While dairy producers are heavily driven by fertility and calving ease when it comes to a beef breeding, there are additional traits that can create cattle desirable to the beef market, creating valuable relationships for the longer-term profits.

Every cow you create might not be right for your market. To withstand market ebbs and flows, you need to create cows that meet the needs of your operation.

Breed for fertility, feed for fertility, manage for fertility – this phrase encapsulates the approach Siebren Jacobi has taken to capture greater herd performance and profitability at Rocking S Dairy in Modesto, California.

Determining the prevalence of the early onset muscle weakness syndrome in your herd can aid in management decisions and avoid costly matings.

Doug Blair shares his knowledge of pedigrees in his book containing information about 117 years of North American Grand Champions.

While it’s known that improving a cow’s genetics can improve animal productivity, recent research shows that rumen genetics can be a more effective predictor of cow traits, including health and productivity. Cornell Kasbergen of Rancho Teresita Dairy and Brooke Anderson of Native Microbials discuss how feeding native rumen microbes are impacting a commercial dairy herd.

“No animal is perfect; every animal has multiple genetic defects in it. So do we, all of us have them,” Matt McClure of ABS Global stated during the Undesirable Genetic Factors and Genomics’ Role in Discovery panel discussion, held during the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB) annual meeting.