by Jack Ward, chief operating officer and director of breed improvement jward@hereford.org
Sustained Cow Fertility Research Released Fertility is certainly one of the key factors in determining profitability in cow herds by increasing production efficiency. In 2000 the American Hereford Association (AHA) instituted a mandatory Whole Herd Reporting Total Performance Reporting (TPR™) system, and many breeders had been collecting
W CC
whole herd information prior to this time. TPR has added strength and consistency to genetic evaluation and is the recommended system of the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF). As we continue to collect data at all levels of production, we are given the opportunity to develop
traits that can directly affect the profitability of producers. Recently, the AHA set out to conduct a research project with Mike MacNeil, research geneticist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDAARS) Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory, Miles City, Mont., to look at selection practices that could improve fertility of daughters of Hereford sires. This research is only possible through the Whole Herd Reporting of AHA breeders.
Annual Production Sale Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011 • 1 p.m. (EDT)
WCC WOF Ironman U302
• Ironman was the 2010 and 2009 National Champion Bull and 2008 Reserve National Champion Bull at the North American International Livestock Show, Louisville, Ky. Progeny and service sell. A full sister and flush from his dam also sell.
WCC Miss N236
• This top cow sired by DR Achiever 8403 sells bred to WCC WOF Ironman U302 alongside her calf.
WCC WOF Hope Y305
WCC Miss Y303
• This April show prospect is a full sister to WCC WOF Ironman U302. She sells September 11, 2011.
• This March show heifer prospect is sired by WCC Slam Dunk R26 ET, the 2007 Dixie National and 2007 and 2006 Indiana State Fair Grand Champion Bull. She sells September 11, 2011.
WCC Dixie X332
WCC Hope S304
• An extremely competitive October show heifer prospect sired by HH Advance 5212R whose dam is a full sister to WCC Dixie R28, a past Denver champion.
• Selling a flush to bull of buyer’s choice on this donor dam of WCC WOF Ironman U302. She was Grand Champion Cow-Calf Pair at the 2008 Indiana State Fair, 2008 Indiana State Preview; 2008 Junior National Hereford Expo Reserve Grand Champion Pair and other many-times champion.
Selling: 6 top show heifer/donor prospects, 5 cows examined safe in calf, 1 flush, 4 frozen embryo packages, 5 show steer prospects and 1 yearling bull. Also selling around 80-head of Angus, ChiAngus, ChiMaine and Lim-Flex.
WCC Dixie U320 ET
• This powerful donor who sold for $15,000 for one-half interest in our 2008 sale was the 2008 Indiana State Fair Grand Champion Heifer, Champion Hereford Heifer at the Kentucky Beef Expo and the Rebel Show Down and division winner at the NAILE. A show heifer prospect sired by WCC Dow Jones W300 ET, the 2010 Indiana Hereford Preview Show Grand Champion Bull, sells.
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/ August 2011
For a free sale catalog, contact:
Wilson Cattle Co.
Bill, Priscilla and Chad Wilson 8911 S. Meridian Line Rd., Cloverdale, IN 46120 Office 765-653-2402 • Cell 765-720-2715 • Chad cell 765-719-0730 View our catalog at www.angusjournal.com
Sustained Cow Fertility (SCF) is the trait that is evaluated, and it is a sire model. Females were required to be in groups of at least three and calve within 60 days. Then reproductive success was achieved by a calving interval of 425 days or less. You can read all about it in the online version of the article written by MacNeil at http://jas.fass.org/content/89/6/1712. SCF will be different from some other fertility traits such as stayability because a sire will get credit each time a daughter calves beginning at 2 years of age instead of waiting to see if a sire’s daughters make it to 5 or 6 years of age. In addition, SCF will account for censored records. For example, if a female goes into an embryo transfer (ET) program or is sold to another registered breeder, then that female will not be considered a failure, but the record will be censored with no credit. The heritability of SCF is less than .10. This is in line with research and literature. Obviously, as we continue to gather additional records through TPR, then this may increase. In addition, remember that the various research projects conducted at AHA over the past few years have shown fertility in a commercial cow herd can be significantly increased by heterosis. You will be able to see the results of this evaluation on the AHA website, Hereford.org. The results can be presented on alternative scales, but for this research report, you will find it presented as a risk ratio (RR). As you look through the sires, average will have a RR=1 with a sire with more fertile daughters having a RR less than 1 (i.e., they are sires of low risk daughters; daughters that are less likely to be open). Because fertility has a tremendous bearing on economic importance in the beef cattle industry, the results of this evaluation along with Heifer Calving Rate (HCR) will be used to revise the Baldy Maternal Index (BMI$) and Brahman Influence Index (BII$).
HRF donation As a staff we are looking forward to “The Harvest” fund-raiser event for the Hereford Youth Foundation of America (HYFA) this month in Sonoma, Calif. Lot 24 in the auction is a pheasant hunting trip donated by Rausch Herefords, Hoven, S.D. The Rausch family will provide the property and guide for three days and five hunters during the 2011 season. Normally the season is the fourth week of October through mid-December. This opportunity is priceless, and all proceeds will benefit the Hereford Research Foundation (HRF). HRF was established in 2009 as a division of HYFA to support breed improvement projects outside the scope of the AHA budget. HW
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