In the early 1980s, producers who raised Herefords and other breeds with red hides were hit with a significant discount at feedyards and sale barns.

What is the first word that comes to mind when you see a bull sale catalog in your mailbox? Usually, I hear responses like “profitable,” “cost-effective,” “traditional” or "necessary."

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.

Developing replacement heifers is one of the most expensive and complex management decisions for a cow-calf producer and also has long-term implications for profitability.

Cattle producers select their breeding stock variably, using an assessment of parentage production, price, expected progeny differences (EPDs), genetic testing or a simple eyeball test. A few swear by the oft-forgotten linear measurements, which gauge numerous body parts with uniquely designed calipers.

When working to maximize fertility in cattle, cows are often the focus. However, bull fertility is a crucial consideration for any beef operation.

Many livestock economists have demonstrated over the years that there is a premium in the marketplace for uniform lots of calves. For further proof, just watch what happens at the local auction market when it comes to selling feeder cattle and then tune in to one of the online video auctions and compare prices.

Spring-calving cows are expected to get pregnant during some of the hottest times of the year. Heat stress can decrease the fertility of both the cow and the bull.

In anticipation of the cattle industry’s inevitable rebuilding of the national cow herd, AngusLink, the American Angus Association’s USDA process-verified program, has introduced a new tool for objectively describing the genetic potential of replacement females. 

As a beef producer, sustainability is defined as your continued ability to live comfortably, to maintain a way of life that you have chosen for yourself and to ensure that you can pass that way of life on to your children and your children’s children.