Barzona Bulletin Spring 2024

www.Barzona.com

Spring 2024

Barzona Bulletin A Publication of the Barzona Breeders Association of America Genetic Merit Pricing Task Force Holds February Meeting in Kansas City Adaptable • Sustainable • Profitable

By Ken Odde, Ph.D., and Tom Brink

T he Genetic Merit Pricing Task Force held its second meeting Feb. 21-22 in Kansas City. Since convening in late 2023, the industry-based group has been working to help the cattle market transition toward widespread use of genetic information in pricing feeder cattle and calves. More than 95 percent of U.S. feeder cattle change ownership without the benefit of objective genetic information. Thus, ge netic information plays almost no meaningful role in the value discovery process. Ken Odde, Ph.D., former Kansas State University Animal Science Department head and the group’s facilitator, says the Genetic Merit Pricing Task Force has an important mission that can help make all industry segments more efficient. “Today, few commercial beef herds use quantitative genetic information when marketing their feeder calves,” Odde says. “While most buy bulls with expected progeny differences [EPDs] and indexes, they are not using that information in mar keting their calves. Investing in genetics that are superior for growth and carcass traits without using that data for marketing purposes may be leaving money on the table. “Prospective buyers would then have genetic information that would help them more properly value feeder cattle they are seeking to purchase.” At their February meeting, task force members discussed numerous topics, including the ability of genetically superior Bos indicus cattle to grow rapidly and create valuable carcass es, as well as the important role of auction markets in helping bring genetic information into feeder cattle price discovery. The group also participated in two breakout sessions. The first involved adding useful genetic data to written cattle de scriptions that did not originally contain such information. The second breakout focused on identifying barriers to advancing the use of genetic information on both the buyer and seller side of the market. Task force members recognize numerous challenges to the industry using genetic information, many of which relate to sellers not having the necessary data and buy ers not asking for or knowing what this data means.

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Genetic Merit Pricing Task Force Continued from page 1

President’s Message

“We call this the cold start problem,” says Tom Brink, CEO of the Red Angus Association of America and one of the task force founders. “Sellers need to begin offering genetic informa tion before buyers will pay attention and start to use it. Buyers need to request it to encourage sellers to step up and obtain genetic information on their cattle. Both sides need to take action if we are going to make progress down this road.” The task force also discussed the need for more genetic “proof of concept” data, and helping both cattle sellers and buyers understand that the genetic tools available today – EPDs, $Indexes and commercial DNA tests – are useful in identifying better performing cattle. David Trowbridge, task force member and manager of Gregory Feedlots in Tabor, Iowa, believes more people need to become convinced that various genetic metrics work effectively in the real world. “There are people who are still skeptical about EPDs, but there is ample research to support their predictive accuracy, especially on the highly heritable growth and carcass traits,” Trowbridge says. The next quarterly meeting of the Genetic Merit Pricing Task Force is scheduled for May 7-8 in Denver, Colo. BB

By Matthew Heinz, Golden Hz Farms, BBAA President

S alutations from the greening pastures of Iowa. So far, our winter has been dryer than usual and fairly uneventful. I am hoping for some moisture in the near future. We have started checking the cows in every pasture as we are get ting close to calving season and do have a few cows starting to make bag and show signs that a calf will be coming soon. As we gear up to start having this year’s calf crop, I begin to think about their future as either replacement heifers/bulls or market calves. As you know, the Barzona Breeders Association of America (BBAA) has been encouraging its members to utilize the DNA testing available to us through Neogen and GeneSeek. I am proud to say we are finally on target with what the association has been aiming for! I recently learned of a task force that is centered around the potential use of genomic testing for price discovery in feeder calves and fat cattle. The Genetic Merit Pricing (GMP) Task Force is headed up by Tom Brink, CEO of the Red Angus Association. It is made up of members representing almost every aspect of the industry, in cluding cow-calf operators, seedstock, feeders and processors. The task force’s goal is to present educational programs, de velop initiatives and anything else they think will help convince the market to use genetic information. The seedstock side has been using things like EPDs, statistics and, most recently, genetic testing to help define and refine their portion of the market. This information is also fairly available for the produc tion side of the industry but is barely used. Currently, health records hold a large portion of price dis covery in feeder cattle, such as weaning time, vaccinations and overall animal appearance. The GMP is looking to add genetic merit as an influencer in pricing as well. This is going to help us as Barzona breeders get back into the market world above and beyond the “red calves” descrip tion at the sale barn. The BBAA is asking to become an “on-re cord” supporting organization of the task force, and I truly hope we will be able to reap the benefits of our hard work with in just a few years. The data coming in from our feedlot tests will help confirm the accuracy of our DNA scores and confirm our place, even among the popular breeds. As a reminder, please make sure you are scheduled to join us in Alabama for this year’s BBAA Annual Meeting. Everyone has enjoyed the September dates in recent years, and it looks to continue to be a fall get together. Your input and participation is critical to make sure the association is serving you and your herd. Until we meet again! Adaptable, Sustainable, Profitable! It’s Barzona. BB

