Bovine Beauties

My wife runs marathons. When I say that Cassie runs marathons, I don’t mean she has run a marathon or likes to run; she legitimately is a high-level marathon runner. If you are reading this, she has a better marathon time than you. She most likely has a faster marathon time than anyone you know. Your neighbor down the street you see running every morning, the guy from your kid’s school who was a good cross-country runner, and your coworker who “likes to run marathons” all have slower times than my wife. Unless you know a professional female distance runner or a retired male collegiate runner who still logs 50+ miles a week, I can assure you she is faster than them. She is obviously extremely gifted, talented, and beautiful (yes, she reads my newsletters). However, as someone who hears her 5:00 am Sunday morning alarm every week, I know the path to get where she is could not possibly be more monotonous and boring. Her success results from her work ethic, time, and consistency. Yet, with spring break on the horizon, everyone with a house booked in Florida is trying to find a quick fix to “tone up” a little bit. They will consider any diet, workout routine, or bio hack possible to look marginally better by the end of the month. As someone that spends 300+ mornings a year in the gym to at least look like I know what a barbell is, I can guarantee that there is no such thing.

However, regarding genetic selection in beef cattle, everyone looks for a bull that can “do it all” in one generation. Marketing materials make it sound like there are bulls that can give you replacement heifers that breed at 100% conception rate, make the best cows, produce feeder calves that will top every sale, and hang carcasses that are 100% Yield Grade 1 and 2 USDA Prime. Unfortunately, that animal doesn’t exist. It is hard enough even to find an animal that is above breed average for every single trait. Whether natural service or AI, if there is a bull in the Angus breed I want to use, I am using him. I know how to do a data search and make a phone call. If an animal is unique enough, I will find a way to use him. That being said, there is not a single bull I wouldn’t change something about in a heartbeat. The changes range from more marbling, smaller mature size, better feet, greater carcass weight, higher levels of heifer fertility, better hair shed, or smaller birth weights. I am using 100% of the bulls I want to use in the entire database. Yet, there is still some deficiency in every one of them that I am trying to improve in the next generation. Using 15-20 bulls each year, we can balance out the strengths and weaknesses of each individual female through complementary breeding decisions. There are bulls I am not using that are certainly interesting but don’t quite hit the mark for one reason or another. All this is to say no bull will fix all your problems in the first generation, but he can certainly bring you quite a few.

Judging by the questions new customers ask me about bulls, it appears that feet continue to be the biggest headache for commercial cattlemen. Whether this is due to genetics or a breeder’s bull development program (probably a little bit of both), the problem still exists. Based on the sale reports I see, I don’t think many out there are listening to their customer base, and I don’t think it is a simple fix. For example, suppose you started with a cow herd that was breed average for foot EPDs. In that case, I think it would still require two generations of breeding exclusively to bulls in the top 15% of the breed for claw and angle to achieve a cull rate of 0% on feet in a bull development program. I told this to dad, and he corrected me and said it would probably take three. The heritability of traits obviously impacts how long progress can take, but minimizing culling rates and maximizing performance on par with the breed’s top-performance genetics sounds impossible. It sounds nearly as impossible as trying to run a marathon as fast as my wife after sitting on the couch for the last year.

A lot of 8-mile runs at dawn with no one watching has given her the ability to run a fast time when everyone is watching. It is the same with cattle. I am as tired of writing as you are of reading that we need these cows to breed at 15 months old, calve at 24 months, and do so every 365 days for 12 to 15 years old. They need to stay sound and produce a calf the feedlot wants to buy with the genetic potential to grade USDA Choice and Prime. Those are the genetics the uniform calf crops come from, and that is where the money is made. Both concepts are unbelievably simplistic but very easy to try and shortcut. Without a big aerobic base for a marathon, if you try and keep up with Cassie, you will have your heart rate through the roof by 10 miles in and not finish the race. Without a fundamentally sound cow herd, you may still produce some nice calves, but you will have a lot of culls along the way. We all know what that does to profit. Whether you are training for a race or building a cow herd, the most significant progress is made by doing the boring stuff repeatedly. The idea of hard work and no shortcuts feels like something we can relate to in agriculture. Let’s not fool ourselves and think the same thing doesn’t apply to the genetics of the animals we work with as well.

