Braunvieh World Summer 2024

Design a Crossbred Cow Herd The first step is to get busy building a responsibly-crossed cow herd that works in your business model with your man agement scheme and within your en vironment. If you are already on that path, take the time to evaluate where your herd is and if other breeds or families within breeds are warranted. The responsibly crossed cow is your risk-management strategy, especially going forward. She is key to ensuring operational success and aiding your family to keep the next generation on that piece of dirt that you call home.

an exercise in guessing and focus grouping. Nearly all breed associations have or are working on a WLC index. It is important to study the underlying differences in these indexes.” Kemp also noted that an index listed as a “maternal index” is likely not a WLC index. Some maternal indexes all but ignore terminal value. Other mater nal indexes put an excessive amount of pressure on weaning weight, making the maternal metric more of a growth met ric. A WLC index appropriately weighs the importance of maternal and terminal traits to focus on whole-enterprise profit.

“For most of you, that should look like a roughly 50/50 cow herd of your British breed of choice and your con tinental breed of choice,” Kemp said. He added, “FYI – USDA MARC highlights that most continental breeds generate females that now weigh less as mature cows than their British counterparts.” For those who are already committed to the advantages of a crossbred female, it is also responsible to review your plan from time to time. Are there breed types you should be considering to improve some of your weaknesses? Are there lines with a particular breed type that should be getting greater consideration? Constantly monitor, ana lyze and adjust where necessary. Source Hybrid Bulls The second step is using hybrid bulls in a commercial cow-calf program. They provide you with genetic value, ease of breeding scheme, complementarity of your cow herd, uniformity of your calf crop, paternal heterosis and, often, they can be sourced at a lower price point than their straightbred counterparts. “The point is, hybrid bulls can deliver a serious genetic punch, in many ways far superior to straightbred bulls,” Kemp said. “And they add usability and uniformity at the same time to allow you to maintain your reliance on responsible crossbreeding.” He also noted that you aren’t married to a particular breed type; you are married to the deliverable. Know what you want the outcome to be and align with the genetic prowess demanded and the uniformity that is required. Incorporate a Whole Life Cycle Index For producers keeping your own replacement females, the third step is incorporating a credible whole life cycle (WLC) index as a serious data point in your program to ensure profitability and sustainability. Should it be your only data? Clearly not. Can it be misapplied? Yes. A WLC index is for those keeping their own replacements and looking to generate in-demand terminal calves. Opera tions doing something other than the combination of those two things should use a different index or metric. An appropriately designed and scientifically credible WLC index takes into account all of the economically relevant traits associated with the beef business at large. Examples would be fertility, survivability, cow longevity, cost-effective growth, marbling, Yield Grade, etc. “For a WLC index to have legitimacy and merit, it needs to incorporate actual cow longevity records – and lots of them,” Kemp said. “Without this, the whole effort is just

“You want a plan. You need tangible steps. You demand credible actions that can benefit your beef business and your family.” – Chip Kemp “Remember, the goal is profit, not just maximizing or minimizing a given metric,” Kemp said. “Single-trait selection for any one trait is dangerous. The only measure worthy of single-trait selection is profit. Period. Hence, the use of the appropriate index.” Recognize the Importance of Purebred Seedstock The final step in Kemp’s Genetic Action Plan is to recog nize the need for high-merit, purebred seedstock for both personal success at the commercial cow-calf level and for the industry’s overall profitability. Direct utilization of purebred genetics lies most heavily at the seedstock level to provide precision-built hybrids to fuel commercial suc cess and sustainability for the long haul. “Those genetics are fundamentally crucial to the beef business,” Kemp said. “A commercial cow-calf operator may need to use purebreds to ‘prime the pump’ of their personal operation to get to the desired approximate 50/50 cow base. Going forward, they directly benefit from their seedstock provider’s responsible use of purebred genetics in building hybrid bulls.” The quickest and most impactful manner to move that purebred – or single-breed – cow-calf operation to a more resilient and balanced genetic profile is by introducing a purebred that adds the strengths of a complementary breed. Again, if the cow herd is excessively British-type, then that would mean using a purebred sire(s) of conti nental origin. This results in building the roughly 50/50 daughters that are needed and referenced as the base of the long-term hybrid model. Of course, this can also be accomplished or augmented through AI or purchases of appropriately crossed replacements. Most important, use data to empower your human re lationships. The success of your cattle program is too im portant for your family to leave merely to chance. What’s the primary goal of nearly every beef producer? Passing the family business on to the next generation. “If you want your family to continue to be in the beef business 20 to 30 years from now, we need to serve the commercial customer,” Kemp concluded. “If we are going to serve them, we have to serve them metrics.” BW

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