Task Force Participants • James Barrett, Texas • Dave Daley, California • Dave Delaney, Texas • John Grande, Montana • Rob Gill, Oregon • Randy Heflin, Kansas • Scott Howard, Ph.D., Colorado • Danny Herrman, Kansas • Sam Hands, Kansas • Jennifer Houston, Tennessee • George Kempfer, Florida • Larry Kuehn, Ph.D., Nebraska • Dennis Metzger, Nebraska • Grant Morgan, Kansas • Kevin Miller, Colorado • Mark Nelson, Nebraska • John Nalivka, Oregon • Austin Paul, Kentucky • Trey Patterson, Wyoming • Jake Parnell, California • Dustin Puhrmann, Iowa • Darrell Peel, Ph.D., Oklahoma • Ryan Rice, Kansas • Don Schiefelbein, Minnesota • Wade Small, Idaho • Nolan Stone, Colorado • Matt Spangler, Ph.D., Nebraska • Jason Timmerman, Nebraska • Brent Thiel, South Dakota • David Trowbridge, Iowa • Will Townsend, Montana • Craig Uden, Nebraska • Janie VanWinkle, Colorado

Supporting Organizations/ Funding Partners • American Hereford Association • American International Charolais Association • Santa Gertrudis Breeders International • International Brangus Breeders Association • Allied Genetic Resources/ All Beef LLC • American Simmental Association • Neogen Corporation • Beefmaster Breeders United • Red Angus Association of America Other On-Record Supporters • American Gelbvieh Association • Colorado Cattlemen’s Association • Livestock Marketing Association • North American Limousin Foundation • North American Piedmontese Association • American Shorthorn Association • American Brahman Breeders Association • Florida Cattlemen’s Association • Idaho Cattle Association • Alabama Cattlemen’s Association • Kentucky Cattlemen Association

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By Alecia Heinz, Golden Hz Farms, BBAA Secretary From Our Association Secretary P lease keep September open for the Barzona Breeders As sociation of America (BBAA) Annual Meeting! We will be setting a date soon, so start making plans to join us in Montgomery, Ala., in the fall. Fifty-six steers and heifers made their final weights on March 12, coming off our feed efficiency test in good health. There was a wide range of purebred, crossbred and even other breed calves to give a wide range of comparable results. While we are still waiting on the actual feed efficiency numbers, I can say we had 28 steers start off at an average of 590 pounds and end at 800 pounds. This gave an average daily gain (ADG) of 3.42 pounds per day. There were also 28 replacement heif ers on a grower ration that started the test at an average of 508 pounds and finished at 640 pounds. Their ADG was 2.48 pounds per day. The BBAA is excited to have these results coming in and plans to publish those on the website and make them available to the participating breeders so they can use the information in their operations. As always, if you are in need of something or have questions, please give us a shout! BB

Golden Hz Farms Barzona: The breed for busy people These cows take care of themselves! ADVERTISING RATES The Barzona Bulletin is published four times per year by the BBAA and is mailed to more than 800 Barzona enthusiasts. Full-Page Ad..................................$350 per issue Half-Page Ad.................................$200 per issue Third-Page Ad............................... $165 per issue Quarter-Page Ad............................$135 per issue Eighth-Page Ad...............................$75 per issue

Breeding Stock Available

Matt & Alecia Heinz 2432 250th St Greenfield, IA 50849 smartace007@yahoo.com (641) 745-9170

Alvin & Karen Havens 2429 Orange Ave. Greenfield, IA 50849

www.barzonas.com

Raising Quality Barzona Cattle for 46 Years. Bulls & Females Available 2-Year-Old Bulls Available Now F & F Cattle Company

Weichman Feedyard, L.P. We have more than 30 years’ experience finishing cattle and more than 10 years’ experience finishing Barzona cattle. We offer a value-based marketing system with a history of premiums for Barzona cattle. Give us a call (620) 872-2945 Office (620) 874-5236 Cell

Mike & Pat Fitzgerald 130 Fitzgerald Lane, Mosquero, NM 87733 (575) 673-2346 ffcattleco@plateautel.net

Hampton Cattle Company Breeding Purebred Barzona since 1973 Fertile Range Cattle Steve Hampton P.O. Box 134 • Kirkland, AZ 86332 (928) 442-3438

4030 Highway 83 North Scott City, KS 67671

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Barzona Breeders Association of America P.O. Box 154 Greenfield, IA 50849

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please contact Alecia Heinz at

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FOUNDATION HERD BREEDING STOCK Since 1974

Selling bulls private treaty. Yearling bulls available now.

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Semen available on a number of older bulls. Females available periodically private treaty. Foster, OK 73434 (217) 649-5616 Bard Cattle Co. Nancy Bard Nunn 18800 E. County Road 1603

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