Posted on

Our breeding program

This journal entry is going to have a lot of "rancher-ese" in it, just to warn you.  It is about the genetic history of our cow herd, as well as our plans for the future.  If you don't know a lot about cattle, it might be a little hard to follow.  I have it posted under the "Cattle" category on the main page of the website, but thought I'd share it here as well.

 

Dad first got started in the cattle business with a small herd of Angus cows from Cotton Angus of Volga, SD in the late 1970's. The next fifteen years involved experimenting with several different breeds, including Amerifax, Red Angus, Gelbveih, Hereford, and Salers. The Angus (black, that is) seemed to be the best fit. Dad used AI extensively, at first on the entire herd and eventually only on heifers. Emulation 31 and EXT were two sires that he used quite a bit.  He's quick to tell about how they made real nice cows.  Dad kept performance records, selecting for increased weaning and yearling weights. As the herd grew, AI became less feasible from a labor perspective. Angus continued to be the breed of choice. In the late 1990's, as carcass data became increasingly available (and more valuable), we began selecting bulls that excelled in those traits. It became clear that our cattle graded well, but yield could be improved upon. Selection was made for increasing rib eye area. In 2007, we began introducing some Balancer bulls to improve cutability and add heterosis. We continued selecting performance-type Angus as well.

When I came home from college in 2006, I started being more involved with the breeding program. In the late 2000's, we began to see that our continued selection for performance and growth had taken our cow herd away from the type of females seen in the Emulation breeding. It wasn't uncommon to sell 1700+ lb open cows in the fall. We also noticed udder, hoof, and structural problems appearing more often than in the past. While we had been busy adding performance to the herd (with some success), we had begun to sacrifice the maternal side of the equation.  In addition, we were continually outcrossing, or at least using outcrossed genetics.  We had nice cows, but there was not a consistent "type".  Those "nice cows" we had were the result of culling the bad ones, not necessarily breeding for the good ones.  In 2012, as I looked at the first and second calf heifers, I was disappointed with how many had unacceptable udders, feet, and mothering ability.  I decided it was time to focus on maternal traits again.

As I looked for breeding programs that would help reintroduce maternal function to our cow herd, I came across Keeney's Corner, a web forum dedicated to discussing "cattle breeding from outside the registered mainstream." Of particular interest were the contributions of Larry Leonhardt and his Shoshone Angus breeding program. He confirmed some of what we had already found out, that "bigger" isn't always "better", and that increasing performance comes at a cost to maternal function. His ideas of what seedstock are supposed to do changed my view of buying bulls. He reasoned that their purpose is to transmit the desired traits with consistency – and that is not necessarily tied to their individual performance. Rather, it has much more to do with their "ancestral pen of cattle," or how consistent their pedigree is for the given traits.  Leonhard's experience in 30+ years of linebreeding for maternal function (the cow) had resulted in bulls that had different phenotypical characteristics than the popular performance bulls of today.

In an attempt to improve carcass and performance traits, I had neglected a profoundly simple rule of nature, that is, there are antagonisms that exist between maternal and terminal traits. It is unreasonable to expect a bull to produce high-performance feeder cattle that cut and grade well, while at the same time siring problem-free, feminine, efficient females. After all, that is why so many breeds of cattle exist – consistent selection for desired traits.  There's a reason Jerseys look different than Charolais.

Our long-range breeding plan is to continue to use Angus bulls to make functional females.  To meet our goals for maternal traits, we are using Shoshone, Wye, and Emulation bloodlines.  We plan to retain breeding stock out of our older, proven cows that fit the type we want to replicate. Our younger, unproven cows will be mated to sires that excel in terminal qualities with the goal of making high-quality feeder cattle. We are starting out using hybrid bulls (Gelbveih x Angus) on the young cows. As we evaluate the success of this program, we may move towards a purebred terminal cross if we can meet our goals by doing so.

To me, the most frustrating thing about breeding programs is how long it takes to see results. A bull purchased this year won't have daughters in the herd for three years, and not very many at that – maybe ten at the most. To really evaluate the maternal function of those daughters it will take another nine or ten years. By then, that bull I bought today will likely have been gone for seven or more years. Therein lies the problem of neglecting maternal function: it takes a long time to find out which direction it has gone. Terminal traits (growth and performance) are quickly discovered and evaluated – usually within two or three years.

I am looking forward to what the future holds for our breeding program. I expect it will not be as simple as I have made it out to be. A good friend of ours is known to say, "there are no easy answers in the cattle business." While I'm afraid he's right, I am also excited about having a roadmap to find whatever answers are out there.

 

Luke Perman

March 23, 2014

Posted on

RHR in the press

I've started three different posts in the past few months but have yet to finish any of them.  I'm more into quality than quantity.  There's a reason they are still unfinished.

However, there have been some other people who actually get paid to write (or film) that have written (or filmed) about the ranch and/or our passion for grasslands in the past year or so.

Beef Producer Uses Ranch For Rainfall Management
Northern Plains Beef Producers Awe Me Across Three States
Alan Newport is the editor of Beef Producer Magazine

Rock Hills Ranch focuses on maternal traits
Thorstenson Gelbvieh & Angus has sold us a lot of bulls over the years.  Wendy wrote this article to include in their 2013 sale flyer.

