Enough about ice and snow. Hang with me as I tell of heifer sex. It’s a multi-million-dollar topic for Missouri farmers. For consumers it means better beef.
The Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer program at the Cattlemen’s convention opened eyes. A crowd came early to hear the story. They filled the room. But, the audience should fill Mizzou Arena. More should learn now.
MU Extension specialists plan meetings in Ozarks and Northwest Missouri. SMS heifer sales are being planned there. They’ll tell research on heifer breeding. It’s astounding.
Show-Me-Select was made by Dave Patterson, who came here from Kentucky. Missouri welcomed him and his idea.
The basics is learning heifer development. Key is pre-breeding exams. Local MU staff and veterinarians examine heifers before they are bred. It’s simple, but not being done. Don’t breed heifers, young cows, if they don’t have pelvis openings large enough to pass a calf.
The exam shows heifers that can’t be bred. Don’t breed and wait nine months to find it didn’t work. Simple!
The culled heifers gain value when fed and sold with steer mates.
Before, up to 19 percent of first-calf heifers were lost. Cutting losses adds profits.
Part of the program is knowing the bull’s expected genetic potential. That passes on to their calves. Also, sires that make big calves aren’t bred to small heifers.
A beauty of SMS: Producers see quick returns for extra work before breeding. Better genetics improve calves. That’s why we make more USDA Prime beef. Nationally only 5 percent of calves grade Prime.
Calves from MU beef herds can grade two-thirds Prime. Premiums for those calves become huge. SMS producers mention that an extra $500 per calf makes a difference.
(As a total aside, no one said this: But, if cow herds made big profits, would wives rejoice who work off farm to support their hubby’s cow herd? Just thinking.)
SMS plan has a built-in market. Spring and fall sales sell replacements. With lower death losses at calving, owners gain surplus heifer to sell. That’s at sales providing catalogs with genetics and data.
Buyers are pay for info as well as proven heifers. Once buyers profit from heifers they buy, they come back to bid more.
I admit, I don’t eat much Prime beef. There’s more Choice beef for me to buy here. Lots of Prime went to Japan and some started to China. They pay more than I do for quality beef. Leaders in Washington spoiled our free-enterprise sales in a lost trade war. We can get it back.
Meanwhile, we build better herds, making good heifers and Prime-grade steers. Steers add to Missouri income.
No other state has a program like this. We’re first in the nation, a result of MU College of Agriculture research and MU Extension.
New research improves results and adds features, Jordan Thomas, newest MU reproduction specialists, works on using sexed semen. AI breeders can provide either bull or heifer calves.
The state gains return on your investment in farm research. More beef farmers can join. Look for local meetings. Contact your livestock specialist.
Anita Hill at MU Extension Center in Fulton is ready for sale at Vienna. Jenna Monnig, at the Princeton Center, has started. Local veterinarians must join in as well. They want fewer calves to pull. Now more Vets use ultrasound to check heifers and pregnancies. It’s more accurate.
In my health checkup, my doctor uses ultrasound. A more expensive unit, I think.
When ag friends heard I was going in for an ultrasound, they asked if it was a preg check. My doc knows about ultrasound on cows. The Vet School and Med School worked together in training. Advances in animal husbandry add to human health.
No, I’m not pregnant; but, but didn’t think I would be.
Keep in touch: daileyd@missouri.edu. I got that wrong last time.
This should work. See ya at a heifer sale. Get a bid number, you’ll like what you see.
(Duane Dailey has been translating science-speak into “farmer talk” for Missouri’s farmers for more than 50 years as a reporter for University Extension. He resides in Columbia and is a member of the Missouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame).
