Braunvieh_World_Winter_2023

“These cattle are extremely adapt able,” Bob adds. “They came from the Swiss Alps, being cold weather cattle, but for some reason they are also heat tolerant. So, the ranchers that are making the F1 halfblood Brahman cows in the South can use Braunvieh and not give up the heat tolerance.” The history and foundation these producers stand by every day with

bring in calves and sort them by size to create uniform, marketable groups to sell for top prices without the nor mal discounts for small groups and color discrimination. The data behind their bulls have helped the Brinks market to commer cial producers. BUILDING A FUTURE WHILE REMEMBERING OUR ROOTS Continued from page 11

Braunvieh Events at the Ft. Worth Stock Show Jan. 15-17, 2023 The Braunvieh Association of America Annual Meeting and National Sale are set for the Ft. Worth Stock Show in Ft. Worth, Texas.

McBee Cattle Company, Fayette, Mo., was awarded the BIF Seedstock Producer Honor Roll of Excellence Award in 2010. Ron and Teri McBee began incorporating Braunvieh cattle into their herd in 1990.

Schedule

Jan. 15 12 p.m.

Meeting begins in the Cactus Room National Braunvieh Sale in the West Arena

5 p.m.

Jan. 16 4 p.m. Jan. 17 11 a.m.

“We’ve performance tested our bulls, primarily at Green Springs Bull Test in Nevada, Mo.,” Marilyn says. “And that’s been very helpful to us in getting information that we can give to customers on what we predict our cattle can do for them.” The Brinks have also expanded to the South Texas market for crossing with Brahman cattle and have every reason to think it will continue to grow.

their Braunvieh cattle are a testa ment to the breed. Cattle producers across the country should be exposed to the attributes that Braunvieh cattle bring to the industry from both maternal and carcass qualities. “I want others to know that com mercial producers can keep replace ments and improve the maternal side of their operation while also improv ing marbling at the same time, and very few breeds can do that,” Bob concludes. BW

Braunvieh Bonanza in the Watt Arena

Junior Braunvieh Show

12:30 p.m. National Braunvieh Show in Watt Arena

Enhancing Your Genetic Value By Matt Woolfolk, Director of Performance Programs, American Shorthorn Association

Some of you may have been searching DigitalBeef and noticed that some cattle display yellow highlights on their expected progeny differences (EPDs). Those highlighted values indicate animals that have EPDs that are genomically enhanced via genetic testing. Genomic testing analyzes your animal’s DNA to identify which spe cific genes are present at thousands of locations on the genome. Certain genetic markers indicate a propensity

to perform in a certain manner for a trait. For example, there are certain markers that indicate an animal’s ability to display more or less growth than animals without those genes. The information from this testing is applied to EPD calculations to increase their accuracy. When an animal is genomically tested, the EPD values can change, but the accuracy value of those EPDs will certainly increase. The increase in accuracy on EPDs from genomic testing is

equivalent to turning in as much as an entire calf crop’s worth of data on a young sire! Genomic testing options are avail able to you through the Braunvieh Association of America. On your DNA order form, option H is the 100K genomic test that will provide you with genomically enhanced EPDs on your animals. Additional tests (like coat color) can be added to this 100K, simultaneously. BW

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Braunvieh World  Winter 2023