machine-intensive way, thus more economical way.

Genetic selection.

Do you know how many natural calvings the dams of all (or any) of your herd sires have had?   Do you know how many services each required for conception?     Lots of embryo donors that result from multiple generations of ET propogation produce progeny that require the same to produce offspring.      Limit their genes to your terminal cross performance and show cattle.

The economics of cow ownership.

For many years, the famous Wye Plantation angus herd (copied by the folks with the “hairpin curve” genetics in Nebraska) would offer seven year old cows at their public auctions.    What was magical about seven years old?     Their calculation of their farm overhead said that a cow whose only income is one calf a year has to calve five times to recover the cost of being raised.

Would you buy a seven year old cow?      Backing this up was the average momma cow at Wye Plantation lived fifteen years.      That means for twelve calvings she bred on time to calve in the desired month with a live calf, and bred back afterwards.      Cows producing stillborn calves and cows that did not breed on time were culled.     Thus when they offered a selection of pregnant seven year old cows, they expected they had seven more calvings in them for the buyer.    All the “culls” had already left at a younger age, not give second (and third) chances to screw up…

Even if you consider your beef cow-calf operation a “hobby” it still pays to operate as if these cows were the sole source of income for your farm.     Keep your decisions practical.

 

Approaching the end of the breeding season

For those who only utilize spring calving, this is getting close to the end of heat detection and insemination.     If you utilize clean up bulls, they need to be ready to go to work soon (but hopefully will not find much work to do… )

If your calves are not yet tagged or vaccinated, that will be your next step in herd management.    Calf identification is primary to effective evaluation of results for your breeding decisions, as you sort between replacement and feeder qualities.

For those will dual (spring + fall) calving, we remain ready to assist you with your new semen requirements for early winter breeding.     Our stocking of AI supplies and other aids to fertility is a “year long” investment here.

 

Mich Livestock Service, Inc    “For the Best in Bulls”    “For the Best in Forage Seeds”  

A breeding tool I have found useful is aAa

 

“A breeding tool I have found useful is aAa.   I would encourage all of you to consider how this could help you to breed better cattle for your operation.”

                                                 John Mark Weaver, Fredericksburg Ohio
                                                 Panel discussion 2020 Ohio Winter Grazing Conf.

 

Thank you, John Mark, for this endorsement.   If you do not know him already, he is breeding purebred registered Holsteins, and is an accomplished grass dairyman.  
His success grazing pedigree Holsteins has astounded many, but so has Amos Nolt (the first “no grain” grass dairyman with whom I have worked, also a supporter of using “aAa”) with his polled Red Holstein breeding focus.

 

The general thought among graziers, influenced by advice from New Zealand and University experts, has been “if you are going to graze, get rid of your Holsteins.”    Various advisors (and commercial AI marketers) have promoted crossbreeding or smaller cow breeds or New Zealand and Australian genetic sources, all with the idea their choice is essential to grazing success.    And—initially (two or three cow generations) – the advice of all these “experts” has worked for most who tried it.

 

The problem with all advice (including mine??!!) is that it has been influenced in some way, either by a short-term PhD. research designed to support a foregone conclusion, or by an opinion that what you are already doing has anything wrong with it.     The grazing industry is recognizing that mainstream genetic evaluation is focused on the economic results for high-input, TMR, confinement dairy (and draws the majority of its data from those environments).    Thus it is seeking its own way, making the grass-dairy industry subject to confusion over breeding.

Everything can be made to look logical and useful when we are collectively unsure of the basis of mating and genetic selection in cattle to begin with…

 

What is the Truth?     “facts” tend to be limited by time.    They are “true” at the time they appeared evident.     (example: “hybrid vigor from crossbreeding gives 7% more milk, better fertility, more health, than straight breeding.”)   They work for one, maybe two, possibly three generations—then no longer work.    In some cases, the solution promoted to fix one issue just starts to create a new problem than becomes evident (again, in that third generation, when every “one size fits all” solution starts to cause “inbreeding depression”).

