Efficiency is efficiency, right? Turns out, it’s probably not that simple. Efficiency in a feedlot and at the cow-calf level are two very different things.

As we near the feedlot fall run and cow-calf producers market their calves at the highest prices received to date, every additional pound of gain has greater profit potential.

The podcast team is back in the studio for two interviews you don’t want to miss. Lee Leachman of Leachman Cattle Company shares with Tyrell his insight on genetic profit data that has been a foundation for his seedstock herd. And David visits with David Anderson, Texas A&M ag economist, on beef demand index strength in 2024, and profit goals with today’s high cattle prices.

“Genetic improvement” is a term with far-reaching implications, uniquely and individually defined by those in the beef industry.

Crossbreeding isn’t a new technology. We’ve known about it and have been doing it for ages. Yet, crossbreeding remains a severely underutilized tool industrywide, with less than 50% of commercial operations using it meaningfully.

To remain competitive in today’s beef industry, commercial producers must identify and implement technologies that have favorable impacts on their beef cattle enterprises, and crossbreeding is one such technology.

The usual suspects (expected progeny differences [EPDs], genomic testing, heterosis) were covered, as were some issues (beef-on-dairy, methane emissions, cardiac health) that may have been a bit more of a surprise to the uninitiated at an event ostensibly dedicated to beef cattle genetics.

As the genetics business becomes increasingly competitive, commercial cattlemen and seedstock producers are ramping up their efforts to market the most desired traits as efficiently as possible. Among the ways they have accomplished this is developing composite herd sires.