Reproduction

Gene editing is helping the bovine world make leaps and bounds through genetic improvement. You may have heard of the success story of the world’s first gene-edited polled calf. Another on the list of possibilities is resistance to bovine tuberculosis.

As producers evaluate their bull battery and prepare for the winter bull sale circuit, it is useful to consider the importance of selection indexes on both sides of a mating in herd improvement plans.

Whether we are watching an NCBA Cattlemen to Cattlemen episode covering a successful commercial operation or reading about a well-established, multigenerational seedstock operation, one management practice seems to be a common thread for success: culling.

By this time of year, breeding season is well underway, and summer is winding down. Between haying and harvesting, there isn’t much time left in the day to manage the cow herd, besides checking water troughs and rotating pastures.

As the end of summer approaches, most beef cattle producers are very busy. They are recovering from county fairs and state fairs, sending kids back to school, making third-cutting hay, watching the weather and crop development, beginning to think about chopping silage, and the list could go on.

On June 9, I posted an ad for a registered 20-month-old Angus bull on craigslist.org and an online livestock forum with the keywords “high-performance genetics” along with an outstanding picture taken with a Nikon D800 and a 24-120mm F/4 lens.