The
Cross Diamond Chronicle
All in the reaction
Bulls Bred FORD Tough! www.crossdiamondcattle.com October 2023, Volume 16
I was looking through my photos, deleting and editing, when I came across this one. I remembered being disappointed when I took it, because it wasn’t “just right”-- their ears weren’t forward and attentive. I nearly deleted it... then, I examined it closer. What I caught was actually quite amusing-the reaction and stance of the cow and her calf were identical. And that got me to thinking... that’s exactly what we’re after in a breeding program-- predictable, desirable reactions.
The heart of our program is based on the belief that fertility, soundness and disposition win the day. For example, we know that 576, the cow above, is going to raise a calf for us every year-she’s been predictable with that for the past seven years. In addition, 576 has a sound udder, feet, and disposition that make life with her predictably good at calving, moving, and handling. You could say that our job as genetics suppliers is to provide our customers with predictability for their
breeding goals. We find this is best obtained by breeding for uniformity, rather than outliers. It’s true, there is money to be made in genetic anomalies, like the bull who ranks in the top 1% for both calving ease and growth. But is there predictability there? And are you willing to risk your next heifer calving season to find out? Predictability is never 100%. We all know there are a lot of variables in the cattle industry. However, the predictability does go up, we believe, when your seedstock supplier is in the trenches, and spending time with the cattle making hard culling decisions on poor udders, undesirable feet, open cows and nasty dispositions. Beyond the practical decisions of day-to-day culling, we are making significant investments in days and dollars in data collection. Data points of birth, weaning, and yearling weights are taken; foot scores and ultrasound data is collected; and DNA is run to provide genomically enhanced EPDs. On the female side, the same weights from birth through yearling are collected, in addition to
Annual Sale December 11, 2023
mature cow weights, body condition scores and udder scores, as well as DNA for genomically enhanced EPDs. In all, our goal is to provide sound, fertile, easy-handling genetics that our customers can count on. In addition, we want to provide the best customer service in the business, so that if the unpredictable happens, we are there to make it right. Once again, it’s all in the reaction.
Look inside:
*photo jour nal
*news and notes from our guest consignors *Sunday Cattle Drive and featured speaker