Dad Steps Down Early; Son Steps Up
Lon Tonneson is the editor of Dakota Farmer Magazine

Rancher shares tips on saving precious water
Barry Amundson is a reporter for the Tri-State Neighbor

Farm Bill: Stand Up and Protect America's Grasslands
This video was made by Day's Edge Productions for the World Wildlife Fund's conservation work in the Northern Great Plains.

Conservationists push to preserve prairies of North and South Dakota
Juliet Eilperin writes for the Washington Post

Managing 2 billion gallons of water at Rock Hills Ranch
Lura Roti writes articles for South Dakota State University's website and newsletters.

 

There are two more articles in the works, unless the editors decide it's too much work making us sound intelligent.  We've been interviewed by Successful Farming and The American Prospect in the past few months.  I'll post links if/when they publish the articles.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on

Poopology

Anyone who has had kids can attest to the dramatic increase in conversation pertaining to bowel movements compared to before having kids.  Frequency, consistency, odor, amount, the diaper's effectiveness at containment…there's a lot to discuss.

While it isn't a common source of discussion, as a cattleman I pay attention to poop as well.  Just as with little kids, I can make management decisions based on what's coming out the south end of the cows.

During the winter, our cows are often grazing corn stalks.  After the grain is harvested, there is still a lot of feed value out in the field.  There are always a few ears of corn that are missed by the combine.  That usually doesn't amount to much though.  It's the husks and leaves that make up the majority of the fodder.

 

 

Cows trailing in for water while grazing cornstalks

The cows always eat the best stuff first.  To a cow, "best" means "most nutritious".  If my cows are in a pasture for a week, their diet from Sunday through Wednesday will be more nutritious than from Thursday through Saturday.  One way to judge the quality of the diet is by looking at their poop.  We'll call them "dung pats", which seems more adult-like.

Remember, cows have a four-chambered stomach, specially made to digest forage.  When a cow's diet is low in protein, they can't digest forage as well.  Protein actually doesn't feed the cow – it feeds the microbes in the cow's rumen (one of the four stomach chambers).  The microbes are what actually break down the carbohydrates in the forages so the cow can get energy out of it.  Too little protein means fewer microbes, which leads to poor digestion and therefore less energy.

Here's a picture of a dung pat from a cow that isn't getting enough protein:

2014-02-15 11.40.05

The "stacked cookie" look is a dead giveaway.  You can also see some plant fibers in the pat.  The lower the protein, the longer the fibers are.  Now, don't get too concerned.  This cow isn't starving or malnourished.  She is probably losing a little bit of weight though.  I wouldn't want to keep her on this level of nutrition for too long, especially if she is in her last trimester of pregnancy.

Having too much protien isn't great either.  Remember what the cows are eating?  Dry, mature plant material.  Not real high in protein.  Early in the winter, when the cow is in mid-gestation, her nutrient requirements aren't very high.  The corn husks and leaves will meet her energy and protein requirements without much, if any, added protein.  However, as winter wears on and her fetus keeps growing, her nutrient requirements ramp up.  Additionally, the plant material weathers and quality slowly declines.  The energy is still there, the cow (actually her rumen microbes) just needs a little more protein to capture it.  There are several ways to supplement protein.  Alfalfa hay, ethanol byproducts (aka distillers grains), and commercial feeds are common in our area.  Whatever it is, it costs money.  Feeding more protein than is necessary increases costs without any real benefits.

The dung pat below came from a cow who has more than enough dietary protein.

2014-02-15 11.40.32

Notice the "splat" effect.  "Splat" isn't what we're going for.  It's the cow-equivalent of a blowout diaper.  This dung pat was dropped two days after being turned onto fresh cornstalks.  I'm not too worried about it though, since it was early in the graze period and there weren't very many that looked like this.  If there was a high incidence of "splat" in the herd, I'd back off the protein supplement until they started looking more like the next photo.

2014-02-15 11.40.51

This cow is getting about the right amount of protein.  No cookies, no splat.  More of a soft "plop" effect.  You can still see some fibers, but they are shorter than in the first photo.  A few corn kernels in the mix tells me she's finding some dropped ears under the snow, which provides a little extra energy.  Too much corn isn't good though, as the starches in corn change the pH in the rumen, which kills off the microbes that digest the forages.  Too much energy for too long also can lead to excessive hoof growth, which makes the cow lame.  I don't have a numerical threshold of kernels-per-poop-pile, but this looks about right. 

All three of these pictures were taken in the same field.  How is that, you say?  All three cows have access to the same forage, so why the difference?  Grazing is a skill.  Some cows are better at finding the good stuff than others.  Maybe the first cow just doesn't have as good a digestive system as the others.  Maybe the second one went on a late-night protein supplement binge.  I just go on the average of the field when I'm poop-checking.

We're about 60 days from calving season, so these girls are needing higher levels of nutrition as the days go by.  I'm paying close attention to their dung pats to make sure they are maintaining or gaining weight from here until the grass greens up.  I do that by supplementing protein as necessary, but also by moving them to fresh cornstalks sooner.  What I used to graze in 7 days, I might now only graze for 4 or 5 days before moving on.

I guess sometimes BS is something that needs to be taken seriously.