The biggest problem even with “research-driven” conclusions is that we do not see a need for “research” until we have already bred a herd (or a breed) into that problem.     We saw this fifteen years ago in the Jersey world, where comparative breed statistics showed Jerseys as #1 for health, fertility, and Productive Life  -- but by pedigree, were the most “inbred” of all major dairy breeds and thus feared “inbreeding depression”  {more puzzling, the breed with the lowest inbreeding coefficient at that same time was the breed with the worst health, fertility and Productive Life statistics!}.     However, the Universities paid to do this research (all of whom had Jersey herds) could document “inbreeding depression” at high levels in their herds, in spite of their use of the “best” bulls in the recommended way.      Their conclusion?    We must create some new outcross bloodlines, after years of recommending no Jersey breeder should use Danish, Canadian, any show type or local private-owner (eg, Ohio Northcoast polled) bulls, or “aAa” mating.   

Once the research concluded that the Jersey breed was actually less “inbred” than in a period of time before index ranking of sires, but had better health, fertility and longevity data in that era of linebreeding and on-farm herdsires, the entire discussion was dropped.    But do problems go away if we no longer choose to pay attention to them?     This is the mental state of dairy genetics and breeding, and the context in which breeding theories and fads arise and thrive.   

 

As a student of breeding history, I adhere to the mantra of all historians, “Those who deny or ignore history are doomed to repeat it.”    Thus my goal is to offer you a useful tool, that has helped dairymen all through the history of AI, and is applicable to every style of cow management, with a simple premise:  Breed a cow to be adaptable to any environment, and she will succeed in spite of change to that environment.    Then make it continue to work in multiple generations.

Tips to optimizing fertility in replacement heifers

 

At this time you are breeding cows who may be nursing your replacements.     Your replacement heifers born last year are now fifteen months, old enough to breed.  Are they big enough??

Probably they are.     As a general rule, a heifer will be 55% of her expected mature weight at fifteen months of age.     If your momma cows weigh 1200, that means their yearling heifers only need to weigh 660;  if your cows are more like 1400 pounds, their yearlings will be 770.

The points I am leading to are these:

Creep feeding.     This practice has been used for steers still on momma’s milk to grow as fast as possible and to transition faster after weaning.   For intact bulls (as well as heifers) much of the weight gain from creep feeds is going to include fat, especially on smaller frame breeds.   After puberty, with sex hormone production kicking in, animals start making fat from excess energy intake, and tend to store it both visibly (brisket) (neck) (tailset) and in the wrong places (inside body around kidneys) (inside pelvis around repro organs) (inside the mammary tissue) (inside testicles) – places where it will not metabolize at times when animals need to mobilize some stored energy.       Internally stored fat is generally a negative to future health and reproductive performance.     If you practice creep feeding, consider grouping cow-calf pairs so this is kept away from future replacements.     

Conditioning for show.      The growth planes of females are strongly influenced by breed.    The traditional “English” breeds (Angus) (Red Angus) (Hereford) (Polled Hereford) (Shorthorn) (Red Poll) (British White) started with smaller frame size, reached puberty quicker, and were bred to finish on good grass, thus will “marble” based on age without supplemental feed.     By contrast most of the “Continental” breeds (Charolais) (Simmental/Pie Rouge/Fleckveih) (Maine Anjou) (Limousin) (Gelbveih) (Chianina) which matured later, grew taller on heavier-boned frames and did not “marble” stored fat into the muscle typically needed supplemental feed to reach higher meat grades at slaughter.

Now that nearly all breeds known by “continental” names are actually crossed with Angus  (to gain polled heads and black hair to compete in USA markets)  the original “breed character” is no longer as predictable in the animals you are breeding.      But the basic rule is that heifers of any breed, raised in any way other than grazing grass, should not be fed the same as steers and that means conditioning for showing must be very carefully done, with the body condition gain closely monitored to avoid heifers becoming too fat to breed and then have difficult calving.

Learn the differences in “type” between performance quality and maternal quality stock.    It is as true in Beef as in Dairy genetics, too much emphasis on “performance” traits for females can lead to a staggier, bully-appearing, low fertility and hard calving cow herd of inefficient cow size.     Such cows do not do well nursing calves on grass and have higher repro costs per calf.