In high school biology, we were introduced to the fact that a phenotype is a function of genetics and environment. As cattle producers, we are constantly trying to optimize these two pieces.

Genomics has become one of the most powerful tools in the cattle industry over the last decade, but the technology is often misunderstood. The goal here is to help dispel some myths and confusion around the use of genomics.

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.

Purchasing a bull is one of the most consequential decisions a cow-calf operation can make. Bulls play an outsized role in the long-term genetic progress of our herds, especially when females are retained.