Joe K. Lowe II Contact joe.lowe@icloud.com for an additional monthly newsletter

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OFFICERS: REGIONAL DIRECTORS:

PRESIDENT

Andy Bishop

6135 High Grove Road Cox’s Creek, KY 40013 (502) 350-7609

PRESIDENT ELECT

Jeff Pettit 5745 US Highway 41 S Seebree, KY 42455 (270) 836-2963

VICE PRESIDENT

Randy Warner

2717 Ratliff Road

Sharpsburg, KY 40374 (859) 771-5280

TREASURER

Ken Adams

90 E Horseshoe Ave. Upton, KY 42784 (270) 734-1443

KCA PAST PRESIDENTS:

REGION

PAST PRESIDENT Cary King 250 Bright Leaf Drive Harrodsburg, KY 40330 (859) 613-3734

KCA PROGRAM CHAIRMAN

Daniel Hayden

6333 Herbert Road Whitesville, KY 42378 (270) 570-2815

KBC CHAIRMAN

Joe Lowe PO Box 205 Smith’s Grove, KY 42171 (270) 202-4399

KBN CHAIRMAN*

Allan Bryant

BEEF SOLUTIONS CHAIRMAN*

Jeff Pettit

Staff Accountant

Kelly Tucker

Director of Kentucky Beef Network

Becky Thompson

KBN Industry Coordinator

Dan Miller

Publication Coordinator

Carey Brown

VOLUME 36 • ISSUE 4

Membership Coordinator

Nikki Whitaker

Beef Solutions Operations Manager

Kenny Allen

KBC Director of Brand Management

Kylie Trail

KBC Director of Education

Bradon Burks

Membership and Communications Coordinator

Rachel Cain

Graphic Designer

Todd Brown

Video Production Specialist

Danny Coy

National Advertising Sales, LAN

Debby Nichols (859) 321-8770

COW COUNTRY is published monthly by THE KENTUCKY CATTLEMEN’S ASSOCIATION. The publisher reserves the right to refuse any material which he feels is unsuitable for the publication. Although the highest journalistic ethics will be maintained, the KENTUCKY CATTLEMEN’S ASSOCIATION limits its responsibilities for any errors, inaccuracies, or misprints in advertising or editorial copy. Advertisers and advertising agencies assume liability for all content of advertisements made against the publisher.

Gary Woodall...............................270-725-0819

Wayne Zoleman...........................270-315-7812

Mark Heimgartner........................270-875-2585

Jeremy Armstrong......................270-668-2056

Kenton Howard..................................................

Sara Roberson............................270-668-2428

REGION 2

Phyllis Gentry*............................502-331-1146

Thomas Bolton...................................................

Fred Thomas......................................................

Bradley Willcox............................270-862-4142

Robbie Hatfield............................270-230-6716

Chris Imbruligo...........................270-993-0543

Maggie Vaughn...........................270-590-8017

Mike Jones..................................270-670-7588

Corbin Cowles.............................270-991-2534

Glen Byrd.....................................270-991-1186

Isaac Thompson.........................270-789-8712

Kenneth Green............................270-589-7175

Andy Joe Moore..........................270-590-0841

Brian Manion...............................270-868-0253

Joe Mike Moore..........................270-670-7493

Amy Cecil....................................270-427-7207

REGION 3

Allan Bryant*...............................502-548-1379

Allen Phillips................................502-220-0948

Wanda Hawkins...........................502-321-5602

Phillip Douglas............................502-552-0688

Larry Bryant................................502-845-4615

Amanda Hall................................859-333-5001

Nicole Goecke.............................606-782-2263

Ben Tinsley.........................................................

Kevin Perkins..............................502-269-7189

Kyle Bush....................................859-588-4531

Michelle Simon...........................859-572-2600

REGION 4

Amy White*.................................859-227-2552

Brad Reynolds.............................859-200-1632

Derek Abney................................859-248-0200

Phillip Stamm.............................606-796-9175

Danielle Harmon.........................606-748-8059

Bruce Witt...................................859-585-8889

Jodi Purvis..................................606-336-3540

Mike Ravencraft..........................606-584-0310

Brandon Sears...................................................

Danny Callahan...........................859-388-0910

Jason Crowe...............................859-582-0761

REGION 5

Adam Chunglo*..........................859-613-2985

Brent Woodrum...........................859-397-1078

Tommy Spalding.........................270-402-9157

Dean Craft...................................606-634-0191

Brent Ware..................................606-305-8612

Rick Brewer.................................606-682-2352

Brent Williams.............................502-817-1511

Gary Ford....................................270-402-2194

Aaron Burke................................859-265-1172

Ryan Miller..................................502-827-5027

Phillip Reese................................606-787-1629

Jared Foley..................................270-585-1331

* Denotes member of Executive committee