Cow Herd Benefit

Cows should do it all

Imagine a cow that’s a moderate-framed easy keeper, that raises a big, efficient calf and breeds back on time each year – all that and the calves consistently qualify for the Certified Angus Beef ^® (CAB^®) brand.

Cows that can do it all aren’t a figment of somebody’s imagination. They exist, and if you plan it right, they can exist in your herd.

“Net profit to the commercial cow-calf producer will rise only if a balance can be achieved between product quality and cowherd production costs,” says T.T. “Twig” Marston, Nebraska Extension district director.

The balance begins by picking a breed and then employing multiple trait selection. On average, British breeds like Angus combine maternal traits and ability to marble.

Even though management plays a large role, it all starts with genetics. “Marbling has to be bred into the offspring,” Marston says. “It cannot be fabricated from a special environment. No amount of feed will express more marbling than is genetically possible.”

Carcass traits, unlike reproductive traits, are highly heritable, easily passed on to offspring. “This means that genetics greatly influences traits like marbling, much more than pregnancy,” Marston says.

Including carcass traits as part of your selection doesn’t lead to any decrease in maternal traits, he says in a review of more than 60 research articles on the subject.

Notions that marbling affects puberty in heifers have been disproved. Also, there’s no evidence that high-marbling females will wean lighter calves or that marbling and pregnancy rates are related.

“Many of these theories about carcass and maternal traits have circulated for years,” says Mark McCully, CAB assistant vice president, “but the reality is simultaneous improvement can be made for both carcass and maternal characteristics. Scores of real-world examples continue to confirm that.”

Read more about Marston’